Elizabeth Bartz, President and CEO of State and Federal Communications, is attending the Public Affairs Institute hosted by the Public Affairs Council in Laguna Beach, California.

The Public Affairs Council website says the Institute has the following aim: “For more than thirty years, the Public Affairs Institute has brought together a world-class faculty and mid-to-senior-level public affairs professionals to discuss emerging political, economic, social and technological issues and trends in a rigorous, intriguing, innovative curriculum. Class sessions are led by faculty members, distinguished in their particular fields of expertise, in a mix of large group lectures and small group discussions, allowing for an interactive, personal learning environment.”

The Twitter hashtag for the event is #2012Institute.

This quick desk reference combines information from our online resources and lists the information by state:

– The Executive Source Guide on Lobbying Laws™;
– The Executive Source Guide on Political Contributions™; and
– The Executive Source Guide on Procurement Lobbying™.

This guidebook is filled with valuable information. However, we also caution it has two limitations:

The online resources, which you receive either through your subscription or as part of your lobbying compliance service, are comprehensive. This guidebook summarizes information in the online resources, and is meant only as a quick-reference guide.

While this guidebook is accurate and timely when we print it, please understand our online resources are updated continually. We provide this guidebook to you as a convenience, but your ultimate source of information should always be the online resource(s) to which you subscribe.

We consider this guidebook another value-added benefit of your partnership with State and Federal Communications. You also receive, via e-mail, monthly updates of important compliance legislation on the federal and state levels; News You Can Use™, our weekly summary of current news and events regarding compliance; and the Compliance Now newsletter with even more information.

Please call us at (330)761-9960 or email marketing@stateandfed.com if you would like to learn more about State and Federal Communications’ compliance services. Be sure to contact us if you are already a client and need to have your subscription username or password forwarded.

We are privileged to have you as clients, and are pleased to be your trusted adviser for government affairs compliance.

We are ready with the State and Federal Communications, Inc. Resolutions for 2012 and I think you are going to like them…Think 30, 50, 100. Sort of like Herman Cain’s 9 9 9, but not really.

Resolution #1 is to include 30% additional information onto our website. I am challenging the research department to make sure we are including all of the necessary information you need for your 2012 government affairs work.

Resolution #2 is to make it 50% easier for client use. That means we need to make sure we have additional subcategories so you can easily find the information you need.

Resolution #3 is to make it 100% accurate.  We know we are your #1 resource for lobbying, political contributions, procurement lobbying, and Canadian compliance and we have to be accurate so the information you forward to your colleagues and supervisors is absolutely correct.

For these resolutions…you can count on us to keep them!

Happy New Year.

Elizabeth Z. Bartz
President and CEO

Federal:

Fundraisers Take a Gamble on Lotteries

Romney Charity Used for Conservative Donations

Ron Paul’s House Record Marked by Bold Strokes, and Futility

From the States and Municipalities:

California

Business Interests Were Top Bill-Killers in California’s Capitol This Year

California

State Senator Aims to Double Lobby Fee in California – to 14 Cents a Day

Colorado

Gessler Issues 2012 Campaign Finance Rules

Florida

Palm Beach County Approves Countywide Lobbyist Registry

Ohio

Jimmy Dimora Faces Trial as Convictions in Federal Court Soar

South Carolina

Colbert Offering $500,000 to Pay for S.C. GOP Primary

Tennessee

Tennessee Lawmakers Still Haven’t Filled Ethics Commission Seat That Expired in ’09

Washington

Court Invalidates Washington State Cap on PAC Donations

West Virginia

Ethics Agency’s Informal Advice Kept Secret
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.

As everyone prepares to celebrate the New Year, I would like to take this opportunity to offer a note of thanks. State and Federal Communications has had an exciting year and we look forward to a bright 2012.

We wish you a beautiful New Year.

Elizabeth Bartz
President and CEO of State and Federal Communications, Inc.

Since this is the last week of the year, I wondered which blog posts received the most visits, so I ran a content report for the past year. I thought I would share with you what I found. Here are the most-read blog posts of 2011:

The top spot goes to …

1. Highlighted Site Of The Week – All The Presidents’ Money by Emily Kesler

followed by

2. Wisconsin Special Election Set for May 3, 2011 by Nathan Shaker
3. Highlights from the NCSL Legislative Summit 2011 by Joe May
4. Corporations Must Disclose Independent Expenditures in Maryland by George Ticoras
5. Ask the Experts – Using Federal PAC Funds to Contribute to State Candidates by Nola Werren. This one actually was written in October 2010, but was still popular reading material in 2011.

