Lobbying

Massachusetts: “Bill Would Have Lobbyists Disclose Clients” by Michael Norton (State House News Service) for The Sentinel & Enterprise

Campaign Finance

“Jeb Bush’s Ambitions Paid Dividends for GOP Admaker Over the Years” by Matea Gold for Washington Post

California: “California’s Ethics Watchdog Opposes Donor Stickers for Politicians” by Alexei Koseff for Sacramento Bee

New Jersey: “Another Birdsall Exec Pleads Guilty, Faces Jail” by Kathleen Hopkins for Asbury Park Press

Ethics

Pennsylvania: “Menendez’s Lawyers Argue That Public Corruption Case against Senator Should Be Thrown Out” by Matt Zapotosky for Washington Post

District of Columbia: “Ethics Group Urges Inquiry of Mortgage Banking Lobbyist Who Led F.H.A.” by Gretchen Morgenson for New York Times

New Mexico: “Governor OKs Upgrades to State’s Campaign Finance Reporting System” by Heath Haussamen for New MexicoPolitics.net

Oklahoma: “Credit Card Purchases, Gifts Questioned by Oklahoma’s State Audit” by Randy Ellis for The Oklahoman

Elections

“How America’s Dying White Supremacist Movement Is Seizing on Donald Trump’s Appeal” by Jonathan Mahler for Washington Post

“Inside the Clinton Team’s Plan to Defeat Donald Trump” by Amy Chozick and Patrick Healy for New York Times

“Donald Trump Overwhelms G.O.P. Rivals from Alabama to Massachusetts” by Alexander Burns and Jonathan Martin for New York Times

“Minority Voters Push Hillary Clinton to Victories” by Patrick Healy and Amy Chozick for New York Times

Legislative Issues

Wyoming: “‘Leg’-Mart’ Growing on Wyoming Lawmakers, Public” by Laura Hancock for Casper Star-Tribune

Here is our March calendar:

March 2   Ohio Birthday Celebration, Washington, DC

March 7-10   National PAC Conference, Miami Beach, Florida

March 9   NCSL Foundation Luncheon, Washington, DC

March 10   Women’s Endowment Fund Annual Dinner, Akron, OH

March 16   PLEN Mentor Awards, Washington, DC

March 17   Akron Roundtable, Akron, OH

March 20-22   NASPO: How to Market to State Governments Meeting, Atlanta, GA

March 30-April 2   ACES National Conference, Portland, OR

March 31, 2016   Akron Press Club hosts State of Summit County Speech, Akron, OH

The number of municipalities and regional governments our research associates track continues to grow. We now cover almost 300 municipalities and local governments. This is part of a continuous effort to better serve the needs of our clients.

In that effort, we have added abridged jurisdictions to our website. These entries, condensed due to the limited number of relevant local laws, provide the core information our clients need for their government relations work.

The new jurisdiction is: Asheville, North Carolina

Lobbying

California: “Budding Marijuana Lobby Gains Influence at California Capitol” by Taryn Luna for Sacramento Bee

Colorado: “Colorado Lobbying Law Offers Murky Picture of Influence on Politics” by Joey Bunch for Denver Post

Massachusetts: “Marty Walsh’s Friends with Benefits” by Mark Arsenault and Andrew Ryan for Boston Globe

Missouri: “Alleged Intern Harasser among Those in Lobbying Grey Area” by Kurt Erickson and Alex Stuckey for St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Nebraska: “Lawmakers Criticize Bill That Seeks to Slow Revolving Door into Lobbying” by Martha Stoddard for Omaha World-Herald

Ohio: “Attorney General: Wright State’s $1M consultant not a lobbyist” by Josh Weigart for Dayton Daily News

Campaign Finance

Missippi: “Lobbyists: Campaign finance system ‘disgusting’” by Geoff Pender, Kate Royals, and Mollie Bryant for Jackson Clarion-Ledger

