The District of Columbia Board of Elections has announced that a special election will take place on April 23, 2013.

This special election will be held to fill the at-large D.C. council seat of Phil Mendelson.

Governor Terry Branstad announced that a special election will take place on January 22, 2013 to fill the now-vacated district 52 house seat.

Representative Brian Quirk had won the seat in the November elections, but due to a new job he recently accepted, decided he could not fulfill his duties as a lawmaker.

State lawmakers convened the 2013-2014 legislative session on Monday, December 3, 2012.

Democrats hold a two-thirds supermajority in both houses, allowing passage of bills without Republican votes.

Photo of the California State Capitol Building by Sascha Brück on Wikipedia.

Governor Nathan Deal has announced January 8, 2013 as the date for a special election in Senate District 21.

Chip Rogers announced his resignation from the senate on Wednesday, December 5, two weeks after his decision not to seek re-election as the majority leader.

Rogers will be joining Georgia Public Broadcasting focusing on new programming efforts concerning economic news and development.

State and Federal Communications is proud to be one of the sponsors for the Women in Government Relations PACs, Politics and Grassroots Taskforce Annual Conference. Federal Compliance Associate Rebecca South will represent the company at the event and will be moderating a panel of experts discussing the impact of money in politics in the post-Citizens United, Super PAC world.

The conference will also feature Charlie Cook of the Cook Political Report, as well as leading fundraising experts, top Congressional staff, representatives from Twitter, ASAE, the U.S. Chamber, the NCSL, grassroots leaders and more!

Federal:

Jesse Jackson Jr. Resigns from Congress, Acknowledges Federal Probe

The Un-Super PACs

From the States and Municipalities:

California

Ex-Treasurer to Democrats Receives 8-Year Sentence

California

State Lawmaker Brothers Accused of Money Laundering

District of Columbia

Crafting D.C. Ethics Bill Proving Difficult

Florida

State Ethics Commission Says Jacksonville Council Member’s Poker Party is OK

Georgia

Legislators Ask Governor to Let Indicted Victor Hill Take Office of Sheriff on January 1

Indiana

Indiana House Speaker Brian Bosma Criticized for Hiring Lobbyist

Maine

Anti-Gay Marriage Group Fined by Maine Ethics Commission

Missouri

Freebies from Lobbyists Becoming Harder to Track in Missouri

North Carolina

Appeals Court Throws Out Suit Testing ‘Stand by Your Ad’

Pennsylvania

Former Pennsylvania Democratic Leader Mellow Would Set ‘Record’ by Going to Jail

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 excited to be sending 11 people to the Council on Government Ethics Laws (COGEL) 34th Annual Conference in Columbus, Ohio. We are excited to have the conference in our home state capitol and we are helping every way we can – setting up, breakfast table topic leaders, a panelist for a breakout session, helping with social media, and more! It should be an exciting conference.

Maybe we’ll see you there?

Here is COGEL’s description of the conference:

JOIN US

COGEL and its Ohio Partners invite you to the 34th Annual Conference in COLUMBUS, Ohio! This thought provoking and educational conference is an opportunity to celebrate US — professionals in the fields of ethics, campaign finance, lobbying, elections and freedom of information.

FOCUS

With dynamic sessions, stimulating guest speakers, challenging discussions and endless opportunities for networking, this year’s COGEL Conference is not to be missed! The program includes elements of communicating your mission, understanding new technology, and catching up on legislation and litigation.

BONUS

There’s always something fun happening in Ohio’s capital city. With a lively arts scene, plenty of restaurants, shops, sports and entertainment venues, you don’t have to venture far to have a good time. This year’s Sunday evening reception will take place in the beautiful and historic Ohio Statehouse, directly across the street from the Sheraton Hotel at Capitol Square.

Elizabeth Bartz, President and CEO of State and Federal Communications, and Social Media Coordinator Joe May attended the 2012 SGAC Leaders’ Policy Conference in Santa Monica from November 17 -20.

The conference featured an amazing lineup of speakers, including award winning author and economist Ben Stein; best selling author Mark Stein, who wrote How the States Got Their Shapes; Egil “Bud” Krogh, Senior Fellow and Chair on Leadership, Ethics, and Integrity at the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress; and author and crisis management expert Judy Smith. Breakout sessions were rich with topics of great importance to state government, such as the economic crisis, the Supreme Court decision on healthcare, and the future of energy and the environment.

