Compliance Notes - Vol. 2, Issue 37
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.
Our attorneys, policy advisors and compliance consultants are available to discuss any questions or how specific issues may impact your business.
If there is a particular subject or jurisdiction you’d like to see covered, please let us know.
Until then, please enjoy this installment of Compliance Notes. If you would like to have these updates delivered directly to your in-box, please click below to subscribe to our Government Relations & Regulation mailing list.
Campaign Finance & Lobbying Compliance
Igor Fruman, a former associate of Rudy Giuliani, pleaded guilty to soliciting campaign contributions from a foreign businessman who was interested in investing in a cannabis company that Fruman was pursuing. (Dan Mangan & Kevin Breuninger, CNBC)
Florida: Mike Davey, Mayor of Village of Key Biscayne, settled a campaign finance complaint with the Florida Ethics Commission and agreed to pay a $1,500 penalty. The allegations claim that Davey filed false campaign finance reports, which he attributed to a banking error and later corrected. (Islander News) A former Tallahassee mayor and head of the Florida Democratic Party, Scott Maddox, was sentenced to five years in prison for taking money from Uber and undercover FBI agents in exchange for Maddox’s influence. (Jeff Burlew, Tallahassee Democrat)
Wisconsin: Chantia Lewis, a Milwaukee alderwoman who is running for U.S. Senate, was charged by the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s office with filing false campaign finance reports and personal use of campaign funds. (Joe Kelly, Courthouse News Service)
Government Ethics & Transparency
Connecticut: The Connecticut Citizen Action Group filed a complaint with the Auditors of Public Accounts claiming that state Senate Republicans improperly used state resources by sending 50,000 allegedly misleading emails opposing an expansion of the state’s “public option” health plan. (Ken Dixon, CT Insider)
Illinois: The Illinois House voted to accept technical changes stemming from Governor Pritzker’s earlier veto of an ethics reform bill. Previously, the House had failed to accept the changes, but now that it has, the bill will go back to the Governor’s desk for his signature. (Peter Hancock, The State Journal-Register)
New York: The State Attorney General reportedly subpoenaed the Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE) for records related to former Governor Andrew Cuomo’s book documenting his handling of the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. JCOPE had previously issued guidance regarding the use of state resources, such as staff time, related to the book project. (Chris Bragg, Times Union)
South Carolina: A state lawmaker has sued the State Ethics Commission to prohibit public disclosure of a complaint by a whistleblower. The whistleblower alleged the lawmaker violated ethics rules by voting on bills affecting a business from which he had received over $100,000 through entities affiliated with the business. (AP News)