Tag: Lobbying

California Proposes Having Placement Agents Register

Placement agents would have to register as lobbyists under legislation proposed by Assemblyman Ed Hernandez (D-West Covina). The legislation would define placement agents as lobbyists in accordance with the state’s Political Reform Act. Placement agents would have to register as lobbyists before pitching investment ideas to public pension plans in California.

It seems like the big California pension funds want access for pitches from small investment firms without their own marketing staff. So they are not following the lead of New York with its outright ban on placement agents.

The bill is sponsored by State Controller John Chiang, the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS), and Treasurer Bill Lockyer.

The bill is straightforward, defining a placement agent as:

“any person or entity hired, engaged, or retained by, or acting on behalf of, an external manager, or on behalf of another placement agent, as a finder, solicitor, marketer, consultant, broker, or other intermediary to raise money or investment from, or to obtain access to, a public retirement system in California, directly or indirectly, including, without limitation, through an investment vehicle.”

There is an exemption for employees of external managers who spends at least one-third of their time managing the assets of their employer.

As a “placement agent” you are required to report quarterly on fees, compensation and gifts under the Political Reform Act (Government Code §81000-81016).

Sources:

New Massachusetts Lobbying Law is now in Effect

massachusetts-quarter

In mid-2009, the Massachusetts Legislature was rocked by the highly public federal indictments of a state senator and speaker of the Massachusetts House. In response, the legislature passed a sweeping overhaul of its campaign finance, lobbying and government ethics laws.

There are new rules in the Commonwealth that went effective on January 1. (Massachusetts is a commonwealth, not a state, which of course is longer but has no legal meaning.)

Last week, “lobbying” was limited to direct contact with elected officials or other government employees. With the new law in place, “executive lobbying” and “legislative lobbying” have much broader definitions.

“Executive lobbying,” any act to promote, oppose, influence, or attempt to influence the decision of any officer or employee of the executive branch or an authority, including but not limited to, statewide constitutional officers and employees thereof, where such decision concerns legislation or the adoption, defeat or postponement of a standard, rate, rule or regulation promulgated pursuant to any general or special law, or any act to communicate directly with a covered executive official to influence a decision concerning policy or procurement; provided further, that executive lobbying shall include acts to influence or attempt to influence the decision of any officer or employee of a city or town when those acts are intended to carry out a common purpose with executive lobbying at the state level; and provided further, that executive lobbying shall include strategizing, planning, and research if performed in connection with, or for use in, an actual communication with a government employee; and provided, further, that “executive lobbying” shall not include providing information in writing in response to a written request from an officer or employee of the executive branch or an authority for technical advice or factual information regarding a standard, rate, rule or regulation, policy or procurement for the purposes of this chapter.

You have to register if you are an “executive agent” or “legislative agent.” There are four parts of those definition:

  • engage in executive or legislative lobbying (defined by the statute)
  • receive compensation for lobbying in excess of $2,500 in a six-month reporting period as regular salary or payments for lobbying
  • spend 25 hours or more engaged in lobbying activities in the 6 month reporting period
  • personally make at least one direct lobbying communication with a government employee.

Having trouble following along? The Secretary of Commonwealth put together this flow chartpdf-2.

References:

New Massachusetts Campaign Finance, Ethics and Lobbying Law

Massachusetts-State-House

After the well-publicized scandals with Salvatore DiMasi and Dianne Wilkerson, the lawmakers on Beacon Hill passed ethics legislation yesterday banning politicians from accepting gifts and upping the consequences for ethical violations.

The Governor had threatened to veto a sales tax increase unless this act was passed, along with reforms in the pension system and the the transportation network.

Here are some of the highlights of the new ethics law:

Gift Ban

  • Prohibits public officials from accepting gifts of “substantial value” for or because of their position.
  • Bans lobbyists from giving gifts.

Tougher Penalties

  • Increases the maximum punishment for bribery to $100,000 and 10 years imprisonment.
  • Increases the maximum penalties for conflict of interest law violations involving gifts and gratuities, revolving door violations and other abuses to $10,000 and 5 years imprisonment.
  • Increases penalties for a civil violation of the conflict of interest laws from up to $2,000 per violation to up to $10,000 per violation. For bribery, the civil penalty would increase to $25,000.
  • Increases the civil penalty for a violation of the financial disclosure law from $2,000 per violation to $10,000 per violation.
  • Increases the criminal penalty for violating registration-related lobbying rules to up to $10,000 and 5 years imprisonment.

Stronger Lobbying Laws

  • Defines lobbying to include background work, strategizing, research and planning.
  • Expands the revolving door provision to apply to members of the executive branch.
  • Reduces the amount of allowable incidental lobbying from 50 hours in each 6-month reporting period to 25 hours in each 6-month reporting period.

Expanded Enforcement Authority

  • Makes compliance with the Ethics Commission’s summons mandatory.
  • Grants the Secretary of State authority to impose fines and to have the same civil enforcement authority over lobbying violations as the Ethics Commission has over ethics violations.
  • Gives the Attorney General concurrent jurisdiction with the Ethics Commission to enforce civil violations of the conflict of interest laws.

Enhanced Campaign Finance Laws

  • Eliminates arrangements between state political parties and elected officials.
  • Bars individuals from making committee checks to themselves.
  • Requires disclosure of expenditures and sources of funding for any anonymous third-party campaign mailings or ads that support or criticize a candidate or campaign.
  • Increases penalties for late-filed campaign finance reports.

Open Meetings

  • Expands and better defines the requirements of the open meeting law

References: