We are the leading authority and exclusive information source on legislation and regulations surrounding campaign finance and political contributions; state, federal, and municipal lobbying; and procurement lobbying.

Contact us to learn how conveniently our services will allow you to say “I Comply” for your compliance activities.

Be sure to visit stateandfed.com and if you have any questions, you can contact us at 330-761-9960, or info@stateandfed.com.

There still might be a few of you out there who remember before BCRA and HLOGA, when we only needed to submit a quarter of a page card as our federal lobbying report. Those were the days, my friend!

These days you need to clear your schedule so you can:

1. Compile and track activity in accordance with your organization’s needs;
2. Conduct extensive outreach and follow up to capture applicable expenses/costs;
3. Obtain salaries of all employees engaged in lobbying activities—whether registered or not;
4. Respond to questions about reporting requirements;
5. Provide definitions for determining applicability;
6. Institute tracking mechanisms for Issues and Agency contacts;
7. Coordinate with outside consultants to ensure accurate reporting;
8. Coordinate LD-203 filing process;
9. Prepare documentation in case of an audit; and
10. File the report.

What??? You are not doing this? You are guesstimating! Tell me that is not the case.

If you are in DC you have probably seen me with Rebecca South, Federal Compliance Associate. She has created an amazing program to help the top Fortune 500 companies insure timely and accurate compliance for the LD-2 and LD-203 reports. If we can help alleviate your quarterly headaches, please feel free to contact her at rsouth@stateandfed.com.

Until next month, remember the LD-2 isn’t the only report due in April. According to our Key Dates chart, there are 112 lobbying/employer reports due in this country’s states, counties, and cities.

As I am sitting here in my office, movers are taking computers, desks, phones, credenzas, and printers upstairs at 80 South Summit. It’s an expansion and not a move for State and Federal Communications.

A year ago I thought this would be moving week out of the building, but we were able to take over available space after a Cleveland law firm downsized its Akron office.  That’s good for a lot of reasons including letterhead and business cards stay the same.

State and Federal Communications will soon celebrate its 19^th anniversary in Akron, Ohio. We started on Akron-Peninsula Road in a 900 square foot office. In 1996, we moved to Merriman Road where I thought the 3,500 square foot office would be home for a long, long time. We grew out of it and in 2002 we moved to Downtown Akron in the Courtyard Square building and now have 15,000 square feet of space. According to building developers, that amount of space can hold 50 staff people. We are almost there with 30 people on staff.

This expansion is allowing State and Federal Communications to increase our staff to help all of our clients. The changes in lobbying, political contributions, ethics, and procurement lobbying are changing all of the time in the states, cities, counties, and federal governments. Keeping up with it requires people devoted to research and understanding how they affect you—our clients.

You might not see changes, but I want you to know we are always making sure we are providing you with the resources you need for your government affairs work.

Until next month, stay off the eBay Political Collectibles site…I have wall space to cover!

Appearing one time only at the Public Affair Council National PAC Conference is the Compliance Dream Team! I am extremely excited and honored to pair up with The Extra Honorable Ken Gross, The Mighty Honorable Michael Toner, and New Kid on The Block Amol Naik from Google to hear your confessions and questions.

This session will present a series of complicated and pertinent compliance questions to the panel for our expert response. There will also be an opportunity to submit anonymous compliance missteps for us to hear and provide corrective action.

This is bigger than Broadway…Larger than Hollywood. And, it will only happen on Tuesday, February 28^th at Portofino Bay, Orlando, Florida. Join us at the Public Affairs Council National PAC Conference.

Looking forward to seeing you out and about!

Elizabeth Bartz

President and CEO, State and Federal Communications, Inc.

This quick desk reference combines information from our online resources and lists the information by state:

– The Executive Source Guide on Lobbying Laws™;
– The Executive Source Guide on Political Contributions™; and
– The Executive Source Guide on Procurement Lobbying™.

This guidebook is filled with valuable information. However, we also caution it has two limitations:

The online resources, which you receive either through your subscription or as part of your lobbying compliance service, are comprehensive. This guidebook summarizes information in the online resources, and is meant only as a quick-reference guide.

