June 5, 2012 •
Take a Look at the Tuesday News Roundup!
The American League of Lobbyists is approaching Congress to make ethics training mandatory for lobbyists. Also, we have campaign finance, redistricting, and social media in today’s summary.
Lobbying
“Lobbyists ask Congress for a mandate on ethics” by Kevin Bogardus in The Hill.
Campaign Finance
“Tammany businessman’s allegedly illegal campaign donations went to Gov. Jindal’s 2007 run” by Claire Galofaro in the New Orleans Times-Picayune.
Redistricting
Iowa: “Redistricting makes for tumultuous Iowa primary” by The Associated Press in the Quad-City Times.
New Hampshire: “Court to hear challenges to NH redistricting plan” by Holly Ramer (Associated Press) in the Boston Globe.
Social Media
“Political campaigns are in a constant technology arms race” by Scott Canon in the Kansas City Star.
April 4, 2012 •
Federal Filings Are Due This Month
Some insight about federal lobbying reports from President and CEO Elizabeth Bartz.
There still might be a few of you out there who remember before BCRA and HLOGA, when we only needed to submit a quarter of a page card as our federal lobbying report. Those were the days, my friend!
These days you need to clear your schedule so you can:
- Compile and track activity in accordance with your organization’s needs;
- Conduct extensive outreach and follow up to capture applicable expenses/costs;
- Obtain salaries of all employees engaged in lobbying activities—whether registered or not;
- Respond to questions about reporting requirements;
- Provide definitions for determining applicability;
- Institute tracking mechanisms for Issues and Agency contacts;
- Coordinate with outside consultants to ensure accurate reporting;
- Coordinate LD-203 filing process;
- Prepare documentation in case of an audit; and
- File the report.
What??? You are not doing this? You are guesstimating! Tell me that is not the case.
If you are in DC you have probably seen me with Rebecca South, Federal Compliance Associate. She has created an amazing program to help the top Fortune 500 companies insure timely and accurate compliance for the LD-2 and LD-203 reports. If we can help alleviate your quarterly headaches, please feel free to contact her at rsouth@stateandfed.com.
Until next month, remember the LD-2 isn’t the only report due in April. According to our Key Dates chart, there are 112 lobbying/employer reports due in this country’s states, counties, and cities.
August 12, 2010 •
Nola Werren at CESSE
State and Federal Communications, Inc. was represented at organization’s annual meeting.
The Council of Engineering and Scientific Society Executives [CESSE] held its annual meeting in Pittsburgh from July 13 to July 16, 2010. CESSE is a professional society comprised of over 1,200 executives from 165 science and engineering societies, whose combined memberships total approximately four million. Some of CESSE’s members include the American Association of Artificial Intelligence, the America Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists, and the Society of Critical Care Medicine.
The objective of CESSE is to advance, in the public interest, the arts and sciences of the management of engineering and scientific societies. Essentially, CESSE is an “association of associations”….and therein lie the unique compliance challenges when it comes to government relations and grassroots activity.
I was invited to speak to those members attending the conference’s general management and public affairs program tracks. Not only did this include those individuals working in the company’s public affairs department, but also its senior executives.
At the federal level, the biggest concern for the group was compliance with the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 [LDA], as amended by the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007 [HLOGA], along with federal lobbying restrictions by nonprofit organizations. In particular, I addressed the permissible monetary thresholds for lobbying expenditures by a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization when making an election under Internal Revenue Code Section 501(h). Group discussion included questions regarding the difference between direct and grassroots communication, both at the state and federal level. Finally, no discussion about compliance would be complete without addressing the ethical disclosure obligations that accompany the vast array of state and federal gift laws.
Although no ninety minute presentation could ever include an in-depth, detailed discussion of state and federal lobbying regulations, the CESSE group walked away with a very comprehensive and practical overview. I’d like to take this opportunity to wish CESSE all the best for its 2011 annual meeting in Vancouver!
Photo of Nola Werren and Brad Smith of the American Chemical Society.
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.
