The State and Federal Communications, Inc. 2012 Summer Outing was at Progressive Field August 26th watching the Cleveland Indians vs New York Yankees baseball game. We enjoyed the Legends Suite filled with food and seating – indoors and out – for all of our staff and their family.

It was exciting and surprising to see so many children. We had 5 under 1.5 years old!

The game was exciting on a beautifully sunny day, but our Tribe lost by three runs.

The staff and their family truly enjoyed this outing and is already planning for the next!

Enjoy this little video slideshow created by intern Zack Koozer:

The federal government has announced plans to extend the reach of the Lobbying Act to senior public servants with spending decision responsibilities. Currently, more than 1,000 people are covered as designated public office holders under the act, which governs interactions between registered lobbyists and politicians, their staffs, and senior bureaucrats. The proposal could more than double the number covered.

The government continues to consider adding small monetary penalties for minor infractions, as well as a removing the exemption for in-house lobbyists whose lobbying activities constitute less than 20 percent of their duties.

The Palm Beach County School Board is in the process of developing a lobbyist registration policy.

Registration will likely be separate from the county’s lobbyist registration.

There is not yet a firm date by which the policy will be implemented, as the details are still being worked out by the school board.

A federal appellate court has reversed a district court’s electioneering reporting decision, sending the issue back to the FEC.

The significance of today’s decision, pending further possible rule changes or court decisions, is that political contributors giving to an organization making an electioneering communication will not have to be disclosed to the FEC unless the donor specifically earmarks his or her contributions to fund electioneering communications.

This was the rule from 2007 until this spring when a district court ruled that all contributors giving over $1,000, regardless of whether they gave for the specific purpose of electioneering communications, had to be disclosed to the FEC.

In the initial lawsuit, Van Hollen v. FEC, the plaintiff,  U.S. Representative Van Hollen, claimed the FEC regulation 11 C.F.R. §104.20(c)(9), which requires disclosure only of those making contributions over $1,000 to an entity for the purpose of furthering electioneering communications, contradicts the statute requiring disclosure of all donors making contributions over $1,000.

In the spring, a U.S. district court agreed and declared 11 C.F.R. §104.20(c)(9) invalid and vacated the regulation. The court reinstated the FEC’s prior regulation, which was promulgated on December 17, 2002 and was in effect until December 25, 2007. The FEC had formally reiterated the district court’s requirement on July 27, 2012, retroactively applying the disclosure of donors to March 30, 2012.

Today, in Center for Individual Freedom v. Van Hollen, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit reversed Van Hollen v. FEC, vacated the district court’s prior judgment, and remanded the case to the district court. Presently, under the jurisdiction of the district court, the FEC must pursue rulemaking to address the issues brought by the lawsuit or defend 11 C.F.R. §104.20(c)(9) in court against the parties bringing the action.

This is a signature issue for Representative Van Hollen who will probably continue to vigorously litigate this issue.

The FEC has not publicly declared its next course of action.

Campaign Finance
“Ethics czar angers bloggers with proposal to shine light on campaign pay” by Patrick McGreevey in the Los Angeles Times.

“Contributions to PACs in Vt. may be known soon” by Dave Gram (Associated Press) in the Bennington Banner.

Lobbying

Minnesota:  “Lobbyist fined who donated to Davids’ campaign” by Heather J. Carlson in the Post-Bulletin.

Redistricting

Arkansas: “Judges uphold Senate district redistricting” by John Lyon in the Arkansas News.

Elections

Kansas: “Ex-lawmaker named elections official” by The Associated Press in the Lawrence Journal World.

Procurement

“Contractor suspensions and debarments on the rise, says White House” by Charles Clark in Government Executive.

The Bergen County, New Jersey Board of Chosen Freeholders will consider revising its pay-to-play ordinances on Wednesday, September 19.

Bergen County has only had its local pay-to-play ordinance since December. According to NorthJersey.com, proposed changes “would strip the requirement that contractors report their contributions to candidates on the municipal, state, and federal level, leaving only county campaigns on the mandatory reporting form.”

While the proposal was introduced on September 12 and is scheduled for an October 3 consideration, the Freeholder’s agenda lists the ordinance introduction for Wednesday.

Lobbying

“At Holland & Knight, lobbyists no longer have corner offices” by Catherine Ho in the Washington Post.

Florida: “Lobbyist’s lobbying group coming to Jacksonville for annual conference” by Matt Dixon in the Florida Times-Union.

Campaign Finance

“Poll: Americans largely in favor of campaign spending limitations” by Morgan Little in the Los Angeles Times.

