May 22, 2013 •
Wednesday Government Relations News
Here is our roundup of the latest articles on lobbying, campaign finance, ethics, and more!
Lobbying
“K Street lobbyists say their near-term priorities are scandal-proof” by Erik Wasson and Russell Berman in The Hill.
“Immigration push is bonanza for lobbyists” by Kevin Bogardus in The Hill.
“There is a lobbying organization for Superyachts” by Timothy P. Carney in the Washington Examiner.
Missouri: “Missouri’s lobbying system isn’t as open as you’d think” by Chris McDaniel in KBIA.org.
Texas: “House OKs disclosure, lobbying rules for lawmakers” by The Associated Press in the San Francisco Chronicle.
Campaign Finance
Alabama: “State debuts new electronic, searchable campaign finance filing system” by Kim Chandler in the Birmingham News.
“Calif. to post raw campaign filings online daily” by Judy Lin (Associated Press) in the San Jose Mercury News.
“Common Cause decries ‘soft money’ housekeeping ‘slush funds’” by Jimmy Vielkind in Capitol Confidential.
New Hampshire: “State’s political-spending rules fail to make the grade — again” by Brian Wallstin in NPR’s State Impact.
Ethics
“IRS hearing: Lois Lerner pleads the Fifth” by Lauren French and Kelsey Snell in Politico.
“Alaska: Lawmaker plans bill on conflict of interest rules” by The Associated Press in the Anchorage Daily News.
South Carolina: “Haley urges SC Senate to pass ethics reform” by Adam Beam in the Rock Hill Herald.
From the State Legislatures
“Minnesota Capitol scorecard — what did lawmakers do and leave undone in the 2013 session?” in the Star Tribune.
New York County Supreme Court to hear case involving CBS’ show Brooklyn D.A.
First there was Arthur Branch. Then came Jack McCoy. Now it’s Charles Hynes’ turn to star as a New York City district attorney on the small screen. Only Hynes is not an actor or a character, he is an actual district attorney who is in the middle of a fierce campaign to keep his job. And his main opponent for the Democratic nomination is crying foul.
Abe George is suing Hynes, his committee, and CBS in New York over what he calls illegal campaign contributions. CBS is producing and has aired the first episode in a six-part reality series titled Brooklyn D.A. This reality series will follow Hynes and the rest of the Kings County District Attorney’s Office as they do their job for the cameras.
George is not pleased with the free publicity Hynes will be receiving since they are in a heated campaign to garner the Democratic nomination for the position. He believes the air time should be considered a campaign contribution, and with the series’ value over the $5,000 limit, he believes it is an illegal contribution.
Hynes has been the district attorney in the county since 1989, and George believes he is willing to do anything to stay in power. “[He] has been the Brooklyn district attorney since 1989 and has operated under a mounting public perception that he will do anything, including misusing his broad prosecutorial powers, to achieve political gain for himself.”
CBS disagrees with George’s assertion and refuses to stop airing the show.
Sonya McNair, spokeswoman for CBS News, said, “We are surprised that this candidate would not know about the First Amendment. This is obviously a publicity push by a politician.”
For what it’s worth, Hynes believes this show will guarantee a victory for his campaign. He said, “If they couldn’t take me out then, boy, you’ll never be able to take me out now.”
The next episode of Brooklyn D.A. airs Tuesday, May 28, at 10:00 p.m. on CBS.
Photo of Charles Hynes courtesy of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority of the State of New York on Wikipedia.
May 22, 2013 •
Washington Governor Signs Bill Creating Contribution Limits on Commissioners of Public Hospital District Boards
Candidates can no longer accept unlimited contributions from individuals
Washington Governor Jay Inslee signed a bill Monday further extending the state’s contribution limits to other elected offices. Senate Bill 5748 now sets contribution limits on candidates running for a seat on a public hospital district board of commissioners in a district with a population over 150,000.
No person, other than a bona fide political party or a caucus political committee, will be allowed to contribute more than $900 per election for those candidates. Each primary, general, and special election are considered a separate election for purposes of the contribution limits, so a person would be allowed to contribute $900 during the primary and another $900 during the general election.
