New York may soon set the record in moving from no regulation to overregulation in a bureaucratic nanosecond. The NY State Board of Elections recently proposed for public comment rules on “Disclosure of Independent Expenditures”, pursuant to last year’s legislative … Continue reading →

According to the NY Times, Judge Jonathan Lippman will announce the adoption of a new rule at his State of the Judiciary address tomorrow, which will purportedly bar attorneys who have contributed $2,500 or more and firms that have donated … Continue reading →

Earlier this month the California Legislature passed AB 1743, which amends the Political Reform Act of 1974 to require placement agents to register as lobbyists and thereby requiring them to comply with all regulations and restrictions imposed on lobbyists. The … Continue reading →

Connecticut recently passed amendments to its Citizens’ Election Program (CEP) in response to the Second Circuit’s decisions in Green Party v. Garfield, two related decisions that we discussed here. In response to the Second Circuit’s finding that the ban on … Continue reading →

Will the message you pay for be the message that is heard?  The retail giant, Target, is receiving unwanted attention for a $150,000 contribution that the corporation made to a political group that backs pro-business candidates for statewide office in … Continue reading →

If one thinks of campaign finance and pay-to-play reforms as a tool chest, Connecticut seemed to have a wide-variety of intricately designed instruments adopted in response to corruption scandals that led to the resignation of Governor Rowland. On July 13, … Continue reading →

In this month’s edition of Waste Age, “Touting Trash” highlights how waste industry firms need to be sensitive to compliance obligations under state and local campaign finance, lobbying and gift laws. Laurence D. Laufer will be speaking on this topic … Continue reading →

We have previously discussed public pension fund reform laws and regulations in place in New Jersey (SIC Rules), New York (Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s Pension Fund Code of Conduct and Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli’s Executive Order) as well as a proposed … Continue reading →

After every citywide election, the New York City Campaign Finance Board is required by law to evaluate the success of the Campaign Finance Program.  The CFB has traditionally held a series of public hearings to comply with this mandate.  For … Continue reading →

As the case against former governor Rod Blagojevich moves forward , we take note of legislation effective January 1, 2009 that prohibits political contributions by business entities whose contracts with Illinois state agencies, in the aggregate, total more than $50,000. … Continue reading →