National:

WellPoint Is Focus of Aggressive Effort to Force Political Spending Disclosures

Federal:

Federal Judge Rules for FEC in Contractor Donation Dispute

Mystery Donor Gives $10 Million to Crossroads GPS Group to Run Anti-Obama Ads

From the States and Municipalities:

Alabama

Ethics Law Curveball

Arizona

Arizona Senate Rejects New Bans on Meals, Donations

California

Corruption Can Leave Cities with Enormous Legal Bills

California

S.B. County Seeks to Bring in Political Watchdogs

Florida

Authorities Call for Tougher Campaign Finance Laws Following Rivera Probe

Illinois

Small Town Rocked by $30 Million Theft Case

New Jersey

How N.J. PACs Are Skirting the Law on ‘Pay-to-Play’

South Carolina

State Ethics Agency Pinched by Staff Shortage

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.

“Rules of the Game: Dissecting Super PAC Consulting” by Eliza Newlin Carney in Roll Call.

“One Donor Gave One-Third of Pro-Republican Group’s Funds” by Heidi Przybyla and Jonathan D. Salant in Bloomberg.

“What happens to funds in defunct super PACs?” by Jeremy Roebuck in the Boston Herald.

“Secretive ‘Grassroots’ political group — vehicle for the very rich” by Joel Connelly in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

“Big donors diversify Super PAC donations” by Alexander Cohen and Alina Selyukh in Reuters.

“Billionaires fall in line” by Kenneth P. Vogel in Politico.

Campaign Finance

“Rep. Ted Deutch Holds Summit on Overturning Citizens United” via a press release on Rep. Ted Deutsch’s website. The meeting is set for tomorrow.

Alabama: “Campaign finance, PAC-to-PAC transfer law needs teeth, grand jury says” by Brian Lyman in the Montgomery Advertiser.

“Fundraising Numbers Tip Scales of Power” by Joshua Miller in Roll Call.

ALEC

“Midwest Democracy | Study accuses ALEC of ‘secretive influence’ in Missouri Capitol” by Jason Hancock in The Kansas City Star.

Government Ethics

“Figure at center of D.C. campaign finance probe resigns from health-care company” by Mike DeBonis in The Washington Post.

“U.S. congressman under fire for campaign expenses turns to high-powered law firm” by Matt Friedman in the Star-Ledger.

A Federal District Court denied a preliminary injunction request demanding the Federal Election Commission (FEC) not enforce a law prohibiting individuals with federal contracts from making political contributions to federal candidates or political parties.

In Wagner v. Federal Election Commission, filed in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, the Court rejected challenges to the constitutionality of section 441c of Title 2 of the U.S. Code, which prohibits any vendors with contracts with the federal government from making such contributions.

The case, brought by the ACLU, asked the Court to declare the law unconstitutional as applied to individuals who have personal services contracts with federal agencies. Because federal workers who are not contractors may make federal political contributions, while contractors performing the same work may not, the suit argued section 441c violates both the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution and the First Amendment.

In denying the preliminary injunction request, the Court concluded the plaintiffs do not have a likelihood of success on the merits of their claims.

Campaign Finance

Federal: “Md. lawmakers take on political spending spree” by John Fritze in the Baltimore Sun.

Vermont: “Vermont lawmakers work to unravel Citizens United ruling” by Nicole Gaudiano in the Burlington Free Press.

Missouri: “St. Louis attorney pleads guilty in campaign donation scheme” by Virginia Young in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Lobbying

“Courting the White House: Don’t call it lobbying” by Anna Palmer and Abby Phillip in Politico.

“White House Opens Door to Big Donors, and Lobbyists Slip In” by Mike Mcintire and Michael Luo in The New York Times.

“Is dialoguing lobbying?” by Donovan Slack in Politico.

California:  “The lobbyists’ bumbles and foibles” by Ray LeBov in Capitol Weekly.