Senator Pam Roach was the bill’s main sponsor and she said, “This is a victory for citizens who reside in public hospital districts…Recent commission races have seen large contributions from single sources that have over powered the campaigns. All elected positions in state, county, and local government have campaign finance limitations except for public hospital commissioners. There is no reason that candidates for public hospital district board of commissioners should not live under the same rules as other elected officials. This bill corrects that problem.”
The bill will take effect on July 28, 2013.
Photo of Gov. Jay Inslee courtesy of Thomas Sørenes on Wikipedia.
May 21, 2013 •
New Commissioner of Political Practices Named in Montana
Jonathan Motl
Montana Governor Steve Bullock has named a new commissioner of political practices, according to the Independent Record.
Jonathan Motl will begin service as the commissioner by June 10 to complete the final three years of a six-year term left vacant by prior unconfirmed appointees. A Senate confirmation hearing for the position will not be held until early 2015.
May 20, 2013 •
Monday News Roundup
Let’s start off the week with these lobbying, campaign finance, and ethics news articles:
Lobbying
“Former Senator to Run Wall St. Lobby Group” by Ben Protess in The New York Times.
“After Controversy, Ex-Congressman Registers to Lobby” by Andrew Ramonas in the Blog of Legal Times.
West Virginia: “Lobbyist spending down in 2013” by Dave Boucher in the Charleston Daily Mail.
Campaign Finance
“The impossibly complex world of campaign finance — in 1 chart” by Chris Cillizza in The Washington Post.
“Time to shed light on disclosure bill” opinion piece by David Keating and Eric Wang in Politico.
Alabama: “Key senator says lawmakers will scrap limits on corporate political contributions” by The Associated Press in The Republic.
Minnesota: “Elections and campaign finance bills draw bipartisan support” by Tom Scheck on Minnesota Public Radio News.
Nevada: “Miller under attack as he pursues campaign finance reform” by Andrew Doughman in the Las Vegas Sun.
New York: “DiNapoli calls for campaign finance reform” by Mike Desmond in WBFO News.
New York: “Skelos is wrong; public campaign funding will help N.Y.” commentary by Ian Vandewalker in the Albany Times Union.
Tennessee: “Candidates failed to report 181 PAC, corporate contributions” by Tom Humphrey in the Knoxville News Sentinel.
Vermont: “Statehouse Sitdown: Campaign Finance Reform” on WCAX News.
Ethics
“Ensigns Pay $54,000 Civil Penalty for Campaign Finance Violations” by Kent Cooper in Roll Call.
“FBI interested in Bachmann campaign finance case” by Rachel Weiner in the Washington Post.
Connecticut: “Latest scandal again tarnishes state politicians” by Brian Lockhart in the Connecticut Post.
Connecticut: “Corruption no stranger to state politics” by Steve Miller (Associated Press) in the Connecticut Post.
Nevada: “Harvey Whittemore campaign finance trial set to continue today in Reno” by Martha Bellisle in the Reno Gazette-Journal.
South Carolina: “SC Legislature: 3 final weeks, 2 key issues, 1 race in ’14” by Adam Beam in The State.
Texas: “For Lawmakers, Ethics Reform is Complicated” by Ross Ramsey in the Texas Tribune.
Political Advertising
“Lax state rules provide cover for sponsors of attack ads” by Alan Suderman in The Center for Public Integrity.
Government Tech and Social Media
Florida: “Florida Serves Up Legislative App” by Kimberly Horg in Government Technology.
