For those who have placed lobbying registration at the top of their New Year’s resolution list, New York State and New York City have made it easier to take the plunge. Starting on January 1, lobbyists and organizations that employ or retain lobbyists that have failed to register with either the state and/or city may
Virginia Enacts Statutory Gift Restrictions
As we described in a January 16 post, moments after being sworn in as Virginia’s 72nd governor on January 11, Governor McAuliffe signed an executive order imposing new gift restrictions on Executive Branch employees and officers and their immediate family members. The Executive Order applies only to individuals that work in Virginia’s Executive Branch.
You Can Still Tune-Up on Government Affairs Compliance
In case you missed our webinar last week on government affairs compliance, you can click here for the recording and here for the presentation materials. We covered topics including:
- Creative ways to be involved in the political process;
- Operating a compliant PAC;
- Federal and state lobbying compliance;
- Pay-to-play laws that affect
First Order of Business for Governor McAuliffe: Limits on Gifts to Public Officials
Virginia was one of the few states with no limits on gifts to public officials. However, in the wake of well-publicized gift scandals from the prior administration, just moments after being sworn in as Virginia’s 72nd governor on January 11, Governor McAuliffe signed an executive order imposing new gift restrictions on Executive Branch employees and
Venable Hosts Webinar on Government Affairs Compliance – January 16
Please join us for a webinar on January 16, 2014, at 1:00pm EST, which will provide a tune-up on government affairs compliance and examine recent trends. We will cover all the major topics you need to be thinking about as you ramp up for lobbying the new Congress and state legislatures and prepare for the
To Catch a Lobbyist: NYC Ordinance Aims to Catch Those Flouting Registration and Vastly Expands Covered Activities
Last week, New York’s City Council passed an ordinance amending its lobbying laws. While these reforms largely have gone unnoticed, a close look at the changes, some of which go into effect on January 1, reveals some potentially far-reaching implications.
First, the definition of “lobbying” has been expanded to include attempts to influence “any determination
Nonprofits Operating in New York Must Disclose Donors, Itemize Spending for Election Advocacy and Issue Ads
Nonprofit groups raising money in New York are required by new rules to report nationwide spending on communications that support or oppose candidates and ballot initiatives, or that simply refer to candidates within certain periods before an election. When a group spends more than $10,000 on such communications in regard to New York state or
New York Ethics Watchdog Makes Additional Tweaks to Proposed Ethics Rules
New York State’s ethics and lobbying watchdog, the Joint Commission on Public Ethics (“JCOPE”), released revised draft amendments to its gift and honoraria rules and source of funding (“SOF”) regulations. JCOPE will seek formal public comment on all of these proposed rules. Copies of the new draft rules can be found here.
In January,
NYS Regulator Hosts Roundtable on New Lobbying Disclosure Rules
The New York State Joint Commission on Public Ethics (“JCOPE”), which oversees and regulates ethics and lobbying in New York, hosted the first in a series of roundtable discussions with the regulated community on March 8 (in Albany) and March 15 (in NYC).
The March roundtable discussions focused on the new Reportable Business Relationship (“RBR”)
The New York State Comptroller Strikes Again
PepsiCo has agreed to more robust disclosure of its lobbying and political spending in response to a shareholder resolution filed on behalf of New York’s state pension fund, which owns about $400 million in PepsiCo stock. Just three weeks ago, the New York State Comptroller settled a suit with Qualcomm over similar issues.
As we