January 23, 2013 •
Wednesday Government Relations News
Keep up with the latest articles on campaign finance, lobbying, and ethics!
Lobbying
“K Street says goodbye, good riddance to 2012, expects upturn this year” by Kevin Bogardus and Megan R. Wilson in The Hill.
“K Street Files: At Start of Second Term, Lobbyists Get Over Obama’s Cold Shoulder” by Kate Ackley and Janie Lorber in Roll Call.
“Interests’ Presence Felt In 2012, Filings Show” by Janie Lorber and Kate Ackley in Roll Call.
“K Street sings the blues” by Byron Tau and Tarini Parti in Politico.
Campaign Finance
“Florida GOP donor Jay Odom indicted on campaign finance fraud charges” by Lucy Morgan in the Miami Herald.
Maine: “Maine lawmakers join effort to amend Constitution to allow campaign funding limits” by Robert Long in the Bangor Daily News.
Ethics
Colorado: “Ethics bill clears Senate committee hurdle” by Arek Sarkissian II in the Tallahassee Democrat.
Ohio: “Ex-legislator sent to prison for corruption” by Jim Siegel in the Columbus Dispatch.
Redistricting
“In quirk, some California residents have two state senators, others none” by Patrick McGreevy in the Los Angeles Times.
“Va. Republicans’ redistricting maneuver draws criticism” by Laura Vozzella and Errin Haines in the Washington Post.
From the State Legislatures
“Top 10 legislative issues facing lawmakers in 2013” by Mark Wolfe from NCSL.
“In Michigan and Wisconsin, Some Lawmakers Want to Go Part-Time” by Jim Malewitz in Stateline.
December 10, 2012 •
Monday News Roundup
Let’s start off the week with these lobbying, campaign finance, and ethics news articles:
Campaign Finance
“2012 presidential election nearing all-time record, final campaign finance reports show” by The Associated Press in The Washington Post.
Arkansas: “3 GOP lawmakers fined by Ark. ethics commission” in the San Francisco Chronicle.
District of Columbia: “Reneging on campaign finance reform” column by Jonetta Rose Barras in the Examiner.
Texas: “Contributions Blackout Serves Many Functions” by Ross Ramsey in The New York Times.
“Bad News for Campaign Finance” editorial by David Firestone in The New York Times.
Lobbying
“Think Tanks or Partisan Advocates? Distinction Is Getting Harder to See” by Janie Lorber in Roll Call.
Florida: “Former lobbyist Allison Tant joins race to lead Florida Democratic Party” by Adam C. Smith in the Tampa Bay Times.
Texas: “Ex-Arlington lawmaker forms lobbying firm” by Maria Recio, Anna M. Tinsley and Scott Nishimura in the Star-Telegram.
Wyoming: “Groups challenge Wyoming lawmakers’ lack of transparency with ALEC” by Joan Barron in the Star-Tribune.
Ethics
District of Columbia: “DC lottery contract is subject of federal probe” by Ben Nuckols in Bloomberg BusinessWeek.
West Virginia: “W.Va. Ethics Commission director gets exemption” by The Associated Press in the Herald-Dispatch.
Redistricting
“Redrawn districts complicate inquiries to incoming representatives” by Brad Shannon in The Olympian.
“Redistricting fight puts Doggett in awkward situation” by Tim Eaton in the Austin American-Statesman.
Government Social Media
“North Carolina Archives Social Media” by Colin Wood in Government Technology.
November 28, 2012 •
Wednesday Government Relations News Roundup
Here are the latest articles about campaign finance, lobbying, and ethics:
Campaign Finance
“Column: Campaign-finance tweaks can fix big problems” editorial by Peter Schweizer in USA Today.
Missouri: “Missouri House Democrats propose new campaign finance restrictions, stiffer ethics rules” by Chris Blank (Associated Press) in The Republic.
Lobbying
“Lobbying group’s next president expected to fight White House rules” by Kevin Bogardus in The Hill.
“Marlowe to Step Down as Head of American League of Lobbyists” by Andrew Ramonas in The Blog of Legal Times.
“Lobbying World” in The Hill.
“Lobbying, America’s One Truly Unstoppable Growth Industry” by Jim Geraghty in the National Review.
“When ‘Super PACs’ Become Lobbyists” editorial in The New York Times.
“VIDEO: Rep. Shuler Said He Wouldn’t Become A Lobbyist; Now He Will” by David Halperin in The Huffington Post.
Florida: “Slow revolving door to lobbying in Fla. Capitol” editorial in the Orlando Sentinel.