May 17, 2013 •
News You Can Use Digest – May 17, 2013
Here are highlights from the latest edition of News You Can Use:
National:
Lax State Rules Provide Cover for Sponsors of Attack Ads
Federal:
IG Report: ‘Inappropriate criteria’ stalled IRS approvals of conservative groups
SEC Pressed to Abandon Corporate Political Spending Disclosures Petition
From the States and Municipalities:
Alabama – GOP Considers Campaign Changes While Raising Money
Alabama – The Alabama Democratic Party: “We’re broke, broke, broke”
California – Cap on Political Party Contributions Moves Forward
Hawaii – Campaign Spending and Ethics Get Tech Upgrades
Missouri – Missouri Ethics Panel Fines Ex-Sen. Wright-Jones $270,000
New Jersey – Pay-to-Play Rollback Will Get One More Volley in Bergen, Pitting County Executive vs. Freeholders
New York – Ethics Panel Criticizes Assembly’s Response to Allegations against Lopez
Tennessee – Ethics Commission to Hold Hearing on Ingram Group ‘Oversight’
Tennessee – Lobbying Still Thriving Business in Nashville
Texas – House Sends Donor Disclosure Bill to Gov. Perry
Vermont – Campaign Finance Reform Failure Means Caps on Donations Unlikely to Occur until 2016 Campaign Cycle
State and Federal Communications produces a weekly summary of national news, offering more than 80 articles per week focused on ethics, lobbying, and campaign finance.
News You Can Use is a news service provided at no charge only to clients of our online Executive Source Guides, or ALERTS™ consulting clients.
May 16, 2013 •
Thursday News Roundup
Here are some great articles for today’s government relations news summary:
Lobbying
“Washington Female CEOs Earn $600,000 Less Than Male Lobby Peers” by Danielle Ivory in Bloomberg Law.
Maine: “Business leaders lobby legislators at the State House” by Dan Carrigan in WCSH News Portland.
South Carolina: “SC Senate version of ethics-reform bill fails to regulate local government lobbying” by Curt Olson in Watchdog.org.
Campaign Finance
“Pelosi: IRS scandal illustrates need to reverse Citizens United” by Mike Lillis in The Hill.
Hawaii: “Hawaii Monitor: Campaign Spending And Ethics Get Tech Upgrades” by Ian Lind in the Honolulu Civil Beat.
Indiana: “Indiana is a zero in study of states’ campaign finance disclosure law for outside groups” by Mary Beth Schneider in the Desert Sun.
Minnesota: “Legislature moves to raise campaign limits” by Rachel E. Stassen-Berger in the Star Tribune.
New Mexico: “New Mexico gets failing grade in campaign finance disclosure study” by Matthew Reichbach in the New Mexico Telegram.
New York: “N.Y. ethics disclosures due” by Joseph Spector in the Journal News.
New York: “Cuomo Threatens Subpoenas in Bid for Public Campaign Financing” by Freeman Klopott in Bloomberg.
Vermont: “Campaign finance reform failure means caps on donations unlikely to occur until 2016 campaign cycle” by Nat Rudarakanchana in Vermont Business Magazine.
Ethics
“House Ethics Committee Approves Waiver for Gifts From Member’s Partner” by Kent Cooper in Roll Call’s MoneyLine.
“Edwards to Speak at Retreat a Year After His Trial” by The Associated Press on ABC News.
Connecticut: “A fixer’s tale of attempted bribes” by Mark Pazniokas in the Connecticut Mirror.
Missouri: “Mo. ethics panel fines ex-Sen. Wright-Jones $270K” by The Associated Press in the San Francisco Chronicle.
Missouri: “KC Council committee endorses more stringent ethics rules” by Lynn Horsley in the Kansas City Star.
Nebraska: “Email Trips Up Nebraska Attorney General, Agrees to $19,000 Penalty” by Kent Cooper in Roll Call.
Nevada: “Whittemore trial for illegal campaign contributions questions if strings attached to money” by Scott Sonner (Associated Press) in The Republic.
New Jersey: “N.J. accuses ex-candidate from Paterson of failing to report $700,000 in campaign spending” by Anthony Campisi in the Bergen Record.
New York: “John Liu Refunds Tainted Campaign Contributions” by Jill Colvin in Politicker.
New York: “Report Finds Lawmaker Was Shielded by Leaders” by Danny Hakim in The New York Times.
Texas: “Questions of Contradiction in Ethics Bills” by Emily Ramshaw and Aman Batheja in the Texas Tribune.
State Governments
Texas: “Texas House defeats term limits referendum” by Will Weissert (Associated Press) in the Houston Chronicle.
