Here is our January – March calendar. If you are attending any of the coming events, please stop by and say hello!

January 2-5   Women In Government’s – 20th Annual State Director’s Conference, Phoenix, Arizona

January 12-17   Public Affairs Institute, Laguna Beach, California

January 22-24   The United States Conference of Mayors’ 82nd Winter Meeting, Washington, D.C.

January 30 – February 1   NCSL Executive Committee Meeting & NCSL Foundation Board Meeting, Austin, Texas

February 3-6   Public Affairs Council National Grassroots Conference, Miami Beach, Florida

March 3-6   Public Affairs Council National PAC Conference, Miami Beach, Florida

March 16-19   NASPO Marketing to State Governments, San Diego, California

I really can’t stay – Baby it’s cold outside
I’ve got to go away – Baby it’s cold outside
This evening has been – Been hoping that you’d drop in
So very nice – I’ll hold your hands, they’re just like ice

We all love the holidays with the lights, songs, and snow…But, it sure is cold out there. So this is a perfect time to plan your professional development for 2014, especially the Public Affairs Conference Grassroots and Political Action Committee conferences.

The Grassroots conference is in Miami Beach, February 3-6, and is full of programs.  This year there are four new tracks to help with your needs—Core, Creative Solutions, Communications, and Challenges. The list of sessions includes:

1. How Do I Raise My Profile with Michael Jacobson, U.S. Travel Association;

2. How Capitol Hill is Changing the Way the Way It Listens to Constituents with Faiz Shakir, Office of U.S. Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid;

3. Can Siri Advocate with Michael Panetta, Beekeeper Group;

4. The Fly-In: Back with a Vengeance with Caitlin Donohue, National Restaurant Association; and

5. My personal favorite, Ethics, Gift Rules and Legal Updates for an Election Year with Ken Gross, Skadden Arps.

The PAC conference is in South Beach, March 3-6, and also has four learning tracks—PAC Management, Communications Strategies, Fundraising Tools, and PAC Plus. The list of sessions includes:

1. Looking at 2014 and Beyond with Sara Fagen, DDC Advocacy;

2. Managing Political Contributions at the State Level with Dominick Ciaraldo, Comcast;

3. How Data is Transforming Elections and Politics with Sasha Issenberg, author of The Victory Lab; and

4. Again, my favorites, Legal Guidance for Corporate PACs with Ken Gross, Skadden Arps and Legal Guidance for Association PACS with Michael Toner, Wiley Rein LLP.

I know it can be difficult to convince supervisors that conferences in Florida are a good investment. But, these really are a good investment of funds and time. Check out www.pac.org for more information.

On behalf of the staff at State and Federal Communications, we wish you a very Happy New Year. We look forward to continuing to be your trusted advisers in 2014.

Thank you,

Elizabeth Z. Bartz
President and CEO
@elizabethbartz

Lobbying

“The Life Of A Lobbyist In A Do-Nothing Congress” by Peter Overby on Georgia Public Broadcasting.

“K Street sizes up retiring lawmakers” by Kevin Bogardus in The Hill.

“Patton Boggs, Locke Lord call off merger talks” by Catherine Ho in The Washington Post.

Campaign Finance

Maryland: “Gansler recused himself from state election ruling” by Erin Cox in The Baltimore Sun.

Ohio: “Campaign-finance effort fought” by Josh Jarman in the Columbus Dispatch.

Ethics

“Senate Passes Bill to Expand FEC Fines” by Kent Cooper in Roll Call’s Political MoneyLine.

South Carolina: “House Ethics to hear case over state plane use” by Seanna Adcox (Associated Press) in The Greenville News.

Washington: “Free Meal Complaint Against Lawmakers Dismissed, ‘Serious Concerns’ Remain” by Austin Jenkins in Northwest Public Radio.

Elections

Florida: “Florida elections opinion could make uncovering fraud more difficult” by Patricia Mazzei in the Miami Herald.

State Legislatures

“New Hampshire’s state legislature is nine times larger than Nebraska’s” by Niraj Chokshi in The Washington Post.

Michigan: “2013 in the Michigan Legislature: Some common ground, but more partisan wounds that need to heal” by Jonathan Oosting in Michigan Live.

Government Tech and Social Media

“Half of Md. lawmakers with Twitter accounts neglect to comply with disclosure rule” by John Wagner in The Washington Post.

Lobbying

“Top 10 lobbying victories of 2013” by Kevin Bogardus in The Hill.

“Rhoden: Let’s ban lawmaker lobbying” by David Montgomery in the Argus Leader.

Massachusetts: “Feds indict ex-CFO of firm tied to disgraced lobbyist” by Eric Convey in the Boston Business Journal.