New Mexico: “NM Deals with Campaign Finance Warnings Backlog” by Morgan Lee (Associated Press) for Farmington Daily Times

Ethics

Ohio: “Ohio Mayor Pleads Guilty to Corruption Charges, Remains in Office” by Kim Palmer for Reuters

Elections

Wisconsin: “With Fewer Members, a Diminished Political Role for Wisconsin Unions” by Monica Davey for New York Times

Lobbying

“Senator Defends Lobbyists after Ethics Reform Hearing in Capitol” by Max Londberg for Cass County Democrat

California: “Female Lobbying Firm Thrives in Male-Dominated Capitol” by Laurel Rosenhall for CalMatters.org

Campaign Finance

Arizona: “Appeals Court Rules against Ex-AG Horne in Campaign Finance Case” by Howard Fischer (Capitol Media Services) for Arizona Daily Star

Massachusetts: “New Rules Clarify ‘Cooperation’ between Candidates, Super PACs” by   for NewBostonPost.com; Statehouse News Service

Ethics

“Aides’ Email-Server Testimony Could Throw Clinton Campaign a Curveball” by Spencer Hsu and Rosalind Helderman for Washington Post

Massachusetts: “Joyce’s Role in Solar Project Probed” by Andrea Estes for Boston Globe

New York: “Despite ‘Crickets’ on Ethics, Galef Presents a Tall Stack of Fixes” by Casey Seiler for Albany Times Union

Washington: “Scalia Led Court in Taking Trips Funded by Private Sponsors” by Eric Lipton for New York Times

Elections

“To Fight Critics, Donald Trump Aims to Instill Fear in 140-Character Doses” by Alexander Burns and Maggie Haberman for New York Times

New Jersey: “New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie Endorses Donald Trump for President” by Jose DelReal for Washington Post

South Carolina: “Hillary Clinton Wins South Carolina Primary”  by Amy Chozick and Patcrick Healy for New York Times

Legislative Issues

Missouri: “Missouri Supreme Court to Rule on Advocacy Group’s Right to Film Senate Hearings” by Zachary Reger for Columbia Missourian

State and Federal Communications is proud to be a sponsor of the Akron Canton Regional Foodbank’s Harvest for Hunger Kick-off Breakfast on February 26th!

Lobbying

Kentucky: “Drug Company Lobbying Has Doubled In Kentucky in Recent Years” by James McNair for Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting

Missouri: “Missouri Senate Backs End to Lobbyist-Catered Group Events” by Summer Ballentine (Associated Press) for digitalBURG.com

Campaign Finance

Arizona: “Senate Panel Advances Bill to Overhaul Campaign Finance Laws” by Ryan Van Velzer (Associated Press) for Arizona Daily Star

Maine: “After Legislative Raids and Funding Delays, Maine’s Public Campaign-Finance Money Could Run Out” by Steve Mistler for Portland Press Herald

West Virginia: “House Passes Bill to Shine Light on Fundraisers during Legislative Session” by Eric Eyre for Charleston Gazette

Ethics

“How America Became the Love Child of Kim Kardashian and Donald Trump” by Lynn Stuart Parramore for Reuters

California: “Former State Sen. Leland Yee Sentenced to Prison” by Howard Mintz for San Jose Mercury News

Missouri: “Some Question the Limits to Legislating the Missouri Legislature” by Jason Rosenbaum for St. Louis Public Radio

Texas: “Texas Court Drops Criminal Case against Rick Perry” by Manny Fernandez for New York Times

Wisconsin: “Wisconsin GOP Secretary Is 1st Appointee to New Ethics Board” by   for Minneapolis Star Tribune; Associated Press

Elections

“Bernie Sanders, as Secular Jew, Leaves Religion in Background” by Joseph Berger for New York Times

Procurement

Florida: “Broward Health Probe Looks at Advertising Contract” by David Fleshler for South Florida Sun Sentinel

What are the qualifications for becoming a Justice on the Supreme Court?

