December 5, 2011 •
News You Can Use Digest – December 5, 2011
Here are highlights from the latest edition of News You Can Use:
Federal:
FEC Leaves Unclear Path for Super PACs
Gingrich’s Work Shows Limits of U.S. Lobbying Law
From the States and Municipalities:
Arizona
Clean Elections Foes Say Public Funds Are Used to Influence Election Outcomes
Colorado
Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler Proposes Rewriting of State Campaign Finance Rules
Georgia
Ethics Commission Deals with Challenges of Change
Indiana
Marion County Judge Scolded for Fundraising Language
Kansas
Kansas Governor Says Staff Overreacted to Teen’s Tweet
Massachusetts
Columbus Center Developer Fined $1.6 Million
Nevada
Ethics Commission Party May Not Have Been So Ethical
New York
Second Bribe Case for Lawmaker Just Acquitted
North Carolina
Three Perdue Associates Indicted
South Carolina
S.C. Governor’s Chef Told to Reimburse State after Using Its Resources for Catering
Washington
Washington Rep. Hinkle Seeks Change to Fundraising 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.
December 1, 2011 •
Is Gingrich a Lobbyist?
The presidential candidate’s activities are under scrutiny in the news.
Newt Gingrich claims he was not lobbying after he left public office. The charge by some that he was lobbying – and Gingrich’s response – has raised issues regarding whether one can tell the difference between a lobbyist and someone engaged in non-lobbying advocacy.
Read more about it in this Reuters article, “Gingrich’s work shows limits of U.S. lobbying law” by David Ingram.
Also: “Gingrich Says He Was Acting as a Citizen, Not a Lobbyist” by Jim Rutenberg in the New York Times.
Photo of Newt Gingrich by Gage Skidmore on Wikipedia.
November 29, 2011 •
Georgia Ethics Agency Working to Catch-Up
The Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission is trying to catch-up five months after major staff changes and four months after launching an ambitious overhaul.
The overhaul split the commission staff into an administrative division, an investigative division, and a compliance-education division. In addition to these changes, a change in the reporting law has resulted in hundreds of delinquencies by local officials who are filing with the state for the first time. The agency has been required to devote time and resources to contact anyone in arrears by certified mail.
Meanwhile, larger investigations have stalled. Earlier this month the commission dismissed a case filed in 2004 because the statute of limitations had expired. A more recent complaint filed against a lobbyist who failed to timely file or register and who paid for a state official’s travel to Europe is now 10 months old and delayed.
Executive Secretary Holly LaBerge is expected to hire staff auditors and receive assistance from the attorney general’s office to aid prosecutorial efforts.
November 28, 2011 •
News You Can Use – November 28, 2011
Here are highlights from the latest edition of News You Can Use:
Federal:
Democratic Groups Stalled on Launch Pad
FEC Permits Small Donor Channeling
Religious Lobbying Groups Multiply on Capitol Hill
South Jersey Congressman Spent $9,000 from Campaign Funds on Donor’s Wedding
From the States and Municipalities:
California
New Chair of Campaign Finance Watchdog Draws Strong Reactions
Connecticut
WFP Director Fined For Lobbying Without Badge
District of Columbia
D.C. Council to Consider Ethics Reform Bill
Illinois
Tony Rezko Sentenced to 10½ Years: Former Blagojevich fundraiser convicted of corruption
Massachusetts
Bump Knocked for Fundraising Letter
Mississippi
Campaigns Downplay Race, but Voters Don’t Follow Suit
Nevada
Trip to Brazil Raises Concerns about Lobbyists’ Access
Pennsylvania
City’s Lobbyist-Disclosure Program to Start in ’12
Washington
Right-Wing PAC Fights Campaign Disclosure
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.
November 23, 2011 •
Rhode Island Spending on Lobbyists in Washington
More than $2 Million Was Spent This Year
GoLocalProv.com posted this article today: “RI Groups Have Spent Over $2.2 million on Washington Lobbyists in 2011” by Dan McGowan.
According to the article, “Rhode Island corporations, cities and towns, colleges and universities and non-profit organizations have spent more than $2.2 million this year on lobbyists in the nation’s capital, a GoLocalProv review of lobbyist reports shows.”
November 22, 2011 •
Texas Lobbying Software Updated
Activities Report
Lobbyists in Texas must update their filing software to the newest version in order to properly file reports.
Becky Levy, Director of the Disclosure Filings Division of the Texas Ethics Commission, issued a memorandum stating before filing lobby activities reports, the software used must be upgraded in order to have the latest enhancements to file properly. Lobbyist activity reports in Texas must be filed electronically unless qualifying for an exemption.
More information about the software, and how to download it, is located here.
November 22, 2011 •
Tuesday News Roundup
In today’s news: Religious lobbying, law firms donating to Obama, campaign finance rules in New York, and Ann Ravel at the FPPC.
Two articles track the increase in religious group lobbying: Politico’s “Study: Religious lobbying soars in D.C.” by MJ Lee, and the Washington Post’s “Religious lobbying groups multiply on Capitol Hill” by Michelle Boorstein.
Catherine Ho reports about law firms contributing to Obama’s campaign in “Law firms dominating campaign contributions to Obama” in the Washington Post.
An editorial in the Post-Standard discusses the state of campaign finance rules in New York: “Campaign Cash: In NY, even lax contribution rules are easy to evade.”
The San Diego Union-Tribune discusses Ann Ravel’s actions at California’s FPPC in “New chair of campaign finance watchdog draws strong reactions” by Will Evans.