As the SGAC website states: “LPC is an annual meeting of the states’ legislative leadership and state government affairs professionals from America’s leading businesses, associations and service providers. LPC, sponsored by the SGAC Foundation in cooperation with NCSL and CSG, is designed to encourage dialogue on issues of importance between state legislative leaders and private sector representatives. Attendance is by invitation only. Those invited are: The legislative leadership of all 50 states, NCSL & CSG Executive Committees & ALEC Board of Directors, SGAC members and private sector representatives.”

We had a fantastic time. Thank you SGAC!

Campaign Finance

“Gessler: Campaign finance laws fail” by Joe Hanel in the Durango Herald.

Lobbying

“Ex-Rep. Davis, Bates Team Up” by Kate Ackley in Roll Call.

“Activists press SEC to expose political giving of US companies” by Kevin Bogardus in The Hill.

Ethics

“Ethics Commission to consider taking over watchdog job from Austin prosecutors” by Mike Ward in the Austin American-Statesman.

Government Tech

“Dashboard Government: The Politics of Measurement” by David Eaves in Politico.

Governor Phil Bryant has scheduled the special election for Mississippi House District 59 for January 8, 2013.

The seat was vacated on November 19 by Representative Kevin McGee, who resigned after paying a $10,000 fine to resolve an ethics case involving public contracts that went to his family’s printing company.

Governor Jack Markell has announced that he plans to call a special session of the state senate on December 5 to consider various judicial nominations.

The senate will be considering and voting on seven judicial appointees nominated by the governor.

The Ethics Commission is considering ways in which an individual’s role in fundraising may be more accurately disclosed on the lobbyist quarterly disclosure reports. Currently lobbying firms and organization lobbyists must disclose the total amount of all contributions attributable to a reportable individual who has any degree of fundraising responsibility.

For individuals with limited involvement on a host committee, the total amount raised at a particular event may not be reflective of the individual’s limited fundraising efforts. In response, the commission’s staff has prepared three alternative options.

One option would simply allow notation on the report when the individual is not solely responsible for the amount raised. The other two options would amend the lobbying ordinance to remove the dollar amount disclosure requirement for those “assisting a host committee,” or to require reporting of only the amount an individual knows or has reason to know where collected as a result of his or her solicitations.

Discussions on this matter will be held at the commission’s December 13, 2012 meeting at 5:00 p.m. in Room 202 of Council Committee. Feedback may also be sent by email to ethicscommission@sandiego.gov.

Seal of San Diegocourtesy of Zscout370 on Wikipedia.

The Ethics Commission will conduct two interested persons meetings following a report comparing the city’s campaign finance, enforcement, and lobbying laws with the laws of the city of Los Angeles.

Discussion topics include whether or not the city should increase pay-to-play restrictions, prohibit political contributions from lobbyists, and whether to adopt more stringent enforcement policies.

The meetings are scheduled for Tuesday, December 4, 2012 at 5:30 p.m. in Room 408 of City Hall and for Monday, December 10, 2012 at 2:00 p.m. in Room 416 of City Hall.

Feedback may also be sent by email to ethics.commission@sfgov.org.

Campaign Finance

“Column: Campaign-finance tweaks can fix big problems” editorial by Peter Schweizer in USA Today.

Missouri: “Missouri House Democrats propose new campaign finance restrictions, stiffer ethics rules” by Chris Blank (Associated Press) in The Republic.

Lobbying

“Lobbying group’s next president expected to fight White House rules” by Kevin Bogardus in The Hill.

“Marlowe to Step Down as Head of American League of Lobbyists” by Andrew Ramonas in The Blog of Legal Times.

“Lobbying World” in The Hill.

“Lobbying, America’s One Truly Unstoppable Growth Industry” by Jim Geraghty in the National Review.

“When ‘Super PACs’ Become Lobbyists” editorial in The New York Times.

“VIDEO: Rep. Shuler Said He Wouldn’t Become A Lobbyist; Now He Will” by David Halperin in The Huffington Post.

Florida: “Slow revolving door to lobbying in Fla. Capitol” editorial in the Orlando Sentinel.

Florida:  “Dorworth has a new career – as a lobbyist” by Jason Garcia in the Orlando Sentinel.

Ethics

New York:  “Ethics panel investigating New York Republican” by The Associated Press in CBS News.

Pennsylvania: “Ethics board fines Philadelphia official for Facebook posts” by Dave Davies in Newsworks.

Redistricting

Montana: “Redistricting panel works on Montana Senate boundaries” by The Associated Press in the Billings Gazette.

Ohio:  “Ohio Supreme Court upholds legislative maps” by Jim Siegel in the Columbus Dispatch.