Does your company do business with state and local governments? Before you say “no” perhaps you should check with the contracting team to make sure. Then ask if they intend to begin negotiating to sell your goods or services to state and local government entities. If so, start paying attention to pay to play restrictions.
Pay to Play restrictions on political contributions mean that your organization, associated political action committee, certain individuals within the organization and sometimes the spouses of those individuals are prohibited from making political contribution in jurisdictions if your organization has or intends to have government contracts. Some jurisdictions prohibit political contributions within a certain time period prior to the contract while others prohibit political contributions while the contract is in effect or the candidate receiving the contribution is still in office. Each state has their own separate pay to play rules which makes navigating the pay to play waters extremely complicated and dangerous.
As pay to play restrictions become more common and the implications of non-compliance become more serious, organizations must pay attention. Pay to Play regulations are in force in over half the states in the country and affect almost every industry. Punishment ranges from fines to loss of the contract and your organization may be prohibited from participating in contracts for a specified time period after the pay to play violation.