Campaign Finance

Alabama: “Committee looks for way to put teeth in Alabama campaign finance law” by Kim Chandler in The Birmingham News.

Alabama: “New fines for campaign finance violations can’t be enforced by secretary of state” by Kim Chandler in The Birmingham News.

Arkansas: “Ex-legislator admits filing inaccurate campaign finance reports” by John Lyon in Arkansas News.

Arkansas: “Ethics Commission hears report on possible mishandling of funds by Darr” by John Lyon in Arkansas News.

Illinois: “Campaign accounts fund luxuries for some lawmakers” by Kim Geiger in the Chicago Tribune.

New Mexico: “New Mexico campaign spending limits overturned” by Susan Montoya Bryan (Associated Press) in the Houston Chronicle.

Wisconsin: “Campaign finance bill eases restrictions on Wisconsin lobbyists and wealthy contributors” by Jack Craver in The Capital Times.

Ethics

Georgia: “Ethics agency could debate ceding control to outside group” by Greg Bluestein and Shannon McCaffrey in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Elections

California: “State Legislature To Consider Doing Away With Special Elections” by Claire Trageser in KPBS.

State Legislative Issues

Iowa: “Lawmakers gearing up for 2014 work” by Rod Boshart in the Quad-City Times.

Redistricting

Florida: “Legislators destroyed documents during redistricting” by Mary Ellen Klas in the Miami Herald.

Government Tech and Social Media

“Best of the Web & Digital Government Achievement Awards 2013 – Winners Announced” by Janet Grenslitt in Government Technology.

Lobbying

“The Lobbyists’ Lament” by Haley Barbour and Ed Rogers in Politico.

“K St. mints money from regs surge” by Megan R. Wilson in The Hill.

California: “Santa Clara County supervisors move forward on strengthening lobbyist regulations” by Eric Kurhi in the San Jose Mercury News.

Pennsylvania: “Ethics panel clears Penn Foundation in lobbying probe” by Kristen Graham in The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Campaign Finance

Arizona: “Arizona high court upholds higher campaign-contribution limits” by Mary Jo Pitzl in the Arizona Republic.

Colorado: “Court tightens campaign finance, budget showdown coming, more” by Edie Edelstein in the Colorado Springs Independent.

Massachusetts: “Outside spending on mayoral finalists hit $3.8m” by Wesley Lowerey in the Boston Globe.

South Carolina: “SC politics: Ethics panel weighs case against legislator” by Jamie Self in The State.

Ethics

“New FEC Chairman Chosen to Lead Agency During Election Year” by Kent Cooper in Roll Call.

Massachusetts: “Attorneys testify on ethics conflict proposal” by C. Ryan Barber in the Cape Cod Times.

Massachusetts: “Ethics Commission held at Statehouse; Would exempt political candidates” by Christine Lee in WWLP News.

Congress

“3 reps won’t run again, shaking 2014” by Alex Isenstadt in Politico.

State Legislative Issues

California: “California’s Crucial 2014 Races” by Curtis Tate in Governing.

Illinois: “Quinn drops appeal of lawmaker paycheck lawsuit” by Monique Garcia in the Chicago Tribune.

Pennsylvania: “Pa. House takes historic step toward shrinking size of General Assembly” by Jan Murphy in The Patriot-News.

Government Tech and Social Media

Rhode Island: “R.I. government website removes news stories reprinted without permission” by Philip Marcelo in the Providence Journal.

Lobbying

“Lobbyists: ‘Misunderstood’ in poll” by Tal Kopan in Politico.

Campaign Finance

“There’s No Way to Follow the Money” by Lee Aitken in The Atlantic.

Arizona: “For all the campaign finance limit marbles” by The Yellow Sheet Report in the Arizona Capitol Times.

Minnesota: “Minn. campaign money regulator promises to fix problems leading to faulty finance data” by The Associated Press in The Republic.

Ethics

“Report: Chinese hackers attacked crucial government election website” on CNN Politics.

“Ethics Committee Will Investigate Trey Radel” by Emma Dumain in Roll Call.

Florida: “Ethics commission offers advice on use of office” by Bill Cotterell in The Florida Current.

Legislative Issues

“Lackluster Final Score for Congress This Year: 8 to 22” by David Hawkings in Roll Call.

“Angry About Partisan Gridlock in Washington? Blame the States.” By Donald F. Kettl in Governing.

Louisiana: “Lawsuit challenging Louisiana’s congressional districts withdrawn” by The Associated Press in The Times-Picayune.

New Jersey: “State legislative panels scramble to advance hundreds of bills” by Michael Phillis and Leslie Brody in the Bergen Record.

Lobbying

“Poll: Lobbyists rank last on ethics” by Tal Kopan in Politico.