Washington: “Wash. lawmakers look to make recall process easier” by Mike Baker (Associated Press) in the Olympian.
Government Tech and Social Media
“State App Collection Published by NASCIO” in Government Technology.
May 14, 2013 •
Tuesday Lobbying and Campaign Finance News
Keep up with the latest government relations news with these articles:
Lobbying
“Lobbying and Contributions by High Frequency Traders” by Kent Cooper in Roll Call.
“K Street worries over spread of IRS scandal amid push for tax reform” by Erik Wasson and Peter Schroeder in The Hill.
New York: “When Campaign Aides Are Lobbyists, Questions Mount” by Ross Barkan in City Limits.
Tennessee: “Tennessee Ethics Commission to meet on Ingram lobbying case” by Andy Sher in the Times Free Press.
Campaign Finance
“SEC nears decision on requiring businesses to disclose donations” by Ben Goad in The Hill.
“States’ Seek to Limit Undisclosed Political Donations” by Matea Gold, Chris Megerian and Mark Z. Barabak in Governing.
“IRS mess adds to campaign finance free-for-all” by Byron Tau, Tarini Parti and Kelsey Snell in Politico.
“Pelosi Injects Campaign Finance Debate Into IRS Scandal” by Emma Dumain in Roll Call.
Nebraska: “Nebraska Attorney General fined $19,000 by FEC” by The Associated Press in the Beatrice Daily Sun.
Texas: “House set to send disclosure bill to Gov. Perry” by Will Weissert (Associated Press) in the Houston Chronicle.
Vermont: “Vt. lawmakers drop campaign finance reform” by The Associated Press in New England Cable News.
From the State Legislatures
Arizona: “Lawmakers to see cut in daily pay this week” by The Associated Press in the Arizona Capitol Times.
Utah: “Utah Lawmakers Back to Capitol to Prep for Next Year” by The Associated Press in KUTV News.
Washington: “Washington lawmakers return to Capitol for special session” by The Associated Press in The Oregonian.
Washington: “Washington Gov. Inslee narrows priorities for legislative special session” by The Associated in The Oregonian.
Elections
“Which States Saw Voter Turnout Jump, Decline Most Last Year?” by Mike Maciag in Governing.
Social Media
“Social Advocacy & Politics: A Virtual Political Debate Via Twitter” by Alan Rosenblatt in Social Media Today.
May 13, 2013 •
Monday News Roundup
Let’s start off the week with these lobbying, campaign finance, and ethics news articles:
Lobbying
“Lobbying registrations for April return to numbers not seen since 2011” by Catherine Ho in the Washington Post.
“Taxpayers footing $3 million lobbying bill for local governments” by Andrew Doughman in the Las Vegas Sun.
“Do lobbyist spending reports measure influence?” by Andrew Doughman in the Las Vegas Sun.
New York: “Lobbying group donations fall off with new NY rule” by The Associated Press in Bloomberg BusinessWeek.
Tennessee: “Lobbying still thriving business in Nashville” by Tom Humphrey in the Knoxville News.
Campaign Finance
Alabama: “Legislators’ to-do list for final day includes bills on guns, campaign finance, drug testing welfare applicants” by Mike Cason in the Birmingham News.
Arizona: “Director of Arizona campaign finance agency leaving” by The Associated Press in KTAR.
Vermont: “Galbraith angers Vt. Senate colleagues” by The Associated Press in the Boston Globe.
Ethics
“FEC revolving door spins ever so slowly” by Byron Tau in Politico.
New York: “N.Y. court upholds ethics commission subpoena power” by The Associated Press in the Albany Times Union.
Political Advertising
“Shedding light on anonymous ads” editorial by Sen. Ron Wyden and Sen. Lisa Murkowski in Politico.
Form the State Legislatures
Minnesota: “Minn. lawmakers enter homestretch of 2013 session” by The Associated Press in the Brainerd Dispatch.
North Carolina: “Dome: Jam-packed action expected in legislature for Crossover Week” by Mary Cornatzer and Lynn Bonner in the News & Observer.
North Carolina: “NC House wants many closed sessions recorded” by The Associated Press in the Winston-Salem Journal.
