The Seattle City Council approved a bill last night that changes the way campaign finance will work in future elections. Council Bill 117548 was approved by a 7-2 vote, but it will not take effect until after the upcoming November elections.

The new law changes the definition of election cycle, which now starts January 1 in the year prior to the general election for that office and will end April 30 following the election. Candidates will only be allowed to raise money and accept contributions during the election cycle period. The new law also limits the amount of money incumbents can carry over to the next election. The council believes that this will give challengers more of an opportunity to unseat an incumbent.

Currently, there is no limit to how much money candidates can stockpile, leading most incumbents to create massive war chests to fend off challengers. The new law does not allow any candidate to carry money over past the end of the election cycle. Current city council members have 30 days to transfer their current funds to a new campaign without being subject to the rules. Political committees are also subject to the carry-over provisions.

Finally, the new law also raises the contribution limits from $600 to $700 to candidates for mayor, city council, or city attorney.

Assembly Bill 481, recently signed by Governor Jerry Brown, is the latest amendment to the Political Reform Act of 1974. The changes are an effort to increase accountability and transparency by requiring faster disclosure of major contributions and independent expenditures occurring shortly before an election.

Definitions for late contributions and late independent expenditures have been expanded to include any aggregated contributions or expenditures of $1,000 or more made within 90 days before the date of the election. Disclosure of these late transactions is required within 24 hours of delivery. The law also requires advertisements to contain a disclosure of the two top contributors of the committee making the independent expenditure.

The Fair Political Practices Commission is currently revising the 2013 filing schedules in preparation of the January 1, 2013 effective date.

Campaign Finance

“PACs attack: N.Y. seeing a flood of outside money” by The Associated Press in Pressconnects.com.

Florida: “Meet Florida’s big-time donors to super PACs” by Alex Leary in the Miami Herald.

“Md. referendum campaigns raise $53 million” by John Wagner and Aaron C. Davis in The Washington Post.

Lobbying

“Loopholes abound in some lobbyist gift bans” by Chris Joyner in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

“Patton Boggs moves to reinvent itself” by Catherine Ho in The Washington Post.

“Lobbying Efforts From Tech Companies Surge On Capitol Hill” in Fast Company.

Kentucky: “Ellen Williams joins McBrayer lobbying team” by Tom Lotus in the Courier-Journal.

Pennsylvania: “Lobbyists could be subject to open-records law” by Dan Miller in the Patriot-News.

Pennsylvania: “Lobbyists’ checks buy lawmaker access” by John L. Micek in the Morning Call.

Ethics

“Jackson Jr. probe focuses on house” by Kevin Robillard in Politico.

Campaigns and Elections

“Candidates turn to geo-targeting in ads” by Megan R. Wilson in The Hill.

“For politically playful news orgs, the 2012 election means social interactivity” by Adrienne LaFrance in Nieman Journalism Lab.

“Campaigns Mine Personal Lives to Get Out the Vote” by Charles Duhigg in The New York Times.

Tomorrow at a public hearing at its offices at 11:00am, the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC) will consider proposed changes to the administrative code allowing for electronic filing for lobbyists’ annual reports.

Electronic filing would be mandatory through ELEC’s website and would replace the requirement to file paper copies. Copies of what a lobbyist files electronically must be retained by the lobbyist. The proposed amendments cover governmental affairs agents, represented entities, and representatives of “persons communicating with the general public.” The proposals also make technical changes, such as substituting “represented entity” for “lobbyist” throughout the relevant sections.

Other issues to be addressed at the meeting include proposed amendments concerning campaign cost index adjustments and personal financial disclosure statements by candidates.

Lobbying

“Lawmaker Sues State Bar Over Lobbying” by Joe Harris in the Courthouse News Service.

“Long-time lobbyist to retire” by Bill Rankin in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Campaign Finance

“Changing campaign-finance laws might not deter corruption” by Lydia Coutré in the Columbus Dispatch.

“Top donors go all in on state ballot measures” by Will Evans in the Bay Citizen.

Ethics

“State Ethics Commission clears Sen. Gary Siplin in newsletter complaint”  in the Miami Herald.

Social Media and Technology

“The Rise of Mobile in Election 2012” by Matt Petronzio in Mashable.

