Compliance Notes, Vol. 6, Issue 6 | Nossaman LLP
RECENT LOBBYING, ETHICS & CAMPAIGN FINANCE UPDATES
Campaign Finance & Lobbying Compliance
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Ranking Member Gary Peters (D-Mich.) introduced the Foreign Agents Transparency Act to ensure those acting in the United States as unregistered foreign agents are unable to avoid disclosure requirements under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). In 2022, a DC federal district judge ruled that a foreign agent could not be compelled to register retroactively as a foreign agent because he stopped lobbying on behalf of the Chinese government before the lawsuit was filed. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit upheld this ruling in 2024. Senators Grassley and Peters said that, if the Department of Justice (DOJ) sues an unregistered foreign agent to force compliance with FARA, the unregistered agent could decide to end the agent relationship and not be required to make a public disclosure. The Foreign Agents Transparency Act would require that individuals who have not registered as foreign agents regarding their work have an ongoing obligation to register, even after ceasing to act on behalf of a foreign principal. (News Release & Bill text: Foreign Agents Transparency Act)
West Virginia: The West Virginia House of Delegates rejected a bill that would have allowed businesses and corporations in the state to donate up to $2,800 to political candidates directly. The body voted 54-41 against House Bill 2719, which would have removed language in the state code that barred corporations, “membership organizations,” and businesses from donating directly to political candidates. The bill would have allowed any business incorporated by the West Virginia Secretary of State’s Office to give up to $2,800 to a candidate per election cycle. Supporters of the bill said it would increase transparency for corporate political giving in West Virginia as, for the first time, money given by businesses would be listed and made public through financial disclosures instead of being siphoned through a Political Action Committee or Super PAC. But the majority who voted down the legislation held deep concerns about how the bill would inject more money into politics, giving wider influence to those who could afford to buy favor and interest versus those who could not but would be forced to live with the consequences. The vote on the bill marked the first time this session that a majority of Republicans in the House sided with Democrats against legislation and the first bill in either chamber this year to be denied through a floor vote. (Caity Coyne, West Virginia Watch)
Government Ethics & Transparency
Tennessee: President Trump pardoned a former Republican Tennessee lawmaker who was two weeks into a 21-month prison sentence for an illegal campaign finance scheme that he pleaded guilty to in 2022, before he tried unsuccessfully to take back his plea. In November 2022, former state Sen. Brian Kelsey pleaded guilty to charges related to his attempts to funnel campaign money from his state legislative seat toward his failed 2016 congressional bid. In March 2023, Kelsey was unsuccessful in his attempt to rescind his guilty plea. Kelsey, who had been ordered to report to FCI Ashland’s minimum security satellite camp in Kentucky on February 24, announced the pardon in a social media post on Tuesday evening. (CBS News)
Legislation & Ballot Measures
Oregon: Landing a measure on the Oregon ballot could be more time-consuming and expensive under a pair of provisions lawmakers are considering putting before voters next year. Under House Joint Resolution 3, which is solely sponsored by Republicans, petitions would need to overcome the 6% or 8% signature thresholds in each of Oregon’s 36 counties to qualify for the ballot. State Sen. Todd Nash (R-Enterprise) said the county requirement would help ensure that only broadly palatable proposals are considered. HJR 3 also would seek to bar anyone except Oregon voters from spending to support or oppose a ballot measure — a provision designed to prevent an avalanche of outside money that often makes its way to ballot fights in the state. House Joint Resolution 11 offers a less restrictive approach. It would require that petition signatures be “divided equally” among the state’s congressional districts rather than creating a county-based requirement. HJR 11 also would increase the signature threshold to qualify measures: 8% for proposals to amend state statutes and 10% for proposals to amend the Oregon Constitution. HJR 3 and HJR 11 currently sit in the House Rule Committee, with no further hearings scheduled. (Dirk VanderHart, OPB)