While this guidebook is accurate and timely when we print it, please understand our online resources are updated continually. We provide this guidebook to you as a convenience, but your ultimate source of information should always be the online resource(s) to which you subscribe.

We consider this guidebook another value-added benefit of your partnership with State and Federal Communications. You also receive, via e-mail, monthly updates of important compliance legislation on the federal and state levels; News You Can Use™, our weekly summary of current news and events regarding compliance; and the Compliance Now newsletter with even more information.

Please call us at (330)761-9960 or email marketing@stateandfed.com if you would like to learn more about State and Federal Communications’ compliance services. Be sure to contact us if you are already a client and need to have your subscription username or password forwarded.

We are privileged to have you as clients, and are pleased to be your trusted adviser for government affairs compliance.

We are ready with the State and Federal Communications, Inc. Resolutions for 2012 and I think you are going to like them…Think 30, 50, 100. Sort of like Herman Cain’s 9 9 9, but not really.

Resolution #1 is to include 30% additional information onto our website. I am challenging the research department to make sure we are including all of the necessary information you need for your 2012 government affairs work.

Resolution #2 is to make it 50% easier for client use. That means we need to make sure we have additional subcategories so you can easily find the information you need.

Resolution #3 is to make it 100% accurate.  We know we are your #1 resource for lobbying, political contributions, procurement lobbying, and Canadian compliance and we have to be accurate so the information you forward to your colleagues and supervisors is absolutely correct.

For these resolutions…you can count on us to keep them!

Happy New Year.

Elizabeth Z. Bartz
President and CEO

As everyone prepares to celebrate the New Year, I would like to take this opportunity to offer a note of thanks. State and Federal Communications has had an exciting year and we look forward to a bright 2012.

We wish you a beautiful New Year.

Elizabeth Bartz
President and CEO of State and Federal Communications, Inc.

First, get past the fact both conferences are in Florida. The Council keeps us busy enough that we rarely get more than a few hours to mill around.

Second, what you need to know is the Council makes sure it has the top-of-the-line speakers for the programs and the sessions are mixed in with people in the field who are doing great things in both grassroots advocacy and PAC recruitment.

Finally, and most important, you will find State and Federal Communications involved with the conferences. We have been involved with the advisory board for each conference, sending a number of staff, and we are included in the Market Resource Program.

You can obtain more information about these conferences at www.pac.org.

Until next month, continue to plan for your professional development. There is nothing like developing the important skills for your organization.

Executive Sourcebook on Lobbying Laws:

1. We are separating the penalties so you will see what they are for registration, reporting, and gift violations.

2. Does the jurisdiction have a document retention policy?

3. Is gift splitting allowed?

4. We are also separating the gift restrictions for lobbyists and non-lobbyists.

Executive’s Sourcebook on Political Contributions:

1. What is the jurisdiction’s document retention policy?

2. What restrictions are there on fundraising, as applied both to corporations attending a political event and as applied to corporations holding its own fundraiser?

Executive’s Sourcebook on Procurement Lobbying:

1. Restrictions on pre-RFP communications between a bidder and the procurement department?

2. Are there any post-RFP “cone of silence” restrictions?

3. Difference between “bidder” and “contractor.”

It continues to be our goal to be your #1 online resource for lobbying, political contributions, and procurement lobbying.

Until next month, let your fingers do the walking at www.stateandfed.com and see the amount of information available to you and your organization.

Elizabeth Z. Bartz
President and CEO

In fact, it was so fabulous, I sent apologies to all of our previous interns for not spending time with them.

Earlier this summer I told you about Emily Kesler from Northwestern, Cristina Dickos from The Ohio State University, and Zachary Koozer from the University of Akron. They were each hired for a specific job:

Emily assisted Joe May, Social Media Coordinator, to review sites and wrote some excellent posts for our blog.

Cristina worked directly for me to manage my overwhelming American Express bill and to help with many administrative duties. I have to say Cristina was amazing. She was far more professional than four temps we had in that same position over the last 12 months.

Zachary helped Ken Kelewae update our computers in the office to Microsoft 7. He also learned that many of us use our keyboard as a placemat. He cleaned out all of our keyboards.

