A federal judge rejected Citizens United’s request to air a documentary critical of Colorado Democrats without disclosing its donors in accordance with state law.

The conservative group argues its free speech rights are violated when the law requires it to disclose donors while effectively exempting traditional print media and broadcasters from the same requirement.

Although its motion for a preliminary injunction was denied, Citizens United President David Bossie claims the organization will appeal to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver.

On August 14, Citizens United filed suit in federal court against Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler. The lawsuit is a response to Deputy Secretary of State Suzanne Staiert’s June decision classifying the group’s upcoming documentary as a reportable electioneering communication.

Citizens United had hoped the documentary would be excluded from the definition of reportable electioneering communication under a general press-entity exemption. Although the Federal Election Commission applies such an exemption for Citizens United at the federal level, the secretary of state lacked the authority to import the FEC’s analysis and decision.

Citizens United is now asking the court to permanently enjoin enforcement of applicable reporting and disclosure requirements in their entirety or, in the alternative, enjoin enforcement of the requirements as applied to Citizens United. The group argues its right to engage in political speech is significantly burdened while the rights of print media and broadcast facilities are not. Moreover, the group claims the reporting and disclosure requirements discriminate based on a speaker’s identity and, therefore, violate both the U.S. and Colorado constitutions.

On Thursday, June 5, Colorado Deputy Secretary of State Suzanne Staiert issued an agency decision in response to Citizens United’s petition for declaratory order. Citizens United requested its upcoming documentary be excluded from the definition of reportable electioneering communication by classifying it as one of the constitutional exemptions. The secretary of state found the communication does not fall within any exemptions and there is no general press-entity exemption to the definition of electioneering communication.

As Citizens United engages in communication for the primary purpose of influencing elections, it is exactly the type of entity to which reporting requirements apply. To rule otherwise would defeat the purpose of state campaign finance law and disregard the rationale behind full disclosure.

Moreover, the secretary of state found it does not have the authority to create a general press exemption to campaign finance reporting requirements. Although the Federal Election Commission applies such an exemption for Petitioner at the federal level, the secretary of state lacks the authority to import the FEC’s analysis and decision. Therefore, Petitioner’s remedy at the state level lies with courts in the form of litigation, with the legislature in the form of referendum, or with the people in the form of initiative.

Today U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy announced the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing related to campaign finance next month.

On June 3, the full committee will focus on Senate Joint Resolution 19, a constitutional amendment granting Congress and the states power to regulate money in political elections.

Leahy argues in his press release, “The hearing comes on the heels of the Court’s McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission decision, in which five justices reversed long-standing precedent and declared aggregate limits on campaign contributions in elections to be unconstitutional in violation of the First Amendment. Coupled with the destructive Citizens United decision of 2010, … Congress must respond.”

SJR 19 was introduced by Sen. Tom Udall and has 40 cosponsors.

Lobbying

Alberta: “Lobbying on the rise as Alberta prepares new tobacco bill” by Keith Gerein in the Edmonton Journal.

“Pfizer names new VP of lobbying team” by Megan Wilson in The Hill.

Campaign Finance

“McCutcheon v. FEC: Possible Implications for the States” by Karen Shanton in NCSL’s The Thicket.

“Supreme Court Hears Another Challenge To Campaign Finance Law” by Nina Totenberg on NPR.

“Let Bitcoins be used for political donations” opinion piece by Dan Backer in Politico.

Arizona: “Campaign finance changes increasing Arizona contribution limits may boost clout of business” by The Associated Press in The Republic.

Maine: “Ethics Commission calls for $32,500 fine against Lewiston casino backers for not disclosing source of campaign contributions” by Scott Thistle in the Bangor Daily News.

New York: “Gaming interests reward legislators” by Casey Seiler in the Times Union.

Ethics

Indiana: “Ethics panel to consider possible job change” by The Associated Press in the Evansville Courier & Press.

New York: “Cuomo’s Office Is Said to Rein In Ethics Board He Created” by Jesse McKinley and Thomas Kaplan in The New York Times.

