May 8-10, 2013   OSBA – Ohio State Bar Association Convention Booth 24, Cleveland, Ohio

May 16, 2013   WGR Spring Reception, Washington, D.C.

May 30-June 2, 2013   NCSL Executive Committee Spring Meeting, Boston, Massachusetts

June 2-5, 2013   Heartland Governmental Ethics Conference, Louisville, Kentucky

June 21-24, 2013   CSG Leadership Meeting, Washington, D.C.

At any given time, more than 1,000 legislative bills, which can affect how you do business as a government affairs professional, are being discussed in federal, state, and local jurisdictions. These bills are summarized in the State and Federal Communications digital encyclopedias for lobbying laws, political contributions, and procurement lobbying, and can be found in the client portion of the State and Federal Communications’ website.

Summaries of major bills are also included in monthly e-mail updates sent to all clients. The chart below shows the number of bills we are tracking in regards to lobbying laws, political contributions, and procurement lobbying.

I am updating my article from a year ago when I first joined the Go Red For Women campaign in Akron. This year I was able to have my husband, JohnChames join me. (Yes, I put his first and last name together because there are a lot of Johns in my family. The only way to keep them separate is to use the last name.) If you recall last year’s photo you will notice this year a number of additional men joined the Red Tie Society.  If you haven’t found us in the picture, the hint is we are holding hands across the middle of the escalator at Macy’s.  And, yes, that is Jim Tressel near him.

Did you know American Heart Association recommends adults get at least 150 minutes a week of moderate intensity physical activity?  [That is about 22 minutes per day.] Here are some easy ways you can add physical activity into your daily life:

• Use  coffee breaks to take 5- or 10-minute walks. The weather is nice (except for Denver and Minneapolis) so time to pull out the sneakers and walk around the block.
• In parking lots, park your car as far away as you can. At State and Federal Communications, I have parking space #1 so I need to make sure I am walking up the stairs during the day to see the folks on the second floor—instead of taking the elevator.
• Get your personal heart-health status and learn how regular physical activity can help improve your health. Take the American Heart Association’s My Life Check assessment at mylifecheck.heart.org.
• Walk a flight of stairs 10 times a day. I am on my third Fitbit since last year and it helps track the steps and flights of stairs I take every day. And, as it relates to steps, try to reach 10,000 a day.
• Visit www.startwalkingnow.org to download the new Walking Path mobile phone application and find nearby walking paths, track your steps, and motivate your walking friends.

The American Heart Association’s mission is to build healthier lives, free of cardiovascular diseases and stroke.  Until next month, join the fight against women’s #1 killer—Heart Disease by donating to your local Heart Association.

Thanks,

Elizabeth Z. Bartz
President and CEO

Lobbying

“Lobbyists Snag Top Staff Positions on Capitol Hill” by Lee Fang in The Nation.

Tennessee: “Tom Ingram faces possible fine for failing to register as lobbyist” by Tom Humphrey in the Knoxville News.

Texas: “Lobbyist transparency bill sent to Perry” by The Associated Press in the Houston Chronicle.

Campaign Finance

FEC commissioners speak: “Hard truths of campaign finance” opinion piece by Donald F. McGahn, Caroline Hunter and Matthew Petersen in Politico.

“Why Big Money Still Won in 2012” by Jonathan Backer in the Huffington Post.

Alabama: “Bill before House today repeal state limit on corporate campaign contributions; Lawmaker says it’s a ‘pretend’ cap” by Kim Chandler in the Birmingham News.

New Jersey:  “Lawmakers Get Cold Feet About Campaign Finance” by Hank Kalet in NJ Spotlight.

New York: “Carlucci, other senators study plans for campaign finance reform” by Laura Incalcaterra in the Journal News.

Ethics

New York: “Ex-lawmaker to be sentenced in NYC in fraud case” by The Associated Press in the Arizona Daily Star.

Political Advertising

“House Backs Updating Rules on Political Ad Disclosures” by Becca Aaronson in the Texas Tribune.

Government Tech and Social Media

“Ohio City Deploys 2-in-1 Email and Social Media Archiving” by Sarah Rich in Government Technology.