Florida: “Dorworth has a new career – as a lobbyist” by Jason Garcia in the Orlando Sentinel.
Ethics
New York: “Ethics panel investigating New York Republican” by The Associated Press in CBS News.
Pennsylvania: “Ethics board fines Philadelphia official for Facebook posts” by Dave Davies in Newsworks.
Redistricting
Montana: “Redistricting panel works on Montana Senate boundaries” by The Associated Press in the Billings Gazette.
Ohio: “Ohio Supreme Court upholds legislative maps” by Jim Siegel in the Columbus Dispatch.
November 14, 2012 •
Wednesday Government Relations News Roundup
Here are the latest articles about campaign finance, lobbying, and ethics:
Campaign Finance
“Campaign Finance Reformers Get Back To Work After Record Election Spending” by Paul Blumenthal in the Huffington Post.
“Abramoff, Occupy Wall Street join forces on campaign finance reform” by Megan M. Wilson in The Hill.
“U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown calls for campaign finance reform” by Stephanie Warsmith in the Akron Beacon Journal.
Lobbying
“Lobbyists Woo New Lawmakers in D.C. Mating Dance” by Kate Ackley in Roll Call.
“Incoming freshman lawmakers already have bundlers on K St.” by Kevin Bogardus in The Hill.
“Tax fight sneaks up on K Street” by Bernie Becker and Peter Schroeder in The Hill.
“Rove Super PAC will try lobbying” by Rachel Weiner in The Washington Post.
Florida: “Cretul, Cannon are lobbyists; former speakers start new firm” by Bill Thompson in the Gainesville Sun.
Ethics
“Secretary of state accused of moving too slow on PAC ethics complaint” by Steve Terrell in the Santa Fe New Mexican.
“Montreal Hackathon Aims to Combat Government Corruption” by Elisabeth Fraser in TechPresident.
Redistricting
“Ohio State Bar Association urges commission to take up redistricting reform” by Kate Irby in the Plain Dealer.
September 18, 2012 •
Tuesday Government Relations News
Here are the latest campaign finance, lobbying, procurement, redistricting, and elections news:
Campaign Finance
“Ethics czar angers bloggers with proposal to shine light on campaign pay” by Patrick McGreevey in the Los Angeles Times.
“Contributions to PACs in Vt. may be known soon” by Dave Gram (Associated Press) in the Bennington Banner.
Lobbying
Minnesota: “Lobbyist fined who donated to Davids’ campaign” by Heather J. Carlson in the Post-Bulletin.
Redistricting
Arkansas: “Judges uphold Senate district redistricting” by John Lyon in the Arkansas News.
Elections
Kansas: “Ex-lawmaker named elections official” by The Associated Press in the Lawrence Journal World.
Procurement
“Contractor suspensions and debarments on the rise, says White House” by Charles Clark in Government Executive.
September 14, 2012 •
Friday News Roundup
Let’s close out the week with these government relations articles:
Campaign Finance
“House Dems push new campaign finance reform” by T.W. Farnam in the Washington Post.
“FEC move on wireless campaign contributions could aid Democrats” by Adam Mazmanian in Nextgov.
“Groups Ask Appeals Court to Keep Issue-Ad Donors Secret” by Tom Schoenberg in Bloomberg News.
“US election system criticised over finance rules and voting restrictions” by Karen McVeigh in The Guardian.
Minnesota: “Campaign Finance Board stands by ‘John Doe decision’” by Tom Scheck in MPR News.
“’Citizens United’ on the Corporate Court” by Jamie Raskin in The Nation.
Lobbying
“Lansing lobbyists’ spending on record pace” by Rich Robinson in the Michigan Campaign Finance Network.
Ethics
“Gov. Christie to stop showing GOP-produced video before town hall meetings” by Jenna Portnoy in the Star-Ledger.
Social Media
“New Tool Verifies Authenticity of Gov’t Social Media Sites” by John K. Higgins in E-Commerce Times.
Redistricting
“Serious problems still exist’ with redistricting maps, attorney tells Pennsylvania Supreme Court” by Nick Malawskey in the Patriot-News.
September 13, 2012 •
Thursday News Roundup
Keep up with the latest lobbying, campaign finance, government ethics, redistricting, and social media news with these articles:
Lobbying
“Lobbyists Keep Busy Despite Legislative Lull” by Kate Ackley in Roll Call.
“How Many Lobbyists Are Really Breaking the Law?” by Elahe Izadi in the National Journal.
