As the reader’s of this blog know well, the State of Maryland has been hard at work over the past few years refining and retooling its pay-to-play framework for those contracting with or otherwise doing business with Annapolis or local governments across the Old Line State. In late August, companies with one or more Maryland government contracts valued at $200,000 or more were obligated to file their first semi-annual disclosure reports under the state’s newest regulatory regime. With the second round of reports coming due in November, the State Board of Elections (SBOE) has finally proposed regulations for public comment that deserve the attention of our readers and all businesses engaged in government procurement activities in Maryland.
The proposed regulations, which were published in the Maryland State Register last Friday, provide important insight into how the SBOE plans on administering and enforcing the currently-operative, pay-to-play framework. The released rules touch on a wide range of significant subjects, including registration procedures and timelines, disclosure protocols for registrants with parent companies, certification and affidavit systems for registrants, waiver procedures, and internal corporate reporting mandates.
These are the “details” made famous by the phrase “The Devil is in . . . “
From the registration perspective, SBOE’s regulations seek to speed up the timeline by which prospective registrants are obligated to submit their initial political contribution reports following the award of a covered contract or contracts. These initial disclosures, covering the two years leading up to the start of the procurement, would effectively become same-day reports contemporaneously due at the time the agreement is signed. This tweak to the statutorily-referenced “one business day” deadline is minor, but would undoubtedly place greater time pressure on prospective state and local contractors to complete their pre-contract, due diligence concerning organizational political activity.
In the technical disclosure context, the recently-released regulations help to clarify the disclosure obligations of registrants with corporate parent entities, and likewise seek to formalize the certification requirements for registrants who have no reportable contributions in a given disclosure period. For registering companies with parent entities, the SBOE’s proposed rules confirm that only the immediate parent of a registrant with a qualifying contract need register and report with the state for pay-to-play purposes (provided the parent company possesses the requisite 30% ownership or controlling stake in the registrant). The regulations also attempt to clarify the meaning of the terms ownership and control as they relate to this standard.
For registrants with qualifying Maryland contracts but no applicable political contributions in a given disclosure period, the new regulations also specify the process by which proper notice of this fact may be given to the SBOE. Specifically, the regulations allow for an electronic system through which registrants can certify that no reportable contributions were given and list their qualifying procurement relationships with state and/or local governments in Maryland.
In addition to the above subject matters, the proposed SBOE regulations also provide meaningful insight into the state’s proposed waiver system for registrants seeking leave of the standard procedures for contribution disclosure, contract reporting, and the payment of late filing fees. The released rules also shed light on how the SBOE believes the internal corporate reporting mandates contained in the present pay-to-play structure should be implemented.
All of the rules and regulations set forth in SBOE’s proposal are open for public comment until November 16, 2015. We here at Pay-to-Play Law Blog anticipate a wide range of letters of opposition and support for the proposed rules and will be ready to offer further insight on any major changes incorporated into the final adopted provisions.