“Business to Boehner: Hit ’em hard” by Ken Bogardus in The Hill.

California: “Report: Special Interest Groups Paid Lobbyists Millions to Influence City Officials” by Alexander Nguyen in the Pacific Palisades Patch.

Campaign Finance

“Politicians move to rake in more campaign cash” by Fredreka Schouten in the Detroit Free Press.

“United Association’s Pipelines Move $651K in Political Funds” by Kent Cooper in Roll Call’s Political MoneyLine.

Michigan: “Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder signals ʹevolutionʹ on issue ads as campaign finance bill reaches desk” by  Jonathan Oosting in Michigan Live.

Michigan: “Campaign bills win final OK from Mich. Legislature” by Bob Brenzing in WZZM 13 News.

Mississippi: “Attorney General Jim Hood appealing federal judge’s ruling on Mississippi campaign finance law” by The Associated Press in The Mississippi Press.

Missouri: “Mo. legislature to look at campaign ethics laws” by Dan Verbeck on KBIA Mid-Missouri Public Radio.

Ethics

Alaska: “Rep. Bob Herron fined $5,000 for ethics violation” by Jim Paulin in the Bristol Bay Times.

Maine: “Maine campaign ethics panel expands scope of Lewiston casino campaign inquest” by Scott Thistle in the Bangor Daily News.

Ohio: “Concerns raised over Ohio disclosure exemptions” by The Associated Press in the San Francisco Chronicle.

The Joint Commission on Public Ethics is performing maintenance on its Lobbying Online Filing System beginning today.

The system will not be accessible starting Friday at 4 p.m. through Monday until 8:00 a.m.

Filers will be unable to log into the system and no electronic filings or amendments will be accepted while the system is down.

Also, the data contained in the system will not be accessible by the public during the shutdown.

Here is our December – January calendar. If you are attending any of the coming events, please stop by and say hello!

December 3, 2013   Weatherhead 100, Cleveland, Ohio

December 3, 2013   State and Federal Communications, Inc. Holiday Party, Akron, Ohio

December 3, 2013   Ohio Holiday Party, Washington, D.C.

December 4, 2013   NCSL Foundation Dinner, Washington, D.C.

December 4-7, 2013   NCSL Fall Forum, Washington, D.C.

December 5, 2013   Reception honoring Sen. Debbie Smith, NCSL President-elect

December 8-10, 2013  Council on Government Ethics Laws Annual Conference, Quebec City, Quebec

December 12, 2013   SGAC Holiday Party, Washington, D.C.

December 12, 2013   DDC Holiday Party, Washington, D.C.

December 17, 2013   WASRG Holiday Happy Hour for the Kids, Washington, D.C.

January 12-16, 2014   Public Affairs Institute, Laguna Beach, California

January 22-24, 2014   United States Conference of Mayors 2014 Winter Meeting, Washington, D.C.

Lobbying

“Partying Within the Rules | K Street Files” by Kate Ackley in Roll Call.

“San Francisco sues former Supervisor Michael Yaki” by John Coté in the San Francisco Chronicle.

Campaign Finance

“Mitch McConnell’s Campaign Stumbles on Easy Steps” by Kent Cooper in Roll Call’s Political MoneyLine.

Delaware: “State prepares to roll out campaign finance website” by James Dawson on NPR.

New York: “Future Of Public Campaign Finance Uncertain” by Karen DeWitt in WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Ethics

Hawaii: “City’s lawyer subverting ethics panel, director says” by Gordon Y.K. Pang in the Honolulu Star Advertiser.

Kentucky: “Ethics Reporter: Celebrating 20 years of one of most comprehensive ethics laws in nation” by the Kentucky Legislative Ethics Commission in KyForward.

Virginia: “Ethics reforms unlikely to include criminal penalties, Marshall says” by Andrew Cain in the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

Congress

“Play of the Day: The Do-Nothing Congress Sets a Record” by Reena Flores in Government Executive.

“ʹDo-Nothingʹ Label Belongs to Democrats, Boehner Says (Video)” by JM Rieger in Roll Call.

“Voting By Electronic Device — In the Senate?” by Niels Lesniewski in Roll Call.

Government Tech and Social Media

“Ruck.us Dies Down; Yet Another Political Social Network Goes Bust” by Micah Sifry in TechPresident.

“California Lt. Governor Wants Cloud and Open Data Policies” by Brian Heaton in Government Technology.

“In Ottawa, Open Data App Competition Mysteriously Disappears” by Jessica McKenzie in TechPresident.

“For Some Feds, the Mobile Revolution Means the Workday Never Ends” in NextGov.

Lobbying

“K Street shop closing after three decades” by Kevin Bogardus in The Hill.

“Lobbying World” in The Hill.

“Bottom Line” in The Hill.