Campaign Finance
Montana: “Republicans ask court to axe Montana’s campaign contribution laws” by Matt Gouras (Associated Press) in The Republic.
New Jersey: “Political action committees gave $18M to N.J. campaigns last year, analysis shows” by Matt Friedman in the Trenton Times.
Redistricting
Ohio: “Ohio Supreme Court says ballot summary for redistricting issue is inaccurate” by Joe Guillen in the Plain Dealer.
Pennsylvania: “Supreme Court to hear redistricting arguments today” in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Ethics
“HHS chief violated law restricting political activity, OSC finds” by Eric Katz in Government Executive.
“Scandals are making uphill battles even steeper for some lawmakers” by Alexandra Jaffe in The Hill.
Alaska: “APOC says Senate candidate failed to disclose clients” by Richard Mauer in the Anchorage Daily News.
Social Media and tech
“You Gotta Have Friends: New Study Shows Facebook Can Get Out the Vote” by Micah L. Sifry in TechPresident.
“Study: Facebook drove turnout in 2010” by Steve Friess in Politico.
“Facebook to Cities: Change Page Names, or Else” by Noelle Knell in Governing.
“Web pioneer providing voter database for free” by Gregory Korte in USA Today.
August 29, 2012 •
Wednesday Lobbying and Campaign Finance News
Also government ethics, redistricting, and social media
Lobbying
“The Art of Going Corporate at Political Conventions” by Diane Brady in Bloomberg Business Week.
“K Street preps for Hurricane Isaac” by Dave Levinthal in Politico.
“Lobbyists, businesses pamper New Jersey delegates with food, parties” by Melissa Hayes in The Record.
District of Columbia: “New D.C. Campaign Finance Reform Would Ban Lobbyist Bundling” in the Blog of the Legal Times.
New York: “Lawmaker-lobby guidelines emerge” by Rick Karlin in the Albany Times Union.
Ottawa, Canada: “New lobby registry looks easy as pie” by Joanne Chianello in the Ottawa Citizen.
Campaign Finance
California: “Unleashing the Campaign Contributions of Corporations” by Eduardo Porter in The New York Times.
Pennsylvania: “With money to burn, Fitzpatrick won’t limit spending” by Gary Weckselblatt in The Intelligencer.
Washington: “Churches can’t be intermediary for gay-marriage law donations, watchdog says” by Rachel La Corte (Associated Press) in The Olympian.
Ethics
Illinois: “Emanuel appointees propose more oversight on ethics” by Hal Dardick in the Chicago Tribune.
New York: “NY ethics board hires another Cuomo aide” by The Associated Press in the Utica Observer Dispatch.
New York: “Silver’s Sexual-Harassment Payout May Get New York Ethics Review” by Freeman Klopott in Bloomberg Business Week.
New York: “New York Can’t Escape Corruption as Senator Huntley Indicted” by Freeman Klopott and David McLaughlin (Bloomberg) in the San Francisco Chronicle.
North Carolina: “Dalton rolls out ethics package, term limits” by Travis Fain in the Greensboro News and Record.
Utah: “Utah cities, counties, guv preparing for new ethics commission law” by Cathy McKitrick in the Salt Lake Tribune.
Redistricting
Arizona: “Ariz. GOP: Redistricting commission’s existence illegal” by Howard Fischer in East Valley Tribune.
Texas: “Texas redistricting plan ruled illegal” by Gary Martin and Gary Scharrer in the San Antonio Express-News.
Social Media
“Ann Romney Was Most-Searched, Most-Tweeted Tuesday Night Speaker” by Alex Fitzpatrick in Mashable.
August 22, 2012 •
Wednesday News Roundup
Today, we have lobbying, campaign finance, ethics, and redistricting news from around the country:
Lobbying
California: “Bill raises fees on lobbyists to fund disclosure” by The Associated Press in the Mercury News.
North Carolina: “Despite laws, NC legislators still ask lobbyists for money” by Laura Leslie in WRAL.com.
South Carolina: “SC: Top-paid State House lobbyist earns $673K” by Eric K. Ward in Watchdog.org.
Campaign Finance
Arizona: “State Sen. Gould: No improper campaign spending” by Rebekah L. Sanders in the Arizona Republic.
Ethics
Kansas: “Kansas lawmakers unwittingly broke open meetings law” by Brad Cooper in the Kansas City Star.
North Dakota: “Legislators to create code of conduct after North Dakota named ‘most corrupt state’” by Wendy Reuer in InForum.
South Carolina: “Haley, Wilson unveiling ethics reform package” by The Associated Press in the Greenville News.
