Campaign Finance

Oregon: “The City’s Public Campaign Financing Program Allowed Candidates with Little Support to Snag Taxpayer Dollars” by Sophie Peel for Willamette Week

Ethics

California: “Assessor Reports $1M Behested Payment, Biggest Charitable Donation Made at a Local Elected Official’s Request” by Jeff McDonald (San Diego Union-Tribune) for MSN

National: “Trump Transition Team Ethics Pledge Appears to Exclude President-Elect” by Betsy Klein, Steve Contorno, and Arlette Saenz (CNN) for MSN

Florida: “Tickets to Master’s Tournament Trigger Feud in Hillsborough County Politics” by Jack Evans and Justin Garcia (Tampa Bay Times) for MSN

Indiana: “Nonprofit Braun Transition Group Follows Former Governors’ Model” by Leslie Bonilla Muñiz (Indiana Capital Chronicle) for Yahoo News

Legislative Issues

National: “Supreme Court to Examine Power of Congress to Delegate Authority” by Justin Jouvenal (Washington Post) for MSN

Lobbying

National: “As His Power Grows, D.C. Wonders: How do you lobby a man like Elon Musk?” by Cat Zakrzewski, Faiz Siddiqui, and Pranshu Verma (Washington Post) for MSN

New York: “N.Y. Ethics Commission Faces New Constitutional Challenge” by Brendan Lyons for Albany Times Union

This summer, State and Federal Communications, Inc. had the opportunity to sponsor three out of four Council of State Government Regional Annual Meetings. CSG’s regional organizations allow us to focus on and connect with colleagues, partners, and other government affairs experts on a more personal, geographic-specific level. Through our participation we were also able to engage with and learn about topical issues affecting states, our nation, and our valued clients.

Select highlights from the meetings included:

• Midwest – a trip to the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation and topics from food insecurity to strategies to ensure the continued property of the Midwest
• South – top tier speakers including Trey Gowdy and Chris Singleton and an opening reception on the USS Yorktown, docked at Patriots Point in Mount Pleasant
• East – visiting the Hockey Hall of Fame and learning about the diverse community making up the great city of Toronto.

Kudos to executive directors Laura Tomaka, Lindsey Gray and David Biette for a job well done.

July 3, 2015   Washington Nationals Game, Washington, DC

July 7-8, 2015   Wal-Mart Manufacturing Summit, Bentonville, Arkansas

July 12-15, 2015    CSG MLC Annual Meeting, Bismarck, North Dakota

July 13, 2015   WGR Toastmasters, Washington, DC

July 23-26, 2015   NGA Summer Meeting, Greenbrier, West Virginia

July 27, 2015   WGR Toastmasters, Washington, DC

August 4, 2015   Astellas National Women’s Executive Day, Akron, Ohio

August 3-7, 2015   NCSL Legislative Summit, Seattle, Washington

Here is our summer calendar. If you are attending any of the coming events, please stop by and say hello!

June 4-6, 2015   NCSL Executive Committee Spring Meeting, Denver, Colorado

June 8-10, 2015   US Small Business Summit, Washington, DC

June 15-18, 2015   BIO International Convention, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

June 19-23, 2015   US Conference of Mayors Annual Conference, San Francisco, California

July 12-15, 2015    CSG MLC Annual Meeting, Bismarck, North Dakota

July 23-26, 2015   NGA Summer Meeting, Greenbrier, West Virginia

August 4, 2015   Astellas National Women’s Executive Day, Akron, Ohio

August 3-7, 2015   NCSL Legislative Summit, Seattle, Washington

Here is our August – September calendar. If you are attending any of the coming events, please stop by and say hello!

August 9-13, 2014 CSG National & CSG West Annual Conference, Anchorage, Alaska

August 19-22, 2014   NCSL Legislative Summit, Minneapolis, Minnesota

September 8, 2014  WGR Toastmasters, Washington, D.C.

September 11-12, 2014   PLI: Corporate Political Activities Seminar, Washington, D.C.

September 22, 2014  WGR Toastmasters, Washington, D.C.

September 29 – October 1, 2014   PAC State and Local Government Affairs Conference, Alexandria, Virginia

It is summer and you know what that means in state government affairs. Meetings. Meetings. Meetings.