Procurement

“Most Top Contractors Increased Business With Federal Government in 2012” by Eric Katz in Government Executive.

Lobbying

“K Street firms fear backlash from new scrutiny of political intel work” by Kevin Bogardus in The Hill.

“Dicks joins D.C. lobbying firm” by Jim Brunner in the Seattle Times.

“Congress Members Sprinting for Money to Lobbying After Election” by Jonathan Salant in Bloomberg BusinessWeek.

Delaware: “Del. House approves lobbying reform bill” by Randall Chase (Associated Press) in the News Times.

District of Columbia: “In D.C. Circuit, Lobbyists Fight Obama Lobbying Ban” by Andrew Ramonas in the Blog of Legal Times.

Tennessee: “Lobbyist On Payroll Of Both Governor, Special Interests” by Ben Hall on WTVF News.

Campaign Finance

“RNC urges Supreme Court to strike campaign-finance limits” by Sam Baker in The Hill.

“SEC Considering New Rule for Political Contributions by Public Companies” on PBS Newshour.

Arizona: “Senate lawmakers move to overhaul public financing” by The Associated Press in the Arizona Daily Sun.

Colorado: “Colorado Supreme Court hears 1st Amendment challenge to campaign finance law” by Matt Arnold in the Examiner.

New York: “Public Hearing in Albany Is Held Without the Public” by Thomas Kaplan and Jesse McKinley in The New York Times.

Vermont: “House OKs cap on donations to super PACs” by Peter Hirschfeld in the Rutland Herald.

Ethics

North Carolina: “9 Investigates: Needed changed in NC Ethics Commission operations” by Jim Bradley on WSOC TV News.

South Carolina: “SC Senate panel advances ethics reform” by Seanna Adcox (Associated Press) in the Spartanburg Herald-Journal.

Open Data

“A New Home for Data on Politics and State Governments” by Sarah Lai Stirland in TechPresident.

Governor Jay Inslee has signed a bill into law increasing disclosure in political advertising. Senate Bill 5258 was passed by the Washington State Legislature and delivered to the governor on April 23.

The bill requires a series of political advertisements supporting or opposing ballot measures sponsored by the same political committee, each of which is under $1,000, to include information on the advertisement’s top five contributors once the cumulative value of the advertisements reaches $1,000. Under the current law, information on the top five contributors is only required for individual advertisements in excess of $1,000.

This law will take effect on July 28, 2013, but with the first state elections not due to take place until 2014, we will probably not see how big of an impact this new disclosure requirement will have.

U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown offers his congratulations to State and Federal Communications on its 20th Anniversary! Sen. Brown attended Kent State University’s Washington Program in National Issues Celebration at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. and generously took the time to offer this message:

On Thursday, April 25, Kent State University’s Washington Program in National Issues (WPNI) celebrated its 40th year in existence. Current students and alumni of both the university and the program gathered at the National Press Club in Washington D.C. to reminisce about their time living in Washington D.C. and their experiences in the program throughout the years. State and Federal Communications currently employs three proud alumni of WPNI, including President and CEO Elizabeth Bartz. Elizabeth, marketing manager Melissa Coultas and compliance assistant Jonathan Spontarelli were all in Washington D.C. to attend the anniversary celebration.

WPNI is a semester long academic, internship program that allows students the opportunity to witness the political process firsthand and engage in national and international policy discussions. Each year a group of juniors and seniors from Kent State University are selected to spend the spring semester living and working in Washington D.C. Per the website, the programs three primary objectives are:

1. Facilitate learning about the U.S. political system and its policy issues.
2. Develop an understanding of the interrelationship of public issues and structures of government.
3. Encourage individual initiative and provide for experiences in internship and research.

During the reception, participants from each of the four decades delivered remarks about their time in WPNI, their internship and briefings, and the ways the program has forever changed their lives. Pulitzer Prize winner, Connie Schultz, introduced by her husband U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown, delivered a compelling keynote address about her experiences before, during and after the program. She spoke at length on the importance WPNI played in her own life and the opportunities it provided to a small-town girl from a working-class family from Ashtabula, Ohio.

