As required by Act 70 of 2021, Pennsylvania lobbyists and lobbying firms must file their initial equity reports by October 7, 2021. The reports disclose either the total value or percentage of equity held by a lobbyist or...more
On January 20, 2021, President Joe Biden signed an executive order, “Ethics Commitments by Executive Branch Personnel,” requiring certain appointees to sign an ethics pledge (Biden Pledge). Similar to presidential ethics...more
2/9/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Ethics ,
Executive Orders ,
Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) ,
Foreign Governments ,
Gifts ,
Golden Parachutes ,
Lobbying ,
Lobbying Disclosure Act ,
OMB ,
Presidential Appointments ,
Trump Administration
On June 25, 2020, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that Jack Abramoff intends to plead guilty to criminal violations of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 (LDA), in what is the first known criminal prosecution under...more
7/1/2020
/ Criminal Prosecution ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Disclosure ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Ethics ,
Guilty Pleas ,
Lobbying ,
Lobbying Disclosure Act ,
Lobbyists ,
Marijuana ,
Political Campaigns ,
Registration Requirement ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Transparency
As federal, state and local governments grapple with the COVID-19 outbreak, a number of jurisdictions have modified certain ethics, lobbying and campaign finance requirements in response to the crisis. Below, we describe...more
3/27/2020
/ Amended Rules ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Donations ,
Electronic Filing ,
Ethics ,
Executive Orders ,
Exemptions ,
Federal Election Commission (FEC) ,
Gifts ,
Governor Cuomo ,
Late Fees ,
Lobbying ,
PACs ,
Political Contributions ,
Public Officials ,
Relief Measures ,
Reporting Requirements ,
State of Emergency
On Election Day in 2018, voters in three states approved amendments to rules involving a variety of ethics reforms involving lobbying, contributions and gifts....more
12/21/2018
/ Amended Legislation ,
Ballot Measures ,
Campaign Finance Reform ,
Charter Amendments ,
City Councils ,
Constitutional Amendment ,
Contribution Limits ,
Cooling-Off Rule ,
Ethics ,
General Assembly ,
Gifts ,
Lobbying ,
Local Ordinance ,
PACs ,
Political Contributions ,
Public Officials ,
State and Local Government ,
State Legislatures
This mailing summarizes Missouri's new requirements for certain federal PACs and Maine's new requirement that lobbyists attend in-person anti-harassment training....more
Below, we have summarized recent developments regarding New York and Kansas lobbying requirements.
New York Lobbying Regulations -
On April 24, 2018, the New York Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE) voted to...more
5/16/2018
/ Disclosure Requirements ,
Equity Compensation ,
Ethics ,
Exemptions ,
Lobbying ,
Meals-Gifts-and Entertainment Rules ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Salespersons ,
Source of Payments ,
State and Local Government ,
State Procurement Contracts
On January 28, 2017, President Donald Trump signed an executive order titled “Ethics Commitments by Executive Branch Appointees” (the Order). This Order requires every full-time political appointee to sign an Ethics Pledge...more
2/7/2017
/ Barack Obama ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Ethics ,
Executive Appointments ,
Executive Branch ,
Executive Orders ,
Former Employee ,
Gifts ,
Lobbying ,
Presidential Nominations ,
Trump Administration
On Wednesday, August 24, 2016, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed into law an ethics package (the Bill) including campaign finance, lobbying and disclosure amendments. Below, we briefly summarize key provisions that (i) expand...more
On September 26, 2014, the New York State Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE) announced that “Ethics for Lobbyists,” an online ethics training course, is now available. The training course covers ethics rules and...more
On April 23, 2014, Virginia adopted Senate Bill 649 amending the state's ethics laws. Effective July 1, 2014, the amendments, among other things, impose a gift limit on certain government officers and employees from...more