March 26, 2012 •
Today’s Campaign Finance Top Stories
Keep up with the latest news about campaign finance reform and super PACs with these items from around the country:
National and Federal
“Can 46 rich dudes buy an election?” by Charles Riley in CNN Money.
“Obama ‘Super’ PAC Donors Among White House Guests” by Jack Gillum (Associated Press) in The San Francisco Chronicle.
“Planners for Democratic convention in Charlotte scramble to raise funds” by David Nakamura in The Washington Post.
In the States
Indiana: “Super PACs start battle in Senate race” by The Associated Press in the Indianapolis Business Journal.
Iowa: “Group wants to close campaign finance loophole” by Rod Boshart in the Sioux City Journal.
Montana: “New arguments filed in campaign finance case” by Matt Gouras in the Great Falls Tribune.
March 23, 2012 •
News You Can Use Digest – March 23, 2012
Here are highlights from the latest edition of News You Can Use:
National:
Study: State governments at high risk for corruption
Federal:
Federal Contractors Donate to Super PAC Backing Romney
GOP Super PAC Men Seek to Overturn Donation Limits
Insider Trading Ban for Lawmakers Clears Congress
Senate Dems Push ‘Disclose Act 2.0’
From the States and Municipalities:
Alabama
Key Corruption Trial Attorneys to Be in Benefit
Georgia
Atlanta Ethics Nominee Withdraws Name; Legislation to Give City Council More Power is Shelved
Illinois
Democrats Now Press Smith to Resign
Kansas
Kansas Bill Would Allow Officials to Explain Ballot Items in ‘Plain English’
Wisconsin
Ethics Violations Filed against Prosser
Wisconsin
Supreme Court Dismisses Case Challenging Political Ad Rules
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.
A new, more user-friendly site for federal campaign finance disclosure data.
Our Highlighted Site of the Week is the Federal Election Commission’s (FEC) new Campaign Finance Disclosure Portal. The site was announced just yesterday and offers powerful resources allowing the visitor to access campaign finance data sets and perform advanced segmentation. The types of information included are independent expenditures; bundled contributions; candidate and committee summaries; receipts, disbursements, and a cash summary for PACs and National Party committees; leadership PAC and sponsor data; and much more.
According to the FEC’s news release: “The Commission announced the release of a new campaign finance disclosure portal that will simplify access to the wide range of data available on the agency’s website. The disclosure portal provides a single point of entry to federal campaign finance data.”
Information can be accessed through interactive maps, easily readable charts, or by searching with a name or keyword. Data sets can also be downloaded as XSD, XML, or CSV files in order to perform your own analysis or data mashup.
The FEC promises the Campaign Finance Disclosure Portal will be regularly updated throughout the election cycle. With both the site and its Disclosure Data Blog, you can subscribe to its feed via RSS so that you can keep up with any updates.
Enjoy your weekend everyone!
March 20, 2012 •
Campaign Finance, Redistricting, and Ethics in the News
Today we have stories about campaign finance reform in North Carolina, clean elections in Connecticut, campaign finance violations, redistricting, and more:
Campaign Finance
Connecticut: “Watchdogs worried clean elections fund could run dry in next race for governor” by Keith M. Phaneuf in CTMirror.org.
District of Columbia: “Campaign finance inquiry takes close look at money-order donations in District” by Mike DeBonis and Nikita Stewart in The Washington Post.
Michigan: “Michigan group delays corporate disclosure measure” by The Associated Press on Michigan Live.
Missouri: “Kansas City lawmaker faces $30,585 in ethics fees” by Chris Blank in The Kansas City Star.
North Carolina: “Dome: Board of Elections will discuss campaign finance law” by John Frank and Tim Funk in The News & Observer.
Wisconsin: “GAB fined 110 people for campaign finance and ethics violations in last 3 years” by Kate Golden in The Wisconsin State Journal.
Campaigns and Elections
“Rogue political robocalls on the rise in Ohio” by Sabrina Eaton in The Cleveland Plain Dealer.