Thank you for following Lobby Comply, and we’ll see you in 2012!

We have many things for which we are thankful at State and Federal Communications. Before the day gets away from us, we would like to thank you for following Lobby Comply Blog.

We have had a great year and look forward to giving our very best service to our clients in 2012. Health and happiness to you and your families.

From all of us at State and Federal Communications, we wish you Happy Holidays!

We had lunch at the Tangier restaurant and then headed back to the office for more festivities.

Days in advance, the staff made the office look merry by decorating their cubes. On the day of the party we held a cube decorating contest and, as you can see, we have some true artisans in our midst. Santa showed up, as well as reindeer, penguins, the North Pole, and even Lucy van Pelt’s counseling booth. It is amazing what can be done with post-it notes, lights,  and cotton batting!

Next, we pitted the Compliance, Research, and IT departments against each other in contests requiring feats of skill, endurance, and great courage. A political button quiz was followed by stacking apples, blowing balloons, building chapstick architecture (with chopsticks, of course), and a tissue-pulling contest. Much was at stake for each department, but the Compliance Department came out the winner of the day.

My personal favorite event was the baking contest with an amazing array of sweets. The pictures speak for themselves. There was, of course, the Herculean task of tasting all of those fine creations, but we the staff managed just fine.

Our holiday Giving Tree was full, with the gifts going to the Battered Women’s Shelter of Summit County.

We were thankful for the chance to get together for a party. It has been a good year.

Federal:

Gingrich, Romney Campaigns Count on Lobbyists to Pay the Bills

Occupy D.C. Protesters Shut Down K Street

Stephen Colbert Gets Love at FEC

From the States and Municipalities:

Alabama

Alabama Ethics Law Limits What Students Can Give Teachers; Homemade Cookies OK, Hams Not Allowed

California

California Ethics Agency Relaxes Rules on Gifts to Politicians

California

Watchdog Agency Fines Former Pinole Councilman $111,500 for Ethics Violations

District of Columbia

D.C. Council Tentatively Approves Ethics Reform Bill

Georgia

Fines Levied on Georgia Politicians Reported Reduced Because of Notification Costs

Illinois

Blagojevich Hit with 14-Year Prison Sentence

Maryland

Jack Johnson, Former Prince George’s Executive, Sentenced to Seven Years in Corruption

Maryland

Rule Would Allow Campaign Donations by Text Message

Minnesota

Minnesota Ads Discussing Gay Marriage Approved For Less Financing Disclosure

Missouri

Missouri Politicians Enjoyed World Series Thanks to Lobbyists

Vermont

Vermont Court Imposes $10,000 Penalty in Campaign Finance Suit

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.

State and Federal Communications  is proud to work in Akron and we recognize that we have a responsibility to reach out to the community around us. This holiday season we decided to participate in a Giving Tree project.

Our tree is in the lobby with tags requesting gifts for someone in need. The tags are nearly all claimed by employees who will be a Santa for someone. There are just a few unclaimed items left.

The tree is benefitting the Summit and Medina County Battered Women’s Shelter, and the items we’re providing range from anything like clothing (boots, scarves, coats for children and women) to Christmas toys and supplies for the shelter itself.

Instead of adopting one specific family, these items will go toward the shelter and the families that come in during the weekend of Christmas and often can bring nothing with them for the holidays.

This “campaign” will go through December 21st which is final drop off time at the shelter.

First, get past the fact both conferences are in Florida. The Council keeps us busy enough that we rarely get more than a few hours to mill around.

Second, what you need to know is the Council makes sure it has the top-of-the-line speakers for the programs and the sessions are mixed in with people in the field who are doing great things in both grassroots advocacy and PAC recruitment.

Finally, and most important, you will find State and Federal Communications involved with the conferences. We have been involved with the advisory board for each conference, sending a number of staff, and we are included in the Market Resource Program.

You can obtain more information about these conferences at www.pac.org.

Until next month, continue to plan for your professional development. There is nothing like developing the important skills for your organization.

State and Federal Communications President and CEO Elizabeth Bartz and seven of the company’s staff will be attending the Council on Government Ethics Laws (COGEL) 2011 Annual Conference in Nashville, Tennessee.

We are looking forward to COGEL 2011, which will run from December 4 – 7.

If you are planning to attend, be sure to say hello!