Redistricting
Florida: “Florida Supreme Court hears redistricting case” by Steve Bousquet in the Miami Herald.
Government Tech and Social Media
“What’s Your City Watching on YouTube?” by Eric Jaffe in Nextgov.
May 10, 2013 •
News You Can Use Digest – May 10, 2013
Here are highlights from the latest edition of News You Can Use:
National:
States Try to Tackle ‘Secret Money’ in Politics
Federal:
Campaign Contribution Limits Broken Repeatedly In 2012 Election with No FEC Oversight
From the States and Municipalities:
Alabama – Campaign Finance Law Revisions Pass House; Headed Back to Senate
Georgia – Gov. Deal Signs Law capping Georgia Lobbyist Spending at $75 a Go
Hawaii – How One Lawmaker Blocks Hawaii’s Ethics Reforms Year after Year
Kansas – Seventy-Four Percent of Lobbyist Spending on Kansas Lawmakers Unaccounted For
New Jersey – Judge Approves $728,300 in Bonuses for Employees of Engineering Firm Accused of Campaign Finance Violations
New York – Senator in Corruption Case Spoke of Silencing Witnesses, Prosecutors Say
North Carolina – Private Conservative Group ALEC Carries Sway in Legislature
Pennsylvania – Orie Melvin Must Write Apology Letters to Pennsylvania Judges on Photos of Herself
South Carolina – South Carolina Sends Mark Sanford Back to House
Tennessee – Tom Ingram Faces Heat over Lobbying Pay
Texas – Lobby Disclosure of Consulting Ties Passes the Senate
Vermont – House OKs Cap on Donations to Super PACs
Washington – Lobbyists Spend Big Bucks on Dinners, Other Tabs for Lawmakers
State and Federal Communications produces a weekly summary of national news, offering more than 80 articles per week focused on ethics, lobbying, and campaign finance.
News You Can Use is a news service provided at no charge only to clients of our online Executive Source Guides, or ALERTS™ consulting clients.
May 9, 2013 •
Thursday News Roundup
Here are some great articles for today’s government relations news summary:
Lobbying
“Lobbyists Snag Top Staff Positions on Capitol Hill” by Lee Fang in The Nation.
Tennessee: “Tom Ingram faces possible fine for failing to register as lobbyist” by Tom Humphrey in the Knoxville News.
Texas: “Lobbyist transparency bill sent to Perry” by The Associated Press in the Houston Chronicle.
Campaign Finance
FEC commissioners speak: “Hard truths of campaign finance” opinion piece by Donald F. McGahn, Caroline Hunter and Matthew Petersen in Politico.
“Why Big Money Still Won in 2012” by Jonathan Backer in the Huffington Post.
Alabama: “Bill before House today repeal state limit on corporate campaign contributions; Lawmaker says it’s a ‘pretend’ cap” by Kim Chandler in the Birmingham News.
New Jersey: “Lawmakers Get Cold Feet About Campaign Finance” by Hank Kalet in NJ Spotlight.
New York: “Carlucci, other senators study plans for campaign finance reform” by Laura Incalcaterra in the Journal News.
Ethics
New York: “Ex-lawmaker to be sentenced in NYC in fraud case” by The Associated Press in the Arizona Daily Star.
Political Advertising
“House Backs Updating Rules on Political Ad Disclosures” by Becca Aaronson in the Texas Tribune.
Government Tech and Social Media
“Ohio City Deploys 2-in-1 Email and Social Media Archiving” by Sarah Rich in Government Technology.
Procurement
“Most Top Contractors Increased Business With Federal Government in 2012” by Eric Katz in Government Executive.
May 8, 2013 •
Wednesday Government Relations News
Here is our roundup of the latest articles on lobbying, campaign finance, ethics, and more!
Lobbying
“K Street firms fear backlash from new scrutiny of political intel work” by Kevin Bogardus in The Hill.
“Dicks joins D.C. lobbying firm” by Jim Brunner in the Seattle Times.
“Congress Members Sprinting for Money to Lobbying After Election” by Jonathan Salant in Bloomberg BusinessWeek.