Redistricting
Florida: “New Senate district map ticks off both parties” by Mary Ellen Klas and Darla Cameron in The Miami Herald.
New York: “Incumbents at risk in final N.Y. map” by Alex Isenstadt in Politico.
Ethics
“Federal prosecutor under fire for anonymously commenting on news website” by Andrew Lapin in Government Executive.
March 19, 2012 •
News You Can Use Digest – March 19, 2012
Here are highlights from the latest edition of News You Can Use:
Federal:
2012 GOP Primary Shaping Up to Be Cheapest Race in Years
Group Offers $25,000 Reward for Exposing Secret Corporate Giving
From the States and Municipalities:
Alabama
Alabama Public Corruption Trials Focus on Bribes vs. Donations
Colorado
Spending by Super PACs in Colorado Is the Dominion of Democrats
Illinois
Part of Campaign Finance Law Nixed
Illinois
State Rep. Derrick Smith, of Chicago, Is Charged with Accepting Bribe
Kentucky
Senate Changes Schedule, Allowing David Williams to Attend Kentucky Basketball Game
Minnesota
Business-Backed ALEC’s Relations with Conservative Lawmakers Riles Democrats
New Mexico
Arrests Mount in Sunland Park Scandal; New Details about Alleged Extortion Threat Emerge
Ohio
Jimmy Dimora Convicted of Racketeering, 32 Other Corruption-Related Charges
Ohio
Legislator Charged in FBI Bribery Sting
South Carolina
Ard Resigns, Is Indicted, Gets Probation
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.
The final rules can be found online.
The New York City Campaign Finance Board has voted to adopt its final rules for the disclosure of independent expenditures.
The rules require the reporting of independent expenditures by individuals, organizations, corporations, and other entities in New York City elections.
The adopted rules are available here.
Any and Every Candidate
An advisory opinion request seeking to end the current aggregate limit on the contributions an individual may make to federal candidates has been made to the Federal Election Commission.
The request, made on behalf of Shaun McCutcheon, seeks to allow him to make political contributions to several federal candidates that would exceed the two-year aggregate limit currently set at $46,200 as provided in 2 U.S.C §441a(a)(3)(A).
The primary argument in the advisory opinion request argues the limit is unconstitutional because it violates a citizen’s right to speak and to associate with not just any candidate, but every candidate of his choosing.
If the FEC grants the request, Mr. McCutcheon plans to contribute amounts of $2,500 and $1,776 to 26 federal candidates
553 Outstanding Fines
If you don’t file your campaign finance paperwork in Illinois, you will receive a fine from the State Board of Elections. Take a look at “Political committees owe Illinois $800,000 in fines” by Andrew Thomason in the McDonough Voice.
As the article notes, there is no criminal penalty involved, but candidates could find out they are not eligible to run for elected office if they don’t take care of the fines.
According to the article:
The Illinois State Board of Elections, or ISBE, has 553 outstanding fines totaling $808,235.15 against political committees for either filing campaign finance reports late or violating Illinois’ campaign finance laws. Fines date back to 2003 and range from $25 to $10,000.
March 14, 2012 •
Lobbyist Compliance and Other Resources Online
State and Federal Communications, Inc. is your compliance information source for campaign finance, lobbying compliance, procurement, and ethics laws.
Take a tour of our site and click on the “Free Live Online Demo” on the middle of the left column of the home page. You will open a page with three blue links, located in the middle of the page:
•Executive Source Guide on Lobbying Laws
•Executive Source Guide on Political Contributions
•Executive Source Guide on Procurement Lobbying
Click on any one – or all three – to view the state of Alaska compliance information we provide to clients. This comprehensive and vital compliance information is updated continuously.
We have this same online information for all 50 states, the federal government, and 226 municipal and regional governments.
If you would like to view everything we have for online clients, contact us at info@stateandfed.com or 330-761-9960 and ask about our two-week trial. There is no cost for the trial, and you are under no obligation to purchase.
We can think of no better way for you to see the value in our online resources than for you and your team to actually use them for two weeks in your compliance efforts.
