Welcome to the May edition of the Political Law Playbook.  This edition’s federal coverage details the current lack of a quorum at the Federal Election Commission (“FEC”) with the departure of another commissioner, as well as another attempt by some in Congress to close an enforcement loophole with the Foreign Agents Registration Act (“FARA”).  At the state level, our coverage includes a pair of election law stories from the Empire State involving former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New York’s new state election calendar, as well coverage of a new Indiana law that prohibits foreign political spending in the state.  We also go international, detailing some updates to the lobbying framework of the European Parliament.

Federal Elections & Campaign Finance

FEC Loses Quorum As Commissioner Resigns – Late last month, FEC Commissioner Allen Dickerson, a Republican, announced his decision to step down from his post.  He was nominated by President Trump and confirmed by the Senate to serve on the commission in 2020, with his term set to expire April 30 of this year.  The FEC is made up of six members with no more than three from each party, ensuring some amount of bipartisanship in its decisions. Four members must be present for a quorum, but Dickerson’s resignation will lower the number to three.  At this point, the FEC is unable to conduct business on various issues, including issuing opinions on cases and acting on campaign finance violations.

FEC Adopts Updated Sample Donor Form for LLCs – Last month, the FEC adopted a sample donor response form that can be used as an example for committees that seek and accept contributions from limited liability companies (LLCs).  The form will help satisfy a committee requirement to show its "best efforts" to obtain, maintain, and submit information mandated by law.  By requesting completion of the sample form by the donor following the receipt of the contribution, a committee is in a stronger position to be in compliance.  Current regulations require LLCs provide accurate and complete attribution information to the recipient committee at the time that a contribution is made.  The LLC must also affirm to the recipient committee that the LLC is eligible to make the contribution.

Foreign Agents Registration Act

Sens. Grassley and Peters Introduce Bill to Close FARA Retroactive Registration Loophole – Earlier this month, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Ranking Member Gary Peters (D-MI) introduced the Foreign Agents Transparency Act to ensure unregistered foreign agents are unable to sidestep disclosure requirements by exploiting judicial misinterpretations of FARA.  The bill would amend FARA to enable the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to require an unregistered foreign agent to retroactively register its activities under FARA even after the agent’s relationship with its foreign principal ceases.  The bill’s proposed amendments would apply to any persons or entities considered to be agents of a foreign principal, as defined under FARA, beginning on the date of the bill’s enactment or in the five-year period prior to it.  The motivation for the bill stems from the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia 2022 decision in Attorney General of the United States vs. Wynn,  where the court ruled that casino magnate Steve Wynn could not be held liable for failing to register as a foreign agent because he stopped lobbying on behalf of the Chinese government before the lawsuit was filed.  The decision was upheld by the D.C. Court of Appeals in 2024 as covered in a recent edition of the Playbook.

Non-Federal Elections & Campaign Finance

Michigan AG Determines SOS Benson Violated State Campaign Finance Law – Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel's office recently determined that Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson broke the state's campaign finance law on the day she announced her bid for governor, but there's no mechanism to penalize Benson, who's in charge of overseeing campaign finance in Michigan.  Benson held a press conference on January 22 inside the Richard H. Austin Building to take questions from reporters as she launched her bid for the state's top office.  The arrangement violated a section of the Michigan Campaign Finance Act that bars public bodies from using their funds or office space to contribute to a candidate.

Andrew Cuomo Loses Out on $600K for Suspected Super PAC Coordination – New York City campaign finance regulators withheld more than $600,000 in public funds from Andrew Cuomo’s mayoral campaign earlier this month, saying they suspect him of illegally coordinating with a super PAC supporting his bid.  The New York City Campaign Finance Board matches qualifying donations of up to $250 by $8 to $1 for mayoral contenders and caps their spending in exchange.  The board has warned that campaigns found to be coordinating with super PACs could be ineligible for public funds and made to repay money already received.  The board stated that it had reason to believe that an ad run by the super PAC Fix the City for $622,056 was not done independently of Cuomo’s campaign.

Appeals Court Rules NY New Even-Year Election Law is Constitutional – A New York state appeals court has ruled that New York state law that will move many local elections to line up with state and federal elections in even‑numbered years is constitutional, reversing a lower court judge's decision last fall.  At issue was a law passed by the New York State Legislature and signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul in December 2023 that moves several local elections outside of New York City to even-numbered years starting this year, with the exception of some city or village elections, and races for county clerk, sheriff, district attorneys, local judges and others protected in the state Constitution.  Advocates for the law argued the change will boost voter turnout in local elections.  Opponents have feared the change will mean local interests will have to compete for attention with more widely covered state and national issues.

Non-Federal Lobbying & Ethics

Court Upholds Racketeering Convictions of ex-Ohio House Speaker and Lobbyist in $60M Bribery Scheme – A federal appeals court upheld the racketeering convictions of former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and an ex‑lobbyist earlier this month in a $60 million bribery scandal described as the largest corruption scheme in state history.  Householder was convicted of masterminding a $60 million bribery scheme funded by Akron-based FirstEnergy Corp. to elect allies, secure power, pass a $1 billion bailout of two of its affiliated nuclear plants and then defend the bill, known as House Bill 6, from a repeal effort.  Householder, a Republican, was sentenced to 20 years in prison, and lobbyist and former Ohio Republican Party chair Matt Borges was sentenced to five years in prison.

Indiana Bans Foreign Donors to Ballot Measure Committees, Joining Other States – Last month, the Indiana legislature passed, and Gov. Mike Braun signed, a law that prohibits foreign national contributions to political committees, including ballot measure committees.  Indiana joins Kansas, Kentucky, and Wyoming in enacting such restrictions this year.  With four bills passed so far, 2025 marks the highest number of states enacting laws restricting foreign contributions in a single year.

International Lobbying & Ethics

European Parliament Toughens Lobbying Rules – The European Parliament has toughened its rules on lobbying more than two years after a cash-for-influence scandal that triggered one of the largest corruption investigations to hit the EU.  Starting May 1, anyone entering the Parliament’s buildings to advocate on behalf of outside bodies has been forced to activate badges and register the purpose of their visit.  The plan aims to keep tabs on who is talking to whom in the wake of what became known as “Qatargate” ― named after one of the countries linked to allegedly offering cash and gifts in return for favors.

Practice Pointers

This edition’s Practice Pointers reminds our loyal readers that lurking over the Memorial Day Weekend horizon is a busy summer reporting schedule for those engaging in campaign finance and lobbying activities across the country.  While some states and localities have June reporting dates, on the whole, and particularly at the federal level, June offers a final opportunity to get compliance systems running in high gear to handle the July deluge of reporting deadlines.  Not only does July mean Q2 reports for lobbying at the federal and many state/local levels.  As 2025 is a non-election year, July will also be the first reporting deadline for non-monthly PAC filers with the FEC, covering the first half of 2025.  The Dentons Political Law Team has extensive experience assisting entities with the creation and administration of internal compliance and reporting frameworks in the campaign finance and lobbying space.  As such, please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions if you anticipate having needs in the summer reporting push.