State and Federal Communications would like to send a special thanks to the Kent State University National Capital Alumni Chapter and program Director Dr. Richard Robyn for organizing the celebration. We look forward to seeing you all 40 years from now.

Lobbying

“The Bottom Line” in The Hill.

“Anne Northup joins Rudy Giuliani’s lobbying firm” in the Courier-Journal.

Delaware: “Del. House to vote on lobbying reform bill” by The Associated Press in the San Francisco Chronicle.

Minnesota: “MN local governments spend $1.1 million on lobbying Washington” by Tom Steward in Watchdog.org.

Campaign Finance

New Jersey: “Lawmakers introduce bill to overhaul NJ’s campaign finance laws” by David Levinsky in the Burlington County Times.

New York: “Group cites 100,000 NY campaign finance violations” by The Associated Press in The Wall Street Journal.

Vermont: “Lawmakers take up controversial campaign finance bill” by Terri Hallenbeck in the Burlington Free Press.

Ethics

California: “FPPC proposes $2,500 fine related to Chris Kelly’s 2010 AG bid” by Torey Van Oot in the Sacramento Bee.

California: “Ex-state Sen. Michael Rubio fined for not reporting home sale” by Patrick McGreevy in the Los Angeles Times.

Colorado:  “Colorado ethics panel: Scott Gessler can have criminal defense fund” by Joey Bunch in the Denver Post.

Delaware: “Man serving federal time for campaign finance scheme expected to plead guilty in Del. case” by The Associated Press in The Washington Post.

New York: “CSEA seeks ethics probe” by James M. Odato in the Albany Times Union.

New York: “N.Y. senator charged with stealing funds for failed campaign” by Jessica Dye in Reuters.

Texas: “Bill Banning ‘Double Dipping’ Dies in Committee” by Jay Root in the Texas Tribune.

Elections Alberta and its Chief Electoral Officer Brian Fjeldheim have spoken on the Daryl Katz contribution scandal and they believe there was no scandal at all. Daryl Katz, chairman and CEO of The Katz Group and the National Hockey League’s Edmonton Oilers, has been under fire recently after a contribution of $430,000 was delivered to the Alberta Progressive Conservative party from his company last year.

Under Alberta laws, a corporation or individual is only allowed to contribute $30,000 to a political party during a campaign period. However, Fjeldheim ruled the contribution to be legal because the corporation simply collected contributions from individual donors and gave a bundled contribution of $430,000. Seventeen members of the company all contributed no more than the maximum $30,000 to the entire contribution and every person reimbursed the corporation.

In his ruling, Fjeldheim said, “There was no breach [of the contribution laws] because there was clear identification of the funds connected with the actual contributors and each contribution respected the $30,000 limit. Without more, a single payment of $430,000 would have exceeded the limit for a single contribution. However, the investigation revealed that this was not a single contribution of $430,000.”

There is concern within the province this ruling is a sign of things to come and Canadian elections could become similar to the money-happy American way.

However, Alberta Premier Alison Redford said she will not be looking to change the election laws. “What has been put in place is entirely appropriate.”

Not everyone agrees though. York University election financing expert Robert MacDermid said, “It would be simply a license to allow people to give money without disclosing the truth about it. When you have a system that doesn’t control disclosure adequately, when there are holes where people can give significant sums of money and not have to disclose their true identity…that absence of openness and disclosure really does make people question politicians.”

While the next Alberta election is not until 2016, this campaign finance issue is sure to be among the biggest at the time.

Governor Nathan Deal signed two pieces of ethics legislation aimed at increasing public confidence in state government on May 6, 2013. House Bill 142 restores rulemaking powers to the Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission, clarifies and modifies classification as a lobbyist, and sets a gift limit of $75 per lobbyist gift.

House Bill 143 requires more campaign transparency for local races and allows for public notice of any campaign contributions given to members of the General Assembly leading up to the start of the legislative session. The bills become effective January 1, 2014.

Lobbying

“Why Lobbying Is Now Increasingly In The Shadows” by Peter Overby on NPR.org.