Rhode Island: “RI Ethics Commission: OK for Chafee administration chief Licht to apply for judgeship” by Philip Marcelo in the Providence Journal.

Elections

Arizona: “Arizona plans to require citizenship proof for state elections” by Tim Gaynor in Reuters.

Massachusetts: “House Special Election Next Week Likely to Diversify Mass. Delegation” by Emily Cahn in Roll Call.

Tech and Social Media

“Government Tweets Down Sharply During Shutdown” by Joseph Marks in Nextgov.

Texas: “Conservative Officials Turn to Crowdsourcing” by Alexa Ura in The Texas Tribune.

Lobbying

“Lobbyists prepare for government shutdown” by Byron Tau in Politico.

“Lobbyists swoop in to defend investor visas” by Kevin Bogardus in The Hill.

Hamilton, Ontario: “Lobbyist registry delayed again” by Matthew Van Dongen in The Spec.

Campaign Finance

“Lobbying, Campaign Finance, and IRS Reports Keep Moving During Shutdown” by Kent Cooper in Roll Call’s Political MoneyLine Blog.

“House Members Shut Down Gov’t. Money Going Out, But Not Contributions Coming In” by Kent Cooper in Roll Call’s Political MoneyLine Blog.

“The Next Citizens United?” by Richard Hasen in Slate.

“The case for eliminating contribution limits” by Ann W. Herberger in Campaigns & Elections.

“Top U.S. political donors in 2012 among country’s richest men” by Gabriel Debenedetti in Reuters.

Alaska: “APOC: No immediate action on complaint against Stiver” by Sam Friedman in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner.

Maryland: “Maryland’s new laws at a glance” by John Wagner in The Washington Post.

Ethics

FEC: “Not ‘essential’: Shutdown would hit FEC hard” by Dave Levinthal in The Center for Public Integrity.

Georgia: “Ethics commission to ask for special investigator” by The Associated Press in the Athens Banner-Herald.

Ohio: “Son of indicted donor’s lawyer works for Mandel” by Joe Vardon in The Columbus Dispatch.

Government Tech and Social Media

“Government Social Media Feeds Will Go Dark During a Shutdown” by Joseph Marks in Nextgov.

Elections

Ohio: “Ohio lawmaker’s election reform bills include voter ID requirement, reduced early-voting times” by Jeremy Pelzer in The Plain Dealer.

Pennsylvania: “Challenge to Pennsylvania’s voter ID law not affected by Justice Dept. lawsuit against N.C.’s law” by Jan Murphy in The Patriot-News.

A federal judge approved an order proposed by Secretary of State Natalie Tennant and a state PAC in which Tennant agreed not to enforce a law capping contributions to independent expenditure committees at $1,000.

The PAC had filed suit contesting the law, and the judge granted a preliminary injunction preventing enforcement of the law.

Tennant decided it was not in the best interests of the state to continue to fight the issue in light of the United States Supreme Court’s ruling in Citizens United.

Lobbying

“Former Sen. Bob Kerrey joins government affairs firm” by Megan R. Wilson in The Hill.

“NRA spends record money on lobbying this year” by Dave Levinthal in The Center for Public Integrity.

Florida: “Sound Off: Most email group members think lobbyist limits a good idea” in the Florida Times Union.

Georgia: “Analysis: Lobbyists say the game is changing” by Walter C. Jones in the Savannah Morning News.

Texas: “Agenda Texas: The Twitter Lobby” by Ben Philpott in the Texas Tribune.

Washington: “Lobbying tab $12.9 million — and counting” by Brad Shannon in the News Tribune.

Campaign Finance

California: “Common Cause: Californians should vote for Congress to overturn Citizens United” by Derek Cressman in San Jose Mercury News.

Illinois: “Overturning ‘Citizen’s United’ Decision” by Claudia Johnson in the Alton Daily News.

New Jersey: “N.J. Senate Democrats to introduce major overhaul of campaign finance laws” by Christopher Baxter in the Star-Ledger.