“Online, Next Presidential Debate Will Feature a Moderator that Wasn’t” by Micah L. Sifry in TechPresident.

“Code for America Accelerator Program Takes Shape” by Sarah Rich in Government Technology.

Legislative Issues

“Bill limits N.J. legislators’ unexcused absences” by The Associated Press in NorthJersey.com.

National:

Are Voter ID Opponents Winning the Battle but Losing the War?

Federal:

House, Senate Campaigns Welcome Lobbyists Shunned by Team Obama

Obama, Romney Face Most Narrow Electoral Map in Recent History

From the States and Municipalities:

Arizona

State Lawmaker Ben Arredondo Pleads Guilty to Two Felonies

Florida

Butterworth Skirts State Lobbying Laws to Land $44 Million-a-Year Contract in Broward

Illinois

Federal Judge Upholds Limits on Contributions to State Candidates

Maryland

Del. Tiffany Alston Suspended from Office, General Assembly Lawyer Says

Montana

Appeals Court Reinstates Campaign Finance Limits

Nevada

Ross Miller Pursues Campaign Finance Law Violations against AFP

Ohio

Ohio Republican Party Reaches Settlement to Resolve Complaint That it Lied in Campaign Literature against Redistricting Issue

Texas

DeLay Attorneys: Ex-GOP Star Didn’t Launder Money

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.

Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs is calling for measures to monitor and prevent lobbyists from texting county commissioners during meetings. The county commission voted in September to delay putting a measure requiring employers to provide employees with sick time on the ballot. Three of the four commissioners who voted to delay the measure acknowledged that they were texting with lobbyists opposed to the measure during the meeting, and later deleted a number of those texts.

Mayor Jacobs released a memo stating that she ordered a system to be set up to archive text messages from county phones. She is also calling for the county to study how other governments address electronic lobbying during meetings, in consideration of a potential ban on such discussions.

Advocates for the proposed sick time ballot initiative have filed suit claiming that the county commissioners violated state public record and open meetings laws, and asking the court to set aside the vote on the measure.

Campaign Finance

“How Citizens United has transformed campaigns: An introduction to Big Sky, Big Money” by Kai Ryssdal on Marketplace.

“Celebrities Recruited to Make Case on Campaign-Finance Reform” by Thomas Kaplan in The New York Times.

Lobbying

“Nats fever sweeps Congress, K Street” by Kevin Bogardus in The Hill.

Government Tech and Social Media

“New App Opens Up Presidential Documents” in Government Technology.

State and Federal Communications is proud to be the sponsor of Keynote Speaker Jennifer Duffy at the WASRG 2012 Summit today in Washington D.C.!

According to the WASRG site:

Join us on Thursday, October 11th as we gather from 12 – 2 p.m. for the 2012 WASRG Summit. Your Board of Directors has reimagined and streamlined this event for 2012 to include a lunch and keynote followed by the presentation of the WASRG Award of Excellence.

Thanks to the generous sponsorship of State & Federal Communications, we are pleased to have  Jennifer Duffy, Senior Editor for The Cook Political Report, headlining our event. Jennifer is responsible for U.S. Senate and Governors’ races at The Cook Political Report. Founded in 1984, The Cook Political Report provides analyses of Presidential, U.S. Senate, House and gubernatorial races.  Jennifer has 26 years of experience in campaign politics, the last 23 of which have focused on non-partisan political analysis. In 1985, she served as Press Secretary for the National Republican Senatorial Committee; she joined The Cook Political Report in 1988 as its first Assistant Editor. While continuing to work as the Report’s contributing editor, Jennifer also was a senior account executive with Hill and Knowlton Public Affairs Worldwide and an associate with the lobbying firm of Cassidy & Associates.

In 1995, Jennifer rejoined Cook & Company full-time. She has served as an off-air analyst for NBC News on Election Nights from 1996 through 2010. Jennifer has been quoted in numerous publications and has appeared on ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, PBS’ “The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer,” and C-SPAN’s “Washington Journal.” In June of 2011, BusinessInsider.com named her one of the 13 savviest political analysts in the country.

A native of Rhode Island, Jennifer received a Bachelor of Arts degree in American Government from Georgetown University in 1985.

WASRG is excited to bring this new format and new venue to the annual Summit. We hope you’ll take this opportunity to enjoy your friends and colleagues over a family-style lunch.