“Lobbying Dollars Drop Off During Least Productive Congress” by Amanda Terkel in the Huffington Post.

“Intense lobbying threatens farm bill” by Dave Rogers in Politico.

California: “Local government, agencies ring up sizable lobbying tabs in D.C.” by Raju Chebium and Jeff Mitchell in The Californian.

Missouri: “Trips, golf and World Series tickets; Missouri lobbyists gifts surge in October” by Walker Moskop in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Campaign Finance

“Campaign-Finance Reformers Criticize SEC Move” by Thomas Catan in The Wall Street Journal.

“Donʹt support ʹcampaign finance reformʹ? Try combating ʹcorruptionʹ” by Michael Beckel in The Center for Public Integrity.

California: “San Bernardino to require online filing of campaign finance statements” by Ryan Hagen in The Sun.

District of Columbia: “DC Approves Campaign Finance Reforms” by Alisha Green in the Sunlight Foundation Blog.

Maryland: “Mizeur to accept public financing” by Michael Dresser in The Baltimore Sun.

Michigan: “Controversial Michigan campaign finance bill would double special interest group donation limits” by Jonathan Oosting in Michigan Live.

New York: “Mayoral campaigns to repay $6.8M in public matching funds” by Greg B. Smith in the New York Daily News.

New York: “Moreland Commission report draws reaction from both sides” by Karen Dewitt in WRVO Public Media.

Virginia: “$3 Million Funneled into Virginia’s November Election” by Kent Cooper in Roll Call’s Political MoneyLine.

Elections

“Elections Forecast Helps Kick Off NCSL Fall Forum” by Michael D. Hernandez in the NCSL Blog.

Lobbying

California: “Coachella Valley, Riverside County agencies spend big on lobbying” by Raju Chebium in The Desert Sun.

New Mexico: “New Mexico lawmakers commonly become lobbyists” by The Associated Press in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

Oklahoma: “Lobbying limits in state up for debate” by Wayne Greene in Tulsa World.

Campaign Finance

“IRS should keep its mitts off ‘political activity’” editorial piece in the Arizona Republic.

“Feds target nonprofit campaign spending; practice spreads to Wyoming U.S. Senate race” by Karl Roerink in the Star-Tribune.

“Campaign Finance Disclosure” by Sandy Hausman on WVTF Public Radio.

“New PACs To Make Government Work with Bipartisanship” by Kent Cooper in Roll Call.

“FEC Slaps Jesse Jackson Jr. Committee with a $7,150 Fine” by Kent Cooper in Roll Call.

New York: “Albany’s campaign-finance law fight appears to cool” by Yancey Roy in Newsday.

New York: “NYPIRGʹs plan to fix corruption” by Dan O’Regan in the Legislative Gazette.

Ethics

“Ethics panel defers to Justice in Rep. Grimm probe” by The Associated Press in the Las Vegas Sun.

Nevada: “Nevada Supreme Court upholds ethics laws” by Sandra Chereb (Associated Press) in the Miami Herald.

South Carolina: “Lawmaker facing ethics case for use of state plane” by The Associated Press in The Morning News.

Lobbying

“Bottom Line” in The Hill.

“Lobbying World” in The Hill.

“How much lobbying is there in Washington? It’s DOUBLE what you think” by Tim LaPira in the Sunlight Foundation blog.

New York: “Albany query: Can political parties be considered lobbyists?” by Yancey Roy in Newsday.

Utah: “Lobbyist to Utah Legislature: Plan for Environmental Fights” by Ryan Cunningham on Utah Public Radio.

Campaign Finance

“FEC Proclaims: ‘Tis the Season for Holiday Greetings’” by Kent Cooper in Roll Call’s Political MoneyLine.

Arizona: “Dark Money – Specter of anonymous campaign spending looms over 2014” by Jeremy Duda in Arizona Capitol Times.

Maine: “Cutler accuses LePage of publishing campaign material on taxpayer dime” by Christopher Cousins in the Bangor Daily News.

Missouri: “Ethics commission sanctions Jefferson Co. Central Republican Committee, Voters for Good Government” by Leah Thorsen in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Pennsylvania: “Powerful Philly Union Accused of Funnelling Campaign Contributions” by Dave Davies on WCAU NBC 10 News.

Ethics

“Stock & Bond Transactions Reported By Wealthy Members of Congress” by Kent Cooper in Roll Call’s Political MoneyLine.

New York: “NYPIRG issues report on reform” by Casey Seiler in the Albany Times Union.

Texas: “Ethics Commission Chief Leaves for CPRIT” by Becca Aaronson in The Texas Tribune.

Elections

Florida: “Florida Special-Election Sprint Starts” by Abby Livingston in Roll Call.