Elizabeth Bartz, President and CEO of State and Federal Communications, is appearing in a public service announcement for the American Heart Association’s 10th Go Red for Women campaign. Here is the segment, which will be showing up on various radio stations in Northeast Ohio:

Ms. Bartz is also appearing in the April 2013 issue of Akron Life magazine. The publication is featuring a special supplement honoring the campaign.

State and Federal Communications is proud to be one of the sponsors of the Go Red for Women Luncheon at the Quaker Station in Akron on Tuesday,  May 14, 2013. Call 330-664-1908 for tickets.

Lobbying

“Lobbying World” in The Hill.

“Graham’s campaign collects bundle from lobbyists” by Michael Beckel in the Huffington Post (via The Center for Public Integrity).

Nevada: “Nevada advances lobbying cooling-off-period bills” by Matt Woolbright (Associated Press) in the Reno Gazette-Journal.

Campaign Finance

“Follow The Money Bill Proposed For More Transparency in Campaign Financing” in CQ Roll Call’s Political Moneyline.

“S.E.C. Gets Plea: Force Companies to Disclose Donations” by Nicholas Confessore in The New York Times.

Florida: “Senate finishes campaign finance bill, first piece of ethics compromise” by Mary Ellen Klas in the Miami Herald.

New York: “Skelos opposes Cuomo on abortion, campaign finance” by Yancey Roy in Newsday.

New York: “Bad Legal Arguments Can’t Stop Reform” by Lawrence Norden in the Brennan Center for Justice Blog.

South Carolina: “SC Senate advances a piece of ethics reform” by The Associated Press in WJCL News.

Ethics

California: “SF May Make Major Update to City Ethics Policies” by Nina Thorsen in KQED Public Media.

Connecticut: “Foley wants to revive ‘good government’ bill” by Ken Dixon in the Connecticut Post.

New York: “Parole Granted for Political Consultant in a Corruption Case” by Jesse McKinley in The New York Times.

Governor Mike Beebe has approved a proposed constitutional amendment to be placed on the November 4, 2014 general election ballot. House Joint Resolution 1009, the Arkansas Elected Officials Ethics, Transparency, and Financial Reform Amendment of 2014, passed both chambers shortly before the regular session recessed on April 24, 2013.

If affirmed by the voters, the constitutional amendment will ban corporate and union gifts to political campaigns, ban lobbyist gifts to legislative and executive officials, and provide 16 year term limits for legislators. The amendment would also increase the time between when a legislator leaves office and when a legislator is permitted to become a lobbyist from one year to two years.

The General Assembly is scheduled to reconvene on May 17, 2013 for a veto session before adjourning sine die.

Voters in the District of Columbia participated in a special election Tuesday and chose a familiar face. Anita Bonds held off five challengers to win the council seat she currently occupies. Bonds was chosen to temporarily hold the at-large seat after Phil Mendelson became the council chairman.

Bonds declared victory shortly after midnight and according to unofficial results collected 32 percent of the vote. Her closest competitor, Elissa Silverman garnered 28 percent of the vote.

Turnout was very low for the special election, which was the district’s second special election in the past three years. One voter said, “I didn’t know any of them. But I’m a Democrat. So I voted for – who was it? – Anita (Bonds).”

The voters also passed a ballot measure seeking to give the district autonomy over spending its tax dollars. The measure, which passed with more than 80 percent approval, would allow the district to spend its tax dollars without congressional approval.

The measure will become law unless the United States Congress passes a disapproval resolution and that resolution is also signed by President Obama. The measure is the latest in the long struggle for district citizens to break free from the leash of the federal government.

One voter said, “We can take care of ourselves.”

Photo of the John A. Wilson Building by Awiseman on Wikipedia.

Leaders of corporations, unions, and other organizations responsible for independent political advertisements may have to be identified if a bill introduced in the U.S. Senate yesterday passes.

Senate Bill 791 was introduced jointly by Senators Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska). The bi-partisan bill, called The Follow the Money Act of 2013, requires entities, regardless of tax status, to identity the funders of any political activity in which the entity engages.

An organization involved in political activity not regulated under the Federal Election Campaign Act will also be subject to a separate set of Internal Revenue Service penalties, including the possible loss of its federal tax exemption.