Okay, I know many of you will not be at the first one but I will see you at many of the other places across the continental United States.

1.  Greek Orthodox Clergy-Laity Congress—July 6-10 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania;

2.  National Governors Association—July 10-July 13 in Nashville, Tennessee;

3.  Council of State Governments MLC—July 13-July 16 in Omaha, Nebraska;

4.  IACREOT Conference—July 23-24 in Bonita Springs, Florida;

5.  NCSL Legislative Leaders—July 24-25 in Washington, DC;

6.  Council of State Governments National and Western Annual Conference—
August 9-13 in Anchorage, Alaska; and

7.  National Conference of State Legislatures—August 18-22 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Now that is a lot of traveling for anyone to handle. I skipped a couple of the other regional CSG meetings because…well, I do need to stop at the office and home every once in a while.

Follow the travel either on Facebook or Twitter @elizabethbartz. You may enjoy the photos and the opportunities or it just might tire you out. Either way, it will not be boring.

Looking forward to sharing with you my reflection of owning State and Federal Communications for 21 years in next month’s issue. Stay tuned.

State and Federal Communications is proud to be a sponsor and associate for The Council of State Governments Midwest Legislative Conference in Omaha, Nebraska!

Elizabeth Bartz, president and CEO of State and Federal Communications, is attending the conference, which runs from July 13-16.

The CSG website offers the following explanation of the event: “The Midwestern Legislative Conference Annual Meeting is a family-friendly, regionally focused event designed to meet the needs and interests of state legislators from our 11-state region. Held in a different Midwestern city every year, the four-day event features policy sessions on issues of critical importance to this region and its legislators.”

Here is our July – August calendar. If you are attending any of the coming events, please stop by and say hello!

June 25, 2014  WGR Toastmasters, Washington, D.C.

July 10-13, 2014   National Governors Association Meeting, Nashville, Tennessee

July 13-16, 2014   CSG Midwestern Legislative Conference, Omaha, Nebraska

July 14, 2014   WGR Toastmasters, Washington, D.C.

July 23, 2014   IACREOT Conference, Bonita Springs, Florida

July 23-25, 2014   NCSL Legislative Leadership, Washington, D.C.

July 28, 2014   WGR Toastmasters, Washington, D.C.

August 3-6, 2014   CSG/Eastern Regional Conference Annual Meeting, Baltimore, Maryland

August 9-13, 2014 CSG National & CSG West Annual Conference, Anchorage, Alaska

August 19-22, 2014   NCSL Legislative Summit, Minneapolis, Minnesota

September 17, 2013   National Press Club – Guest Speaker, Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin, Washington, D.C.

September 18, 2013   Ohio Birthday Party, Washington, D.C.

September 18, 2013   PAC Making a Name for Yourself: Branding Advocacy Campaigns, Washington, D.C.

September 19, 2013   Advanced Learning Institute Social Media for Government and NonProfit Communications, Washington, D.C.

September 19-22, 2013   CSG National Conference, Kansas City, Missouri

September 25-27, 2013   PAC State and Local Government Relations Seminar, Washington, D.C.

September 30 – October 1, 2013   PLI Corporate Political Activities Conference, Washington, D.C.

August 2-5, 2013   National Governors Association Annual Meeting, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

August 8, 2013   Public Relations Society of America, Tangiers in Akron, Ohio

August 12-15, 2013   NCSL Legislative Summit Booth 921, Atlanta, Georgia

September 19-22, 2013   CSG National Conference, Kansas City, Missouri

September 25-27, 2013   Public Affairs Council State and Local Government Relations Conference, Washington, D.C.

May 8-10, 2013   OSBA – Ohio State Bar Association Convention Booth 24, Cleveland, Ohio

May 16, 2013   WGR Spring Reception, Washington, D.C.

May 30-June 2, 2013   NCSL Executive Committee Spring Meeting, Boston, Massachusetts

June 2-5, 2013   Heartland Governmental Ethics Conference, Louisville, Kentucky

June 21-24, 2013   CSG Leadership Meeting, Washington, D.C.

David Adkins, Executive Director of The Council of State Governments extends his congratulations to State and Federal Communications on its 20th Anniversary! Mr. Adkins was in town last week as the featured speaker at the Akron Roundtable.