In addition, they joined me at meetings for the United Way of Summit County Board, Social Services Advisory Board, and the Greater Akron Chamber of Commerce. They met Mayor Don Plusquellic at a great event at Firestone Country Club before the Bridgestone Tournament. The Chamber had small group meetings to discuss internships in the city and my team joined the presidents of Akron hospitals, banks, and companies to share their experiences.

They also helped with some local service programs. We worked with Good Samaritans to help distribute food to 150 families. One day this summer, they joined several on staff in the United Way Day of Action cleaning and painting the Edgerton House in Akron.

And, we also had fun. One field trip was to a building where the owner keeps antique cars, many of them used in local parades, in his basement.

Yes, it was a great summer. It was also very financially beneficial to them. Each worked more than 300 hours and received a bonus of $3 for every hour worked. We ended the summer with our annual United Way campaign kickoff lunch and wished them all well when they go to school.

Until next month, think about an internship program at your organization. Give me a call if you have any questions.

I do have a manual typewriter. I will not throw it away because I used to type a lot of articles.

I wanted to bring out that manual typewriter today after I heard John Dean speak at the Watergate CLE for the Ohio State Bar Association today. And, HBO recently showed All the President’s Men where we could see Woodward and Bernstein hammering on their Washington Post Royal typewriters. Today, I am opting to just use the courier font on my laptop!

John Dean was disbarred because of his involvement in Watergate and he has never considered requesting reinstatement. However, he is teaching continuing legal education courses on a lawyer’s obligations when a client engages in crime.

I am a product of Watergate having been a journalism student in the 70s and State and Federal Communications owes its existence to what happened at that time.

Dean pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit obstruction of justice for his role in the Watergate cover-up and believes his experience is instructive.

I did get a chance to ask him if Watergate was an albatross around his neck. He had been an investment banker and retired when he was 60. (He is now 72.) He said he did not spend his life wallowing in Watergate. He returned to business school and had a lucrative career as an investment banker. He has written a number of books, including:

1. Blind Ambition—now autographed and on my bookshelf;

2. Warren G. Harding;

3. Conservatives without Conscience; and

4. Worse than Watergate: The Secret Presidency of George W. Bush.

John Dean was born in Akron, Ohio and holds a BA from the College of Wooster. He is still married to Maureen “Mo” Dean and lives in Beverly Hills, California.

Today’s program was amazing. We met a man who affected history and wanted to share with us the ultimate ethical dilemma. He is going on the road with this four-hour program, which basically focuses on June 16, 17, and 18, 1972.

Have you made your reservation for NCSL Legislative Summit 2011? I hope so. State and Federal Communications, Inc. will be there in full strength and ready to meet you!

This is our (lucky) 13^th year attending this annual meeting of legislators and government affairs executives. The exhibit booth has been packed and is ready for the trek to San Antonio along with our computers, brochures, and our fabulous lanyards that we are resurrecting after a two-year hiatus.

This year we have six people from the company joining us. Stop by Booth 217 to see Nola Werren, John Chames, Ren Koozer, Rebecca South, Joe May, and yours truly!

Where else will you see us? Name it. We are attending the Women’s Legislative Network Executive Board meeting, Foundation for State Legislatures Board of Directors Meeting, Executive Meeting, Foundation events, and every event sponsored by State Government Affairs Council (SGAC). We will be all over San Antonio…And, you will be able to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and on our blog, www.lobbycomply.com. Joe May, our social media coordinator, is joining us this year to keep you up-to-date on the speakers (Jim Collins author of Good to Great is set to speak). Joe will also cover events and while we will miss the tour of the Alamo, we will attend the armadillo race. (Now, I assure you that is something we do not have in Akron, Ohio. Feel free to ask me about our Soap Box Derby.)

NCSL is not for the weak because we are up at the crack of dawn for a hearty breakfast and then off to meetings and booth duty. By Thursday night, we will all be ready for a fabulous dinner as we unwind from a busy week…And, thinking of what we will do in Chicago in 2012!

By Labor Day, our clients will find 36 additional municipalities included on our website. As they are completed, we will update our postings so you can check out the additional resources.

Right now, we have provided information on lobbying, political contributions, and procurement lobbying for Alexandria, Virginia (my former home) and Tacoma, Washington.

In the future look for additional cities in New York, Arizona, and Michigan.