New York: “Reform proposed for state Board of Elections” by Karen Dewitt on WBFO NPR.

New York: “Campaign Finance Reformers To Target Senate In New Ads” by Ken Lovett in the New York Daily News.

Pennsylvania: “Pa. Senate backs stricter rules on reporting campaign funds” by Mary Wilson in Newsworks.

Vermont: “Windham County senator blasts campaign-finance reform bill” by Mike Faher in the Brattleboro Reformer.

Ethics

Connecticut: “Man pleads guilty in campaign finance scheme” by The Associated Press in the Boston Globe.

Kentucky: “Richie Farmer indicted by federal grand jury” on WKYT News.

Minnesota: “Ex-aide to Bachmann prepares to give evidence on alleged payments” by Brett Neely in MPR News.

Tennessee: “Knox County Commission set to reconfigure ethics panel” by Mike Donila in the Knoxville News Sentinel.

From the State Legislatures

Featured speakers at the NCSL Legislative Summit, August 12-15 in Atlanta, GA.

Lobbying

“Former Rep. Connie Mack joins lobby firm” by Kevin Bogardus in The Hill.

Washington: “66 Wash. lobbyists get warning letters for lack of transparency” by Austin Jenkins on KPLU.org.

Campaign Finance

“Proposal could drag political funding into the light” by Michael Kirkland in the United Press International.

“Influence of big-money ‘SuperPACs’ not so clear” by Aaron Delatte in the Orlando Sentinel.

“Members of Congress Fill War Chests for Next Campaign” by Kent Cooper in Roll Call.

California: “Universities Join Effort to Overturn Citizens United Decision” by Anjuli Sastry on ABC News.

Florida: “Lawmakers raking in contributions even as they debate campaign law changes” by Jim Saunders in the Daytona Beach News-Journal.

Maryland: “Massive Campaign Finance Revamping Awaits Gov. O’Malley’s Pen” by The Associated Press on WNEW.

Missouri: “Ethics rules changes considered for KC leaders, employees” by Mike Hendricks in the Kansas City Star.

Missouri: “Time running short for Mo. campaign finance issues” by The Associated Press in the San Francisco Chronicle.

New York: “Public financing of campaigns could be a key issue in Albany” by Tom Wrobleski in the Staten Island Advance.

New York: “Senator Carlucci Unveils New Campaign Finance Reform Proposal” by Michael Riconda in the Rockland County Times.

Texas: “$27 Million Republican Political Donor Dies” by Kent Cooper in Roll Call.

Vermont: “Vt. Senate passes campaign finance law” by The Associated Press in the Boston Globe.

Ethics

Connecticut: “Donovan Campaign Manager Pleads Guilty” by Dave Altimari in the Hartford Courant.

Pennsylvania: “Latest Pa. scandal has some eyeing pay-to-play law” by Marc Levy in the Beaver County Times.

Texas: “Ethics commission up for review at Legislature” by Chris Tomlinson (Associated Press) in the Houston Chronicle.

Texas: “Exotic Trips, Luxury Gifts Are Perks of Elective Office” by Emily Ramshaw in the Texas Tribune.

Texas: “A Slim Chance for Lawmakers to Self-Regulate” by Ross Ramsey in the Texas Tribune.

From the State Legislatures

Nevada: “It’s roundup time for Nevada legislators, bills” by Sandra Chereb (Associated Press) in the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Ohio:  “Former Rep. Charlie Wilson of Ohio dies at 70 after suffering stroke” by Jonathan Easley in The Hill.

Elections

“Alaska Legislature passes elections bill” by Joshua Berlinger (Associated Press) in the Anchorage Daily News.

Social Media and Government Technology

“Top Phoenix lobbyists sound off on the impact of social media” by Dale Brown in the Phoenix Business Journal.

“TechPresident Podcast: ‘Open Government’” by Nick Judd on TechPresident.