Federal:

Democrats Give Special Interests a Role at Convention

Lobbyists Push Congress to Toughen Rules for Their Industry

White House Abandons Push for Federal Contractors to Disclose Political Giving

From the States and Municipalities:

Alaska

Commission Nominee Withdraws after Racism Accusation Revived

Arkansas

Ethics, Campaign Finance Reform Measure Inspired by Occupy Movement

California

L.A. County Supervisors Campaign for Funds in Lightly Contested Races

Georgia

Gifts Continue to Rain on Lawmakers

Indiana

Union Says Right-to-Work Law Violates Free Speech

Massachusetts

House May Pull PR, CEOs, Communications Specialists into Lobbying Definition

Michigan

Wayne Co. Ethics Rules Get Mixed Welcome

Missouri

Former Missouri Governor Pleads Guilty to Money Laundering

New Mexico

New Charges Filed against NM Town’s Mayor-Elect

Ohio

Josh Mandel, Ohio Treasurer, Sent Top Aide to Beginner’s Course

South Carolina

Ethics Commission Probes Haley’s Campaign Finances

Washington

Ex-Evergreen Instructor Who Owes $119,000 for Ethics Violations Has Disappeared

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.

Florida: “In wake of ‘Taj Mahal’ scandal, Florida Supreme Court approves new lobbying rules for judges” by Lucy Morgan in the Tampa Bay Times.

Florida: “Florida Supreme Court to judges: No lobbying” by Lucy Morgan in The Miami Herald.

Georgia: “Georgia ethics commission goes easy on late campaign reports after change in process” by Walter C. Jones in The Florida Times-Union.

Idaho: “Retiring ID Rep. lands at lobbying, marketing firm” by The Associated Press in the Idaho Statesman.

Kansas:  “Corporations drop memberships in ALEC, which has strong ties to Kansas Legislature” by Scott Rohtschild in the Lawrence Journal-World.

Maryland: “Campaign Finance Transparency Measures Pass General Assembly” by Megan Poinski in Southern Maryland Online.

Massachusetts: “House may pull PR, CEOs, communications specialists into lobbying definition” by Colleen Quinn in the Boston Herald.

Georgia: “Gov. Deal still has 3 pending ethics complaints” by the Morris News Service in the Augusta Chronicle.

Missouri: “Former Missouri governor, St. Louis attorney indicted in campaign contributions case” by Robert Patrick in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

South Carolina: “Ethics Commission to hear 7 allegations against Haley” by Gina Smith in The State.

Jeff Brindle, Executive Director of the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC), has renewed efforts calling for campaign finance reform, specifically concerning political contributions from contractors.

In a press release detailing public contractors’ political contributions for 2011, ELEC’s analysis concludes that while contractors are making fewer contributions directly to candidates, they are making substantially more contributions to PACs.

Director Brindle states, “In some cases, contractors may be evading the intent of pay-to-play restrictions and contribution limits by giving indirectly through these PACs. That is why the Commission has recommended making it harder for one candidate or group to establish multiple, affiliated PACs.”

Director Brindle also reiterates the Commission’s recommendation to adopt a single statewide pay-to-play law. Previous LobbyComply blog posts discusses the earlier recommendations can be found here and here.

“White House abandons push for federal contractors to disclose political giving” by Mike Lillis in The Hill.

“F.C.C. Pushes for Web Site on TV Political Ad Spending” by Brian Stelter in The New York Times.

“Limits on Lobbyists as Hosts? Simply Unworkable, They Say” by Robert Pear in The New York Times.

“FEC Ruling Leaves Ad Uncertainty” by Eliza Newlin Carney in Roll Call.

Arkansas: “Campaign Finance Reform in Arkansas Enters a New Phase” by KARK 4 News.

Maryland: “Lobbyist scores a ‘scoop’ of sorts” by Michael Dresser in The Baltimore Sun.