Redistricting
“2012 Pre-election Turnover is Typical for a Redistricting Year” by Karl Kurtz in NCSL’s The Thicket blog.
Montana: “Commission wraps up proposal for new Montana House districts” by Mike Dennison in the Missoulian.
July 10, 2012 •
Redistricting in the News
Keep up with the latest redistricting articles from five states.
“On the (Non-)Effects of Redistricting on Electoral Competition” by Karl Kurtz in NCSL’s The Thicket.
Alabama: “Democrats punt in state court, look to feds to fight redistricting of the Alabama Legislature” by Kim Chandler in the Birmingham News.
California: “State Legislative Campaigns Least Competitive in Nation” by Will Evans in KQED News.
Maryland: “Md. petitioners confident of sufficient signatures for redistricting vote” by Elizabeth Sallie in the the Washington Times.
North Carolina: “NC Supreme Court hears redistricting issue Tuesday” by Gary D. Robertson (Associated Press) in the Greensboro News-Record.
Pennsylvania: “Districts map redraws challenges in state Senate” by Marc Levy in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
June 26, 2012 •
Tuesday News Roundup
Campaign Finance, lobbying, redistricting
“Public stations may get OK for political ads” by David Bauder (Associated Press) in The Washington Times.
“After winning right to spend, political groups fight for secrecy” by Joseph Tanfani and Melanie Mason in the Los Angeles Times.
Alaska: “Federal government role in Alaska elections questioned” by Becky Bohrer in the Anchorage Daily News.
District of Columbia: “Embattled DC Mayor Gray to propose campaign finance reforms in bid to end ‘pay to play’” by Ben Nuckols (Associated Press) in The Washington Post.
Minnesota: “Lobbying is a big business in Minnesota” by Jennifer Brooks in the Star Tribune.
Minnesota: “High court ruling throws state campaign law into doubt” by Corey Mitchell in the Star Tribune.
Texas: “Cruz-Dewhurst battle pits D.C. and Austin lobbyists” by Priya Anand in the Houston Chronicle.
Vermont: “Vermont Officials Criticize Federal Ruling On Campaign Finance” by Bob Kinzel on Vermont Public Radio.
June 13, 2012 •
News from the Legislatures
Here is a look at the latest news on redistricting and other legislative issues from the states:
“Sunlight Foundation Unveils New Legislative Alert Service, Monitoring Action On Capitol Hill And All 50 States” by Sarah Lai Stirland in TechPresident.
“More on Legislative Turnover” by Karl Kurtz in NCSL’s The Thicket.
Arizona: “Fewer candidates vie for Arizona Legislature” by Mary Jo Pitzl in The Arizona Republic.
Maryland: “Maryland Becomes 40th State to Ratify 17th Amendment” by Karl Kurtz in The Thicket.
Redistricting
Alabama: “Inside the Statehouse: New district lines won’t change legislature” by Steve Flowers in the Jacksonville News.
Alaska: “Lawsuit claims redistricting procedure violates federal law” by Becky Bohrer in the Anchorage Daily News.
Illinois: “Ill. Supreme Court rejects GOP challenge to state legislative remap” by Dave McKinney in the Chicago Sun-Times.
Kansas: “In Kansas redistricting, new boundaries quickly bring new faces” by Dave Helling in the Kansas City Star.
Missouri: “Missouri senator will pursue redistricting changes” by The Associated Press in the Kansas City Star.
Photo of the Illinois State Capitol by Nikopoley in Wikipedia.
June 11, 2012 •
Monday News Roundup
Start the week off right with the latest government relations news:
“Text Messages as Campaign Finance Reform?” by Quentin Fottrell in the Wall Street Journal.
“The Politics of Social Networking” by Damon Eris on the Independent Voter Network.
“At Meeting of Left’s Online Activists, Weighing Impact of Attack Ads” by Sarah Wheaton in The New York Times.
Alaska: “Will Citizens United result in Big Oil deciding who wins Alaska elections?” in the Alaska Dispatch.
District of Columbia: “Ex-D.C. Council Chairman Pleads Guilty to Bank Fraud” by Tom Schoenberg in Bloomberg.
Georgia: “Taking the Pledge – Most see need for lobbyist gift cap” in the Marietta Daily Journal.
Kansas: “Voters will see big changes from new redistricting plan” by Scott Rothschild in the Lawrence Journal World.
New York: “Analysis: $2M gambling bet puts focus on lobbyist” by The Associated Press in The Wall Street Journal.
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.
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