November 21, 2011 •
ALL’s Annual Meeting Brings New Lineup of Officers
The American League of Lobbyists (ALL) held their Annual Meeting on November 16 and selected a new slate of officers and directors.
Howard Marlowe is the new president. For the whole list of the new lineup, ALL offered this press release on November 18, 2011.
Catherine Ho writes in the Washington Post how the organization is ready to defend the profession of lobbying in 2012. Here is her article, “American League of Lobbyists regroups, heads into 2012 under new director,” from November 20, 2011.
Photo of the United States Capitol Rotunda by UpstateNYer on Wikipedia.
November 21, 2011 •
D.C. Council to Consider Ethics Proposal
Draft Seeks to Consolidate and Streamline Other Pending Proposals
The Council of the District of Columbia will soon consider legislation that would establish an independent ethics panel and reduce the amount of money council members can raise to help constituents. Council member Muriel Bowser has crafted draft legislation that seeks to streamline 10 separate reform proposals that have been introduced by council members in the aftermath of several ethics controversies.
The proposal sets up a three-member Board of Ethics and Government Accountability, prohibits lobbyists from offering discounted legal advice to council members, sets limits on how much the mayor and council chairman can accept from donors for transition and inaugural committees, and cuts by half the amount that council members can raise for constituent service funds. The proposal does not impose term limits or prohibit lobbyists from making political contributions as sought by other reform proposals.
November 21, 2011 •
News You Can Use – November 21, 2011
Here are highlights from the latest edition of News You Can Use:
National:
Poll: Americans divided on companies that hire lobbyists
Federal:
Administration Officials Double as Obama Campaign Speakers
Corporate Lobbying Is a Very Exclusive Club
Gingrich Said to Be Paid By Freddie Mac to Court Republicans
Obama Administration Extends Review of Lobbyist Gift Ban
From the States and Municipalities:
Alaska
FEC Rejects Miller’s Senate Race Complaint
Arizona
Former Fiesta Bowl Employee Indicted
California
FPPC Sticks with $30,000 Fine for Lobbyist Frank Molina
California
New Gift Rules Would Benefit Legislators Dating Lobbyists
Colorado
Judge Says Gessler’s Campaign Finance Change Unconstitutional
Michigan
No Such Thing as Free Lunch? There Is for State Lawmakers in Lansing
Missouri
Missouri High Court Hears Challenge to 2010 Ethics Law
Nevada
No Vote on Transparency Bill Lets Lobbyists Keep Paying Tab
New Mexico
Gov. Martinez Says Officials and Lobbyists Are Too Cozy
New York
Appeals Court Allows New Trial for Bruno
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.
November 18, 2011 •
CQ’s First Street Makes News
“First Street™ contains a wealth of information on the people and organizations influencing policy.”
Mashable posted the feature article “Lobbyists and Politicians Beware: First Street Reveals Your Hidden Connections” by Zachary Sniderman, detailing a new service Congressional Quarterly Press is offering. First Street is a database that can show the connections between lobbyists and political officials.
The article’s following description gives you an idea of the magnitude of First Street: “The database currently contains more than 660,000 lobbying forms, 240,000 congressional and federal staffers, 32,898 clients of registered lobbying organizations and 20,000 congressional and federal organizations. In total, First Street says it covers more than 2 million connections.”
First Street comes with a price tag of $3,000 for a single license, according to Sniderman. He points out there are other services like OpenSecrets.org, but First Street claims to have the most comprehensive database.
Here is the link to the First Street website.
November 18, 2011 •
Lobbyist Fined for Not Wearing Badge
Connecticut Working Families Organization’s Executive Director to Pay $10,000 Fine
Jon Green, the executive director of Connecticut Working Families has been fined $10,000 by the Connecticut Office of State Ethics for not wearing a badge while he lobbied on legislation in the 2010 election cycle.
You can find news coverage of the story here:
“Working Families Official To Pay $10,000 Ethics Fine” by Jon Lender in the Hartford Courant.
“WFP Director Fined For Lobbying Without Badge” by Christine Stuart in CT News Junkie.
“CT levies $10K fine against unsanctioned lobbyist” in the Hartford Business Journal.
November 17, 2011 •
New Study about Lobbying
A relatively small group of companies is lobbying on a regular basis.
The National Bureau of Economic Research published a new study about lobbying called “The Dynamics of Firm Lobbying.”
For a good summary of the results of this study, read the Washington Post’s article “Corporate lobbying is a very exclusive club” by Brad Plumer. The article says the report shows a small percentage of firms are lobbying and the companies that are lobbying are big, with large budgets. They describe the challenges facing companies and organizations that wish to promote their issues in Washington.
According to the article: “Washington is teeming with lobbyists. In 2009, there were 13,700 of them. So you’d think it would be easy for any company to stride into town and start pressing its issues on members of Congress. But that doesn’t seem to be the case. Only a relatively small number of firms lobby each year. What’s more, the turnover is quite low. Lobbying, it seems, is not a game that just anyone can play.”
Photo of the United States Capitol by Florian Hirzinger on Wikipedia.
November 17, 2011 •
Charles County Passes Ethics Ordinance
Removed Key Amendment
CHARLES COUNTY, MARYLAND: Commissioners made the decision to pass an ethics ordinance required by the state after removing a key amendment Tuesday. The amendment would have included stricter campaign finance and reporting laws.
After debate, the commissioners elected to remove the amendment and take up campaign finance and reporting as a separate piece of legislation in the future. The ordinance, as passed, states that commissioners can only represent the county, prohibits gifts over $20, and requires lobbyist registrations to be filed by January 15th.
All counties, municipalities, and school districts are required by law to pass an ethics ordinance.
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