National:

Boycotts Hitting Group behind ‘Stand Your Ground’

GE, J&J among Firms to Give More Lobbying Detail

Federal:

As Women’s Issues Become More Prominent, Men Dominate Super PAC Funders

Campaign Donor Advertising Rule Invalidated by U.S. Judge

GAO: Lobbyist disclosure compliance ‘similar’ compared to prior years

From the States and Municipalities:

Arizona

Rep. Patterson to Keep Seat amid Ethics Inquiry

California

Campaign Treasurer Kinde Durkee Admits $7-Million Theft

California

Figure in Coliseum Corruption Case Is in ‘Jungles of Brazil’

Georgia

Lawmaker Returns $800 after Expenses Questioned

Illinois

Blagojevich’s Chief of Staff Gets 10 Days in Prison

Massachusetts

Timothy Cahill Indicted in Corruption Case

Mississippi

Political Stress Erupts at Capitol

New Jersey

Some of Christie’s Biggest Bills Match Model Legislation from D.C. Group Called ALEC

New York

State Ethics Board Won’t Disclose Record of Hiring Cuomo Aide

Wisconsin

Recall Elections Ordered for Walker, Kleefisch, 4 GOP Senators

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.

Attorney General Dustin McDaniel certified the language of a proposed initiated act regarding campaign finance and ethics law. The measure would prohibit direct corporate and union contributions to individual campaigns. Currently, corporations and unions are able to directly contribute at the same $2,000 level as individuals.

The measure would also ban lawmakers from accepting gifts of any value from lobbyists. Legislators can currently receive gifts, food, or other items valued up to $100 from a lobbyist.

The group supporting the measure, Regnat Populus, must gather at least 62,507 signatures by July 6 to qualify for the November ballot.

The 2010 ethics law increased disclosure requirements for lobbyists, banned campaign committee-to-campaign committee transfers, and gave greater investigative powers to the Missouri Ethics Commission. The court affirmed a circuit court decision holding all provisions of Senate Bill 844, except those relating to procurement, to be in violation of article III, section 21 of the Missouri Constitution, which prohibits changes in the original purpose of a bill. Senate Bill 844 violated this provision by being introduced as an act relating to contracts for purchasing but being passed as an act relating to ethical administration.

Reaction to the decision has been swift and urgent. On January 14, 2012, the same day the opinion was released, the Missouri Ethics Commission stated in a press release that the court’s decision “deals a blow to the Commission’s ability to enforce and administer the law.” Several lawmakers and Governor Jay Nixon quickly called for bills to reinstate the voided provisions. Representative Jason Kander sponsored a bill (House Bill 1756) filed the day after the decision that would reinstate the voided provisions.

Prior to the decision, Kander also sponsored a bill (House Bill 1080) that would go beyond Senate Bill 844 to prohibit gifts from lobbyists and limit campaign contributions. Senate Bills 546 and 825 propose contribution limits. Senate Bill 826, filed by Senator Crowell, would reenact the voided provisions of Senate Bill 844. Currently, Missouri does not have any campaign contribution limits and is the only state to allow lawmakers to receive both unlimited campaign contributions and unlimited gifts from registered lobbyists.

Not all of Missouri’s lawmakers are ready for change. House Majority Leader Tim Jones believes an ethics bill would have a better chance after this year’s elections. Jones notes that both Kander and the governor are proposing limits that will go into effect after their own campaigns benefit from the status quo.  To date, no new ethics bill has been passed in Missouri, by any name.

Image of the Seal of the Missouri Senate by Tom Lemmens on Wikipedia.

Former Massachusetts Treasurer Timothy Cahill was indicted on charges that he used more than $1.6 million in publicly-funded state lottery advertising to promote his gubernatorial campaign in 2010.

According to Attorney General Martha Coakley as noted in the Boston Globe, “Cahill faces charges of violating state ethics laws, violating state procurement laws, and conspiracy charges in connection with both those alleged crimes. The procurement and ethics law violations each carry possible sentences of up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.”

For full news coverage, be sure to read:“Timothy Cahill indicted on charges of using official funds for campaign-boosting ads” by Frank Phillips in the Boston Globe.

Here is Cahill’s response to the indictment: “Former state treasurer Timothy Cahill insists he acted to bolster the Massachusetts Lottery, vows to fight state corruption charges” in the Boston Globe.