March 14, 2012 •
Judge Throws Out Illinois Limits on Contributions to Independent Expenditure Committees
Limits Ran Afoul of Citizens United Decision
U.S. District Court Judge Marvin Aspen has removed limits on political contributions to groups that make independent expenditures on behalf of or against a candidate.
The decision in Personal Pac v. McGuffage specifically overturns the annual limits of $10,000 per individual, $20,000 per corporation or union, and $50,000 from a political action committee to an independent expenditure committee.
Noting the U.S. Supreme Court struck down such limits in the Citizens United case, Judge Aspen concluded that preventing actual and apparent corruption cannot justify restrictions on independent expenditures.
March 13, 2012 •
Super PACs Big in the News Today
A majority of those polled want them gone, and they are playing a big role in Alabama and Mississippi:
“Poll: Voters want super PACs to be illegal” by Chris Cillizza and Aaron Blake in The Washington Post.
“Poll shows public wants to ban super PACs” by Callum Borchers in the Boston Globe.
“Super-PAC Ads Dominate Republican Race in Alabama, Mississippi” by Greg Giroux in Bloomberg.
“Spending by super PACs in Colorado is the dominion of Democrats” by Karen Crummy in the Denver Post.
“GOP campaign spending lowest since 1990s” by Dan Eggen in the Bangor Daily News.
“Rhode Island’s Top 25 Biggest Spending PACs” by Dan McGowan in GoLocal Prov.
March 12, 2012 •
Today’s Campaign Finance and Lobbying News
Super PACs, the revolving door, and Facebook’s lobbying in the news:
Campaign Finance
“The Super PAC Paradox” by Eliza Newlin Carney in Roll Call.
“The year’s busiest day of campaign fundraising shows how Springfield really works” by Ray Long and Alissa Groeninger in the Chicago Tribune.
“Group to appeal Iowa campaign finance ruling” by The Associated Press in the Globe Gazette.
Lobbying
“Retiring lawmakers openly eye K Street” by Anna Palmer and Jake Sherman in Politico.
“Lobbying pays off big for business” by Toluse Olorunnipa in the Miami Herald.
“Facebook ‘friends’ a new lobby firm” by Rachel Leven in The Hill.
March 12, 2012 •
News You Can Use – March 12, 2012
Here are highlights from the latest edition of News You Can Use:
Federal:
One Super PAC Takes Aim at Incumbents of Any Party
From the States and Municipalities:
Alabama
Jury Acquits All Defendants, Including Means, in Gambling Corruption Case
California
Ethics Panel Raises Donation Limits in Municipal Campaigns
California
Trutanich Paid for YouTube Views of D.A. Campaign Videos
Georgia
Some Priorities Fade as Lawmakers Favor Social Issues Ahead of Election Season
Maryland
Bereano’s 1994 Conviction Upheld
Maryland
Leopold Indicted on Charges of Using Police Detail for Political Gain
Missouri
Honor for Rush Limbaugh is Fracas for Missouri
Nevada
Ethics Case Back before Nevada Supreme Court
New Mexico
Newly Elected Sunland Park Mayor to Seek Court Order to Do Job
Oklahoma
Ex-Senator Convicted of Bribery; Co-Defendant Free
Utah
Special Interests Busy Providing Perks to Legislators
West Virginia
W.Va. Ethics Panel Clarifies Cohabitation Law
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.
Increased limits effective immediately
The Los Angeles City Ethics Commission voted Thursday to raise campaign contribution limits for candidates in the upcoming municipal election. Candidates for city council may accept $700 per donor per election cycle, up from a $500 limit. Candidates for citywide offices including mayor, city attorney, and city controller may accept $1,300, up from $1,000.
The new limits go into effect immediately, giving candidates in the March 2013 election the opportunity to contact donors who have already reached the old contribution maximums.
Critics of the new limits believe the commission is tipping the scales in favor of well-connected incumbents who have historically met the contribution threshold more often than their challengers.
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.