The Washington Area State Relations Group (WASRG) is one of the nation’s largest organizations dedicated exclusively to serving state government relations professionals.  Since the mid-1970s, WASRG has been providing its corporate, trade association and public sector members with a unique and valuable opportunity to interact with their peers, key state officials and public policy experts.

Campaign Finance

California: “Prop 32: Union and Corporate Campaign Contributions” by Ben Adler in Capital Public Radio.

New Mexico: “Non-N.M. Groups Give Thousands” by Dan Boyd in the Albuquerque Journal.

Texas: “Court hears DeLay appeal in campaign finance case” by Peggy Fikac in the Houston Chronicle.

Ethics

“Hawaii Ethics Commission Still Missing a Member” by Anita Hofschneider in the Honolulu Civil Beat.

“W.Va. Ethics Commission sets Jan. 28 hearing on allegations against Beckley mayor” by The Associated Press in The Republic.

Social Media and Government Tech

“Hardly Anyone Using Campaign Apps, Survey Says” by Nick Judd in TechPresident.

“Where is E-Government Communication Headed?” by Matt Williams in Government Technology.

Yesterday, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated Montana’s campaign contribution limits under Montana Code Annotated §13-37-216, overruling the District Court. The District Court is ordered to outline the reasoning for its decision, according to AP reports.

On October 3, 2012, the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana, issuing a decision in Lair v. Murry, found the contribution limits in Montana Code Annotated §13-37-216 “prevent candidates from ‘amassing the resources necessary for effective campaign advocacy.’”

Yesterday, the District Court had denied a request to stay its Order, according to the Independent Record. The Attorney General and the Commissioner had appealed the October 3 Order to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Even though the District Court has ruled some of Montana’s political contribution limits unconstitutional, the Commissioner of Political Practices wants candidates and political donors to stick to the statutory restrictions.

On October 5, Commissioner James W. Murry issued a statement “strongly recommend[ing] that candidates, political committees, and contributors abide by the contribution limitations that are provided in the statute.”

In his statement, the Commissioner said, “This office will continue to review Judge Lovell’s October 3rd Order as well as any additional orders issued by the courts to determine the current status of the laws relating to campaign contributions.”

UPDATE: Today, the Commissioner has issued an additional statement regarding the Court of Appeal’s decision: “The result of the Ninth Circuit order is that contribution limits are in effect and will be enforced.”

An ordinance passed last week to alter Bergen County, New Jersey’s pay-to-play law was vetoed by County Executive Kathleen A. Donovan on Friday.

The Board of Chosen Freeholders had voted to remove much of the current ordinance’s disclosure requirements, requiring reporting only of contributions made to candidates for county offices. The existing pay-to-play ordinance, just passed in December of 2011, requires contractors report their contributions to candidates on the municipal, county, state, and federal level.

Campaign Finance

“Members’ PACs Test Unregulated Spending” by Eliza Newlin Carney in Roll Call.

“Harvard Law professor talks campaign finance corruption” by Ben Atlas in the Michigan Daily.

South Carolina: “Groups calling for probe into Harrell spending” by Meg Kinnard (Associated Press) in the Spartanburg Herald-Journal.

Ethics

“Texas Ethics Commission fines Texas Rep. Allen Fletcher” by Caleb Harris in the Tomball Magnolia Tribune.

“Edward Wasserman: TV ‘watchdogs’ quiet as political ad cash rolls in” by Edward Wasserman in the Bellingham Herald.

South Carolina: “This year’s ‘hot’ SC campaign issue? Ethics” by Adam Beam in The State.

Elections

“Across the electoral map, a mixed picture for candidates down the ballot” by Karen Tumulty in the Washington Post.

The Fair Political Practices Commission has announced cancellation of the October 18, 2012 meeting. Regulations previously scheduled for review included a requirement for political committees to report expenses associated with online communications such as blogs, Facebook, and Twitter. Biennial adjustment reviews of campaign contribution limits, voluntary expenditure ceilings, and gift limits have also been postponed.

These and other potential regulation changes are tentatively scheduled to be considered during the December 13, 2012 commission meeting at 10:00 a.m. The meeting will be held in Board Chambers Room 310, County Administration Center, 1600 Pacific Highway, San Diego, California 92101.