The Federal Election Commission will be required to replace quarterly reporting with a more frequent reporting schedule and will be required to disclose the information to the general public upon receipt.

Senator Wyden’s press release can be found here.

Video courtesy of Sen. Wyden’s YouTube channel.

Lobbying

“K Street’s bounce proves elusive” by Kevin Bogardus and Megan R. Wilson in The Hill.

“Chamber of Commerce Still Keeping Lobbyists Busy” by Kent Cooper in Roll Call.

“Religious Groups Throw Lobbying Cash at Immigration Reform” by Elizabeth Flock in U.S. News & World Report.

Montreal, Quebec: “City asked to investigate undeclared lobbying” by Monique Beaudin in the Montreal Gazette.

Pennsylvania: “Mensch: Improve Campaign Finance, Lobbyist Reporting” in the Lehigh Valley Patch.

Campaign Finance

New York: “Reform does work, New York” editorial piece by Denise Merrill,  the Connecticut secretary of the state and Miles Rapoport, president of Demos and former Connecticut secretary of the state in the Albany Times Union.

Ethics

District of Columbia: “D.C. wraps audit of Gray campaign, doesn’t release findings” by Alan Blinder in the Washington Examiner.

New York: “NY governor replaces head of troubled ethics board with lawyer who represented Bernard Madoff” by The Associated Press in the Washington Post.

Procurement

Ohio: “Franklin County, Ohio, Builds Transparent Procurement System From Scratch” by Colin Wood in Government Technology.

Government Tech and Social Media

“Federal Web Visitors are Coming Via Mobile” by Joseph Marks in Nextgov.

The Massachusetts Lobbyist Section of Secretary of the Commonwealth’s office has informed lobbyists it will reinterpret a reporting requirement in order to comply with a court order.

Initially, Secretary of State William Galvin’s office had asserted it had the authority to interpret “all direct business associations with public officials” under state law expansively and require lobbyists disclose the names of all officials with whom a lobbyist has communicated. In reaction, a lawsuit had been brought against the Secretary of State’s office by the ACLU, AirStrategies, the Associated Industries of Massachusetts, Citizens for Juvenile Justice, Common Cause, and the Conservation Law Foundation. A Superior Court Judge ruled against the secretary.

To comply with the court’s order, the secretary will now require disclosure of the names of public officials to whom a lobbyist has made a lobbying communication only if the lobbyist also has a direct business association with the public official. Following the court’s order, the secretary informed lobbyists this means a joint enterprise or transaction of a commercial or financial nature directly by or between the lobbyist and the public official.

The Lobbyist Section has rescinded all correction and rejection notices inconsistent with this interpretation of business association.

David Adkins, Executive Director of The Council of State Governments extends his congratulations to State and Federal Communications on its 20th Anniversary! Mr. Adkins was in town last week as the featured speaker at the Akron Roundtable.

Lobbying

“Former Sen. Bob Kerrey joins government affairs firm” by Megan R. Wilson in The Hill.

“NRA spends record money on lobbying this year” by Dave Levinthal in The Center for Public Integrity.

Florida: “Sound Off: Most email group members think lobbyist limits a good idea” in the Florida Times Union.

Georgia: “Analysis: Lobbyists say the game is changing” by Walter C. Jones in the Savannah Morning News.

Texas: “Agenda Texas: The Twitter Lobby” by Ben Philpott in the Texas Tribune.

Washington: “Lobbying tab $12.9 million — and counting” by Brad Shannon in the News Tribune.

Campaign Finance

California: “Common Cause: Californians should vote for Congress to overturn Citizens United” by Derek Cressman in San Jose Mercury News.

Illinois: “Overturning ‘Citizen’s United’ Decision” by Claudia Johnson in the Alton Daily News.

New Jersey: “N.J. Senate Democrats to introduce major overhaul of campaign finance laws” by Christopher Baxter in the Star-Ledger.

New York: “Reform proposed for state Board of Elections” by Karen Dewitt on WBFO NPR.

New York: “Campaign Finance Reformers To Target Senate In New Ads” by Ken Lovett in the New York Daily News.

Pennsylvania: “Pa. Senate backs stricter rules on reporting campaign funds” by Mary Wilson in Newsworks.

Vermont: “Windham County senator blasts campaign-finance reform bill” by Mike Faher in the Brattleboro Reformer.