“Quarterly Lobbying Reports Show Yet Another Decline” by Russ Choma in OpenSecrets.org.

Kansas: “74% of lobbyist spending on Kansas lawmakers unaccounted for” by Dion Lefler and Brent Wistrom in the Kansas City Star.

New Mexico: “Lawmakers raise concerns about Carruthers’ lobbyist past” by The Associated Press in the Santa Fe New Mexican.

Campaign Finance

“States’ Seek to Limit Undisclosed Political Donations” by Matea Gold, Chris Megerian and Mark Z. Barabak in Governing.

Montana: “Montana governor vetoes campaign finance, water commission bills” by The Associated Press in the Missoulian.

New York: “Senate GOP Hearings Will Examine NYC’s Public Campaign Financing System” by Karen DeWitt on WNYC.

New York: “Bill Would Bar Political Consultants From Also Lobbying” by Ken Lovett in the New York Daily News.

North Carolina: “Poll shows NC voters want to retain campaign finance law for statewide judges” in the News & Observer.

Ethics

Pennsylvania: “Baker’s bill adds much-needed transparency” by Robert Swift in the Citizens’ Voice.

South Carolina: “SC Senate Ethics Committee adds altering documents to ethics allegations against Sen. Ford” by Seanna Adcox (Associated Press) in The Republic.

South Carolina: “SC ethics reform proposal will see ‘substantial’ changes in Senate” by Jamie Self in The State.

Virginia: “Va. cabinet member discloses taking gifts” by The Associated Press in the Virginian-Pilot.

Redistricting

North Carolina: “Dome: Study finds – surprise! – redistricting benefits majority party” by Craig Jarvis in the News & Observer.

State and Federal Communications, Inc. was a recipient of the Community Support Award from Summit County Children Services at their Fourth Annual Community Appreciation Breakfast on April 30, 2013. The company’s president and CEO, Elizabeth Bartz, attended the event and was counted among the agency’s “Champion for Children.” She also received a beautiful memento for this honor.

Children Services tells the story:

In the fall of 2012, the staff of State and Federal Communications decided they wanted to make an impact where it was most needed and asked Summit Count Children Services how they could help the young people in our care. The needs of emancipating youth – who at age 18 leave the agency care and need significant assistance to set up households and live independently – rose to the top of this generous group’s list.

As a team, the State and Federal Communications employees decided to celebrate the holidays by collecting and donating household items and small appliances to support these emancipating youth.

The employees divided up the agency’s list of suggested items and overwhelmed us with the arrival of carloads of items, donating enough to furnish apartments for five or more teens who would be leaving the agency care in the coming months.

The enthusiastic State and Federal Communications team held special events, involved their families and friends, and achieved their goal of helping young people in need at  a very important stage in their lives.

We celebrate their efforts and thank them for this exceptional generosity by recognizing State and Federal Communications, Inc. as a “Champion for Children.”

Thank you, Summit County Children Services for the amazing work you do and for allowing us to be a partner to help children in need!

The New York City Campaign Finance Board scored a huge win in the courts Friday. Republican mayoral candidate George McDonald had sued the city in hopes of eliminating the city’s strict contribution limits and attempt to bring them in line with the state’s limits. However, the Manhattan court said the city’s contribution limits are legal and reasonable to keep money from influencing elections.

Judge Kathryn Freed, who gave the decision for the court, held, “The court finds that the establishment of uniform limitations on both participating and non-participating candidates is reasonably related and calculated to achieve the goals of reducing the influence of ‘wealthy special interests’ over local elections, and increasing public participation and public confidence in those elections, is well within the powers granted to the City to protect the welfare and well being of its citizens.”

McDonald recently announced that he would join the voluntary public financing system and would conform to the current contribution limits, but promised to keep his fight up in court. McDonald still has the option of appealing this decision, but declined to say whether he would. He was disheartened in the entries process, saying “It’s disappointing that it took 147 days to ‘just say no’ in long form.”

McDonald is the underdog in a three-way battle for the Republican nomination with Joe Lhota and John Catsimatidis. The primary election for the mayor’s office, and all other city offices, is September 10.