There are no requirements listed in the Constitution to be a Supreme Court Justice. The youngest Associate Justice was Joseph Story. He joined the bench in 1811 at 32 years old. The oldest justice was Associate Justice, Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. who retired after serving 32 years at 90 years old. All justices have been lawyers prior to joining the court. To this point there have been six justices that were foreign born.

Where did we find someone to nominate as a Supreme Court Justice?

On the current bench Chief Justice, John Roberts, Jr, Associate Justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Associate Justice, Sonia Sotomayor, and Associate Justice, Elena Kagan are all from New York. Associate Justice, Samuel A. Alito, Jr is from New Jersey. Associate Justice, Stephen Breyer and Anthony Kennedy are from California. Associate Justice, Clarence Thomas is from Georgia.

What is the range of time it takes to confirm a justice?

Believe it or not, there are many who were confirmed and sworn in on the very day they were nominated. The most recent was Associate Justice Harold Burton during the Truman administration.

The longest amount of time recorded to go from nomination to a successful confirmation was Associate Justice, Louis Brandeis from the Woodrow Wilson administration at 125 days.

How many were nominated that didn’t achieve confirmation?

From the President George Washington administration thru the President George W. Bush administration there have been 34 that did not get confirmed. The various reasons include the following:

• Withdrawn as a nominee
• Rejected by Congress
• Declined to serve

How many Justices died in office?

Justices are appointed for life. Fifty have retired or resigned on their own accord. Only Associate Justice, Samuel chase has been impeached [1984]. The Senate acquitted him and he remained on the bench until his death six years later.

Associate Justices

Before Associate Justice, Antonin Scalia died on February 12, 2016, there were 26 associate justices who died in office from 1798 – Associate Justice, James Wilson through 1954 – Associate Justice, Robert Jackson.

Chief Justices

A total of 17 men have been the chief justice of the Supreme Court. The longest served was Chief Justice, John Marshall of Virginia [who was nominated in 1801 and died in office in 1835.]

There were eight Supreme Court Chief Justices who died while serving the court. Included in this list are Chief Justice, John Marshall [appointed by President John Adams] died in 1835 at 76 years old. The most recent Chief Justice was William Rehnquist [initially appointed by President Richard Nixon as associate justice and nominated to chief justice by President Ronald Reagan] died in 2005 from throat cancer.
How many vacancies occurred during presidential election years?

Vacancies in the Supreme Court during an election year are not that uncommon.   There have been 14 confirmed between Associate Justice, Oliver Ellsworth, 1796 [during the President George Washington administration] and Associate Justice, Anthony Kennedy in 1988 [during the Ronald Reagan administration].

How many U.S. Presidents have also served on the Supreme Court?

There has only been one U.S. President to serve on the Supreme Court and that is President William Howard Taft. Eight years after his failed re-election to the office of president, he was nominated by President Warren Harding to replace Chief Justice Edward White. He served for nine years and resigned due to bad health.

This article has been researched from the following sources:

“7 Things You Might Not Know About the U.S. Supreme Court” by Elizabeth Nix on History.com

“At least 14 Supreme Court justices have been confirmed during election years” by Timothy Lee in Vox

“U.S. Justices and Judges Who Died While Still Holding Office” on PoliticalGraveyard.com

“Biographies of Current Justices of the Supreme Court” on the United State Supreme Court website

“How Long Does It Take to Confirm a Supreme Court Nominee?” in The New York Times

Lobbying

California: “California Bill Would Ban Legislative Junkets Funded by Interest Groups” by Jeremy White for Sacramento Bee

Missouri: “Curtis Presents Bill to Cut Union Exemption for Lobbying” by Travis Zimpfer for Missouri Times

Campaign Finance

“Democratic Party Fundraising Effort Helps Clinton Find New Donors, Too” by Matea Gold and Tom Hamburger for Washington Post