Ethics

Connecticut: “Man pleads guilty in campaign finance scheme” by The Associated Press in the Boston Globe.

Kentucky: “Richie Farmer indicted by federal grand jury” on WKYT News.

Minnesota: “Ex-aide to Bachmann prepares to give evidence on alleged payments” by Brett Neely in MPR News.

Tennessee: “Knox County Commission set to reconfigure ethics panel” by Mike Donila in the Knoxville News Sentinel.

From the State Legislatures

Featured speakers at the NCSL Legislative Summit, August 12-15 in Atlanta, GA.

Elizabeth Bartz, President and CEO of State and Federal Communications, is attending the 2013 BIO International Convention in Chicago, Illinois.

The global biotechnology event runs from April 22-25, 2013.

The BIO International Convention and State and Federal Communications are both celebrating a 20-year anniversary this year!

The Tennessee General Assembly adjourned for the year on Friday night after completing its shortest session in more than three decades. The General Assembly only met for 37 days this session, but that 37th day was one filled with controversy and a possible scandal.

The General Assembly did not bring a charter schools bill to vote, which was a favorite of the house speaker and the governor. Many members are already looking at next session for the charter schools bill.

Governor Bill Haslam said, “I certainly don’t think it’s dead. We plan to come back with that same bill next year.”

Speaking of the governor, his family has been in the state and national headlines recently. Haslam is a part owner of Pilot Flying J with his brother Jimmy Haslam, who is the new owner of the Cleveland Browns. The company’s headquarters was raided by the FBI last week in an investigation into whether the company engaged in a scam to defraud truckers and trucking companies.

Governor Haslam has not been implicated in the scheme, but it is sure to stay in the headlines while the FBI’s investigation continues.

In the 2012 Annual report issued by the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC) on April 15, the Commission listed several recommendations and ideas to strengthen the state’s campaign finance and lobbying laws.

ELEC recommends requiring disclosure from super PACs and non-profit groups organized under Section 527 and Section 501(c) of the IRS code, requiring disclosure of lobbying activity by local vendors who are required to report pay-to-play contributions, and expanding the 48-hour notice requirement for continuing PAC expenditures to require the filing of notices for expenditures made in May municipal, runoff, school, and special elections.

Among its other recommendations, ELEC calls for the state to expand the regulation of “wheeling” to include contributions by county political party committees to other county political party committees during the entire year.

In the report, the Commission also lists general ideas to strengthen the laws, including requiring grassroots lobbying materials to list the name and address of the committee paying for the material, increasing penalties for public financing violations, and banning the use of partnership funds for the purpose of making contributions.

The annual report can be found here.

From the States and Municipalities:

California – Legislative Staffers Lavished with Gifts

Indiana – Indiana Speaker Pro Tem Turner Defends Supporting Company Daughter Represents as Lobbyist

Kentucky – Kentucky Group Is the PAC That Couldn’t Shoot Straight

Montana – Montana House Panel Kills Bill to Disclose ‘Dark Money’ in Campaigns

Nebraska – Golf Tops List of Gifts Dave Heineman Reported

New Jersey – Bergen County Freeholders Introduce Plan to Relax Pay-to-Play Restrictions

New Jersey – In N.J. Governor’s Race, Christie and Buono Choose to Keep Some Donors Secret

New York – Sandra Lee OK’d for Takeoff

Ohio – Cuyahoga County Prosecutor McGinty Pursues Corruption Charges against Those Brought Down in Federal Probe

Pennsylvania – Pennsylvania Turnpike Scandal Has Some Eyeing a Pay-to-Play Law

Pennsylvania – Senate Passes Three Bills to Strengthen Transparency and Efficiency in State Government

South Carolina – National GOP Campaign Arm Withdraws Sanford’s Financial Support

Tennessee – Bill Fails That Would Raise Campaign Contribution Limits, Allowing Direct Corporate Donations

Texas – Exotic Trips, Luxury Gifts Are Perks of Elective Office

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.

A special session of the Legislature may convene at the end of April. Lawmakers have said they were told to report back on April 29, but a spokesperson for Governor Bryant would not confirm a special session or date.

It’s expected the session, if called, will involve economic incentives for an automotive supplier. It’s not clear if the Legislature will tackle Medicaid reauthorization in the same session, though lawmakers speculate a separate special session will be held.