A bill introduced on March 12, 2013 by U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders proposes an amendment to the U.S. Constitution overturning the Supreme Court decision of Citizens United v. FEC.

The amendment is divided into four sections. The first section declares because the right to vote belongs only to “natural persons as citizens of the United States”, political contributions and expenditures may only be made by “natural persons”.

The second section affirmatively grants Congress and the States power to regulate campaign finance laws. Sen. Sanders’ fact sheet explaining the amendment states, “This [second] section overturns the Buckley v. Valeo (1976) ‘money is speech’ decision allowing individuals – including individuals who are candidates – to spend unlimited sums of money independent of candidates.”

The remaining two sections explicitly state the amendment does not limit the freedom of the press and that Congress and the States will have the power to enforce the amendment through their legislative powers. Sen. Sanders’ press release can be found here. U.S. Representative Ted Deutch has filed this same amendment, House Joint Resolution 34, in the House.

Lobbying

California: “Prosecutions of California lobbyists on the rise, FPPC reports” by Laurel Rosenhall in the Sacramento Bee.

Campaign Finance

“McCutcheon case could give Citizens United a run for its money in Supreme Court” by T.W. Farnam in the Washington Post.

Ethics

Oklahoma: “Bribery case against Oklahoma ex-legislators to move forward” by Nolan Clay in the Oklahoman.

West Virginia: “Ethics commission taps new director” by Dave Boucher in the Daily Charleston Mail.

Lobbying

“K Street Files: A Business-Labor Brotherhood?” by Kate Ackley in Roll Call.

Arizona: “Arizona senators look to revamp lobbying gift ban” by Bob Christie in Arizona Capitol Times.

Arkansas:  “Bill to delay ex-executive, judicial officials from lobbying advances” by Rob Moritz in the Arizona Times.

Campaign Finance

“David Axelrod blasts campaign finance system” by Tarini Parti in Politico.

“Citizens United Part II? Supreme Court takes up direct campaign donations” by Krissy Clark in American Public Media Marketplace.

Florida: “House Democrats to Oppose $10,000 Campaign Contribution Cap” by Jim Turner in Sunshine State News.

West Virginia: “Dozens protest Citizens United decision at state Capitol” by Paul J. Nyden in the Charleston Gazette.

Ethics

Florida: “Florida Senate Committee Weakens Ethics Bill” by Ashley Lopez in the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting.

Florida: “Ethics bill goes to full Florida Senate” by The Associated Press in the St. Augustine Record.

Lobbying

“Wall Street tipsters brace for exposé on their industry, scrutiny from Capitol Hill” by Kevin Bogardus in The Hill.

Wisconsin: “Bill to prevent revolving door” by Alice Coyne in the Badger Herald.

Campaign Finance

“Congressman seeks to overturn Citizens United” by the Associated Press in U.S. News & World Report.

Arizona: “Phoenix launches searchable campaign-finance website” by Dustin Gardiner in the Arizona Republic.

Florida: “House moves ahead with plan to end slush funds, raise campaign contribution limits to $10,000” by Mary Ellen Klas in the Miami Herald.

Ethics

Florida: “Former state GOP chairman Jim Greer pleads guilty to theft, money laundering” by Lucy Morgan in the Miami Herald.

Social Media

Eric Brown’s Political Activity Law blog points out that next week is Social Media Week.

“Do Governments Need Personal Social Media Policies?” by Colin Wood in Government Technology.

Two proposals for amendments to the U.S. Constitution regarding campaign finance were introduced yesterday by Representative Jim McGovern.

House Joint Resolution 20 calls for an amendment giving authority to the federal and state governments to regulate the raising and spending of money in elections.

House Joint Resolution 21 provides for an amendment preventing corporations, limited liability companies, and other corporate entities from being included under the terms people, person, or citizen as “used” in the constitution.

Representative McGovern states in his press release that his amendments “would overturn Citizens United and put a stop to the growing trend of corporations claiming first amendment rights,” and “allow Congress to pass campaign finance reform legislation that will withstand Constitutional challenges.”