Erin Lama, Regulators Share Enforcement Insights

Politicom Law’s Erin Lama assembled a panel of federal, state and local regulators to discuss key enforcement developments throughout North America at the annual conference of the Council on Governmental Ethics Laws (COGEL), which was held in Toronto, Canada.

Joining Ms. Lama for the discussion was Kathleen Guith, Associate General Counsel for Enforcement at the U.S. Federal Election Commission, Heather Holt, the Executive Director of the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission, Brian Jacisin, Director of Investigations with the Pennsylvania State Ethics Commission, and Stephen Littlejohn, Counsel for Inquiries & Investigations with the City of Toronto Office of the Lobbyist Registrar.

Looking ahead to 2018 where many states will have high-profile federal and/or state elections, the panel discussed investigations and enforcements focusing on the proper disclosure of campaign contributions and attempts to hide donors through non-profits and other organizations.  In addition to campaign finance matters, the panel also addressed recent investigations, enforcements, advisory opinions, rules, regulations, and litigation regarding lobbying and governmental ethics matters.

At the conference session, Politicom also published the COGEL Blue Book: Enforcement Update 2017: What’s New in Investigations & Enforcements (linked), which highlighted key observations and trends from an annual survey of federal, state and local enforcement agencies throughout the U.S. and Canada.