Delaware: “Del. House approves lobbying reform bill” by Randall Chase (Associated Press) in the News Times.
District of Columbia: “In D.C. Circuit, Lobbyists Fight Obama Lobbying Ban” by Andrew Ramonas in the Blog of Legal Times.
Tennessee: “Lobbyist On Payroll Of Both Governor, Special Interests” by Ben Hall on WTVF News.
Campaign Finance
“RNC urges Supreme Court to strike campaign-finance limits” by Sam Baker in The Hill.
“SEC Considering New Rule for Political Contributions by Public Companies” on PBS Newshour.
Arizona: “Senate lawmakers move to overhaul public financing” by The Associated Press in the Arizona Daily Sun.
Colorado: “Colorado Supreme Court hears 1st Amendment challenge to campaign finance law” by Matt Arnold in the Examiner.
New York: “Public Hearing in Albany Is Held Without the Public” by Thomas Kaplan and Jesse McKinley in The New York Times.
Vermont: “House OKs cap on donations to super PACs” by Peter Hirschfeld in the Rutland Herald.
Ethics
North Carolina: “9 Investigates: Needed changed in NC Ethics Commission operations” by Jim Bradley on WSOC TV News.
South Carolina: “SC Senate panel advances ethics reform” by Seanna Adcox (Associated Press) in the Spartanburg Herald-Journal.
Open Data
“A New Home for Data on Politics and State Governments” by Sarah Lai Stirland in TechPresident.
New law increases disclosure in political advertising
Governor Jay Inslee has signed a bill into law increasing disclosure in political advertising. Senate Bill 5258 was passed by the Washington State Legislature and delivered to the governor on April 23.
The bill requires a series of political advertisements supporting or opposing ballot measures sponsored by the same political committee, each of which is under $1,000, to include information on the advertisement’s top five contributors once the cumulative value of the advertisements reaches $1,000. Under the current law, information on the top five contributors is only required for individual advertisements in excess of $1,000.
This law will take effect on July 28, 2013, but with the first state elections not due to take place until 2014, we will probably not see how big of an impact this new disclosure requirement will have.
May 7, 2013 •
Tuesday Lobbying and Campaign Finance News
Keep up with the latest government relations news with these articles:
Lobbying
“The Bottom Line” in The Hill.
“Anne Northup joins Rudy Giuliani’s lobbying firm” in the Courier-Journal.
Delaware: “Del. House to vote on lobbying reform bill” by The Associated Press in the San Francisco Chronicle.
Minnesota: “MN local governments spend $1.1 million on lobbying Washington” by Tom Steward in Watchdog.org.
Campaign Finance
New Jersey: “Lawmakers introduce bill to overhaul NJ’s campaign finance laws” by David Levinsky in the Burlington County Times.
New York: “Group cites 100,000 NY campaign finance violations” by The Associated Press in The Wall Street Journal.
Vermont: “Lawmakers take up controversial campaign finance bill” by Terri Hallenbeck in the Burlington Free Press.
Ethics
California: “FPPC proposes $2,500 fine related to Chris Kelly’s 2010 AG bid” by Torey Van Oot in the Sacramento Bee.
California: “Ex-state Sen. Michael Rubio fined for not reporting home sale” by Patrick McGreevy in the Los Angeles Times.
Colorado: “Colorado ethics panel: Scott Gessler can have criminal defense fund” by Joey Bunch in the Denver Post.
Delaware: “Man serving federal time for campaign finance scheme expected to plead guilty in Del. case” by The Associated Press in The Washington Post.
New York: “CSEA seeks ethics probe” by James M. Odato in the Albany Times Union.
New York: “N.Y. senator charged with stealing funds for failed campaign” by Jessica Dye in Reuters.
Texas: “Bill Banning ‘Double Dipping’ Dies in Committee” by Jay Root in the Texas Tribune.
State and Federal Communications, Inc. provides research and consulting services for government relations professionals on lobbying laws, procurement lobbying laws, political contribution laws in the United States and Canada. Learn more by visiting stateandfed.com.
