RECENT LOBBYING, ETHICS & CAMPAIGN FINANCE UPDATES

We read the news, cut through the noise and provide you the notes.

Welcome to Compliance Notes from Nossaman’s Government Relations & Regulation Group – a periodic digest of the headlines, statutory and regulatory changes and court cases involving campaign finance, lobbying compliance, election law and government ethics issues at the federal, state and local level.

Please enjoy this installment of Compliance Notes. 

Campaign Finance & Lobbying Compliance

Colorado: Colorado’s second-highest court on August 1, 2024, concluded that the state’s requirement that ballot issue advocacy groups disclose the name of their legal representative on their election communications violates the First Amendment. By 2-1, a three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals believed there was no material benefit to the public from knowing who the registered agents are for groups that advocate for or against ballot measures. Judge Jerry N. Jones, writing for the majority, noted that Colorado is the only state with such a requirement in its campaign finance laws. Secretary of State Jena Griswold said in a statement Coloradans “deserve to know who is trying to sway their vote,” and she hoped to see the decision overturned. (Michael Karlik, Colorado Politics)

Indiana: A long-running challenge to Indiana’s campaign financing rules is returning to the District Court of Southern Indiana following a Seventh Circuit panel’s ruling in favor of a SuperPAC and its contributor on Thursday, August 8, 2024. A three-judge panel unanimously ruled to vacate a March 2022 order from the lower court that barred Indiana company Sarkes Tarzian Inc. from contributing $10,000 to the Indiana Right to Life Victory Fund, an anti-abortion political action committee. The state rules in question set limits of between $2,000 and $5,000 for corporate donations to candidates and political committees, depending on the nature of the recipient. The panel found the campaign finance rules inconsistent with the First Amendment and remanded the case to the lower court with instructions to enjoin it. (Dave Byrnes, Courthouse News Service)

Missouri: A federal appeals court ruled Missouri’s ban on lawmakers and legislative staff working as lobbyists for two years after leaving office is unconstitutional. First enacted in 2018 as part of a voter-approved initiative called “Clean Missouri,” the revolving-door law was designed to prevent corruption and the appearance of corruption. However, on July 29, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit overturned the district court’s decision and found the restriction violates the First Amendment. Missouri failed to show it has a compelling anti-corruption interest and that its lobbying ban is narrowly tailored to achieve that interest. (Jason Hancock, Missouri Independent)

Government Ethics & Transparency

North Carolina: The North Carolina Attorney General’s Office said Monday, August 12, 2024 that it is eyeing a political action committee created by billionaire Elon Musk following a complaint to the state election board over the PAC’s collection of personal data while failing to help users register to vote as promised. Later the same day, the North Carolina Board of Elections told CNBC that it had opened an investigation into Musk’s America PAC. The new inquiries and a similar one announced by Michigan’s secretary of state’s office follow a report by CNBC that America PAC was asking website users in battleground states for personal data— such as ZIP code, complete address and phone number — under the pretext of helping them register to vote without doing so. It is a crime under North Carolina law “for someone to fail to submit a voter’s registration form if that person has told a voter that they would be submitting the voter’s registration form,” the board’s spokesman, Patrick Gannon, told CNBC. (Brian Schwartz, CNBC)

Tennessee: Republican U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles of Tennessee said Tuesday, August 13, 2024, the FBI confiscated his cellphone in an investigation into issues with his campaign finance reporting. The first-term member of the conservative Freedom Caucus said on the social platform X that the FBI took his phone last Friday, August 9, 2024, and he promised to fully cooperate with the agency, saying he already has done so with the Federal Election Commission. Ogles said his understanding is the FBI is investigating “mistakes in our initial financial filings” that have been “widely reported for months.” Among the discrepancies: Ogles had reported he loaned his 2022 campaign $320,000, but in recent months adjusted the report to remove the loan. Ogles later amended his filings in May 2024 to show that he only loaned his campaign $20,000, telling news outlets that he originally meant to “pledge” $320,000 to use toward his campaign, but that pledge was mistakenly included in his campaign reports. (Jonathan Mattise & Kimberlee Kruesi, AP News)