1. Prohibits contractors with an aggregate of $10,000 or more in state contracts within a twelve month period from contributing or raising more than $250 to the officeholder who oversees the deal.
2. Limits apply to individuals and immediate family members who are officers, serve in a managerial capacity, who are partners or have at least 5% ownership interest.
3. Limits apply to state candidates, their committees and party committees
4. Law applies to both no-bid and competitive-bid contracts
5. Pay-to Play contribution limit applies to PAC associated with business entity
6. Penalties for violators include revocation of contract, ineligibility for additional contracts for two years, and possible fines
7. Make all state contracts over a certain amount, perhaps $10,000, public.  Post the information on a website with all contracts in one place.

1. Require all appointees to Boards and Commissions to disclose all of their contributions to and fundraising for legislative and statewide candidates, candidates campaign committees and state political parties for a two year period prior to their appointment and during their term of office.
2. Limit amount of money that appointees may give to and fundraise for the office holder who has made the appointment. ( For a specified group of Boards EX. Board of Transportation, State Board of Community Colleges, UNC Board of Governors, ABC Board)  
3. Limit the contribution per year to $250.00 and fundraising per election cycle to $2,000.
4. Use federal definition of fundraising including collecting and arranging for contributions.

1. Disclose lobbyists and individuals who raise money for legislative and statewide candidates DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY

-Candidates are required to report persons engaged in fundraising for their campaign, campaign leadership PAC or political party committee when contributions equal to or exceeding $200 were collected or arranged within the calendar year, and to the extent known the aggregate amount of such contributions (or a good faith estimate thereof) within the quarter for each recipient;

2. Require all persons raising, collecting or arranging campaign contributions of more than $250 for a candidate, campaign committee, and PACS to file regular reports with the State Board of Elections detail the contributors, their address, profession, and date raised.

3. Lobbyists are required to report:  the name of each legislative and statewide candidate, leadership PAC, or political party committee for whom aggregate contributions equal to or exceeding $250 were arranged within the calendar year, and to the extent known the aggregate amount of such contributions (or a good faith estimate thereof) within the quarter for each recipient;

- Contributions are “collected” if the individual fundraiser physically takes possession of the checks and forwards them to the candidate or other recipient. Thus, if an individual fundraiser hands a candidate an envelope with checks made out to the candidate, the individual fundraiser would have to report the name of the candidate and the total amount of the checks which he delivered.

- Contributions are “arranged” under the following circumstances:

- They are “arranged” where individual fundraiser and the candidate have an “understanding” that the candidate will give the individuals “credit” for raising contributions the candidate receives, or has given the individual fundraiser such “credit.”

- The credit is based on the tracking of the contributions by the candidate, through records, designations, recognitions or other means of tracking. This includes organized bundling programs where individual fundraiser is given a title (or other recognition) to designate the amount of money they have raised or committed to raise, the use of codes or other designations that inform the candidate that the contributions have been raised by the individual fundraiser, and lists of contributions raised by the individual fundraiser.

2. They are also “arranged” where there is no prior understanding between the candidate and the individual fundraiser, but the candidate receives contributions that the candidate knows were raised by the individual fundraiser and acknowledges to the individual fundraiser that he has received such contributions.

- This covers, for example, the situation where an individual fundraiser tells a donor to identify the individual fundraiser on the donor’s contribution check and the candidate thus knows who is responsible for raising the money, even though there is no prior conversation between the candidate and the individual fundraiser about the arrangement. Under this provision, the candidate’s reporting obligation is triggered if the candidate informs the individual fundraiser that he has received contributions raised by the individual fundraiser. This would also cover a situation where the individual fundraiser tells the candidate that he has raised contributions for the candidate from certain donors, and the candidate acknowledges to the individual fundraiser that he has received the funds.

LOBBYING

1. Simplify the reporting process for lobbyists and lobbyist ’s principals.  Make it possible for lobbyists and lobbyists’ principals to file monthly or quarterly reports electronically. (  A number of Southern states including Georgia, Tennessee, Maryland, Alabama allow this.) (The estimate in Alabama to set up their system which went online last month was $100,000. There is also an estimate that their ethics Commission will handle substantially fewer pieces of paper.  It seems to me that we can make a case for saving money by having lobbying reports and SEI’s filed electronically.)
2. Have lobbyists comply with the same standards as appointees to boards and commission – a fundraising limit of $250 per office ( Follow SEC standard for Bond traders)

OPEN GOVERNMENT

1. Budget and appropriations – The budget and technical corrections bills are not the place to rewrite laws.

- Ban substantive material from the technical corrections bill

- Make budget documents available to the public at the same time they are available to legislators and staff.

- Provide a 48 hours window between the time the budget is referred to the floor and the floor vote

- Allow ample time for debate at all levels

- Make budget meetings and conference committees open ( as they are in the US Congress)

2. Make the entire legislative process open and easily accessible.

- Copies of all bills available to the public at the same time they are available to staff and posted on the internet when they go to be printed. 

- Require 24 hours notice for all meeting and for all copies of proposed committee substitutes and other proposals.

- Make conference committee meeting open.

- Conference committee reports should be filed electronically and be available to legislators, public, and members of the press at least a 2 hours before voting.

- Make agendas for all meetings available to the members, press and public on-line, and at the building at least 24 hours in advance.

- Hold committee meetings in meetings rooms and not around members’ desks.

- Ban blank bills and stripping of bills.

- Make better use of time and allow for pre-filing of bills.

CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM

ENCOURAGE A SERIOUS AND COMPREHENSIVE STUDY OF COMPENSATION FOR LEGISLATIVE STAFF AND LEGISLATORS

1. It has been sixteen years since there was any change in compensation for legislators and legislative staff.  It is time to examine our compensation system and determine the best way to make cure that staff and legislators receive appropriate compensation.