“Can You Sell Marijuana Pipes to Help Fund Bernie Sanders?” by Michael Beckel for Center for Public Integrity

Massachusetts: “Baker Taps Wealthy Donors in Bid to Shape Mass. GOP” by Frank Phillips for Boston Globe

Mississippi: “Elected Officials Use Campaign Finds for Private Gain in Mississippi” by Geoff Pender, Mollie Bryant, and Katie Royals (Jackson Clarion-Ledger) for The Sun-Herald

New Jersey: “Birdsall CEO Pleads Guilty in Huge N.J. Pay-to-Play Scheme” by S.P. Sullivan (NJ Advance Media) for Newark Star Ledger

Ethics

New York: “Watchdog Group Asks for Inquiry into Nonprofits Tied to de Blasio” by J. David Goodman for New York Times

Elections

“Univision Aims to Make Hispanic Voting Bloc Even More Formidable” by Nick Corasaniti for New York Times

Nevada: “In Nevada Caucuses, Trump Gets a Third Straight Win” by Philip Rucker and David Weigel for Washington Post

Enjoy these fun photos from recent events:

Elizabeth Z. Bartz in Washington, DC with the DC staff, Rebecca Pixton South and Gamble Hayden at the WASRG happy hour.

Gamble Hayden at the PLEN Women in Public Policy event in Washington, DC.

State and Federal Communications hosted the first of a series of free government relations compliance webinars for 2016. President and CEO Elizabeth Bartz and Amber Fish Linke, Director of Client and Product Operations, presented the widely attended “Lobbying Compliance at the State Level” webinar on Wednesday, February 17, 2016. If you are interested in participating in our future webinars, contact us at training@stateandfed.com!

The number of municipalities and regional governments our research associates track continues to grow. We now cover almost 300 municipalities and local governments. This is part of a continuous effort to better serve the needs of our clients.

In that effort, we have recently added abridged jurisdictions to our website. These entries, condensed due to the limited number of relevant local laws, provide the core information our clients need for their government relations work.

The new jurisdictions are:

                    Cedar Rapids, Iowa  

                    Merced County, California

Lobbying

Florida: “Lobbying firms pull in cash as year ends” by Jim Saunders in the Tallahassee Democrat

Hawaii: “Lobbying Law Proposed For Kauai” by Chad Blair in the Honolulu Civil Beat

Idaho: “Bill would make university, state agency lobbyists report their spending” by Betsy Russell in the Spokesman Review

New Hampshire: “Political Wrangling Over ‘People’s Pledge’ in New Hampshire” by Simone Pathé in Roll Call

New Mexico: “Campaign finance fix bill triggered by KOB investigation 1 step away from clearing legislature” by Ryan Luby in KOB 4

Ethics

New Mexico: “Ethics commission proposal faces scrutiny in Senate panel” by Dan Boyd in the Albuquerque Journal

Virginia: “Senators vote to undo parts of ethics reform law” by Jim Nolan in the Richmond Times-Dispatch

Elections

“DCCC Names First 16 Candidates to ‘Red to Blue’ Program” by Simone Pathé in Roll Call

Florida: “With Safe Districts Gone, Two Florida Lawmakers Taking Their Time on 2016 Decision” by Eli Yokley in Roll Call

Ohio: “Bill would ban switching political parties in Ohio primary elections” by Robert Higgs in the Plain Dealer

Procurement

Texas: “Some contractors say new Texas disclosure law confusing” by The Associated Press in KXAN

Legislative Issues

Alaska: “Longtime Alaska Lawmaker Max Gruenberg Dies” by Nathaniel Herz in Governing

Arizona: “Arizona lawmakers seek ability to more easily overturn ballot measures” by Howard Fischer in the Daily Courier

On Friday, February 5, the staff of State and Federal Communication supported Go Red for Women! We wore red in honor of National Wear Red Day and to raise awareness for the cause of heart health for women.