“Republican super PACs ramp up spending in House races” by Jake Sherman in Politico.

District of Columbia:  “Michael A. Brown’s missing campaign funds” in the Washington Post.

Washington: “Parties pouring cash into race for governor” by Andrew Garber and Justin Mayo in the Seattle Times.

Elections

“Voter Information Guides Go Social With TheBallot.org” by Sarah Lai Stirland in TechPresident.

Ethics

Georgia: “Ethics commission: State has defanged its watchdog” by Chris Joyner in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

New Hampshire: Opinion piece by Grant Bosse,“Election laws grow more confusing” in the New Hampshire Watchdog.

Social Media

“Could a workplace social network replace email and phone? One agency thinks so.” by Joseph Marks in NextGov.

“Facebook knows how to trick you into voting” by Kevin Charles Redmon in Nextgov.

The West Virginia Supreme Court has struck down the state’s public campaign financing pilot program.

The program, similar to other programs invalidated in Arizona and Nebraska, provided additional public financing to candidates whose privately-financed opponents made expenditures beyond a certain amount.

The court held that West Virginia’s program violated privately-financed candidates’ free speech rights by essentially preventing them from making expenditures in order to avoid their opponents’ receipt of additional funds.

Campaign Finance

“House Dems push new campaign finance reform” by T.W. Farnam in the Washington Post.

“FEC move on wireless campaign contributions could aid Democrats” by Adam Mazmanian in Nextgov.

“Groups Ask Appeals Court to Keep Issue-Ad Donors Secret” by Tom Schoenberg in Bloomberg News.

“US election system criticised over finance rules and voting restrictions” by Karen McVeigh in The Guardian.

Minnesota:  “Campaign Finance Board stands by ‘John Doe decision’” by Tom Scheck in MPR News.

“’Citizens United’ on the Corporate Court” by Jamie Raskin in The Nation.

Lobbying

“Lansing lobbyists’ spending on record pace” by Rich Robinson in the Michigan Campaign Finance Network.

Ethics

“Gov. Christie to stop showing GOP-produced video before town hall meetings” by Jenna Portnoy in the Star-Ledger.

Social Media

“New Tool Verifies Authenticity of Gov’t Social Media Sites” by John K. Higgins in E-Commerce Times.

Redistricting

“Serious problems still exist’ with redistricting maps, attorney tells Pennsylvania Supreme Court” by Nick Malawskey in the Patriot-News.

City Council has approved campaign reform measures for candidates and political committees. The new ordinance raises contribution limits to candidate campaigns from $500 to $700 in council races and from $1,000 to $1,300 in citywide races.

Beginning in 2015, public matching funds will be given for donations raised only within city limits. To be eligible for the city money, candidates will have to collect contributions from at least 200 people living in the district they hope to represent.

Beginning next year, candidates will also be eligible for increased matching funds, including four public dollars for every dollar contributed during the general election and two dollars for every dollar contributed during the primary. Donors will also be able to give to campaigns via text message.

The ordinance is scheduled for a final vote next week.

Photo of Los Angeles by Bobak on Wikipedia.

National:

Democrats Risk No Female Governor, First Time in 17 Years

U.S. Election System Criticized Over Finance Rules and Voting Restrictions

Federal:

Andrews Used wife to Vet Use of Campaign Funds on Trip

Look-Alike Sites Funnel Big Money to Mystery PAC

From the States and Municipalities:

Arizona

Ex-Fiesta Bowl Lobbyist Takes Plea Deal in Probe

Illinois

Appeals Court Upholds Illinois Campaign Disclosure Law

Minnesota

Despite Campaign Finance Ruling, Regulators to Continue Requiring Disclosures

Montana

Republicans Ask Court to Axe Montana’s Campaign Contribution Laws

Nebraska

AG: Sen. Council withdrew campaign funds at casinos

New Jersey

Mayor of NJ’s Capital Arrested in Corruption Probe

New York

Under Scrutiny, JCOPE Speaks

West Virginia

West Virginia Court Candidate Denied ‘Rescue Funds’

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.

In an attempt to set a Guinness World Record for “the greatest number of people playing cornhole in the same competition” the United Way of Summit County invited local area businesses and residents to Lock 3 Park in Akron to participate in a lunchtime event. With a reported total of 258 participants, the United Way estimates that indeed a new record was set and submitted the information to the Guinness World Record organization.

State and Federal Communications sent five teams to the tournament with hopes of bringing home a first prize of $100 and two custom made United Way Cornhole Board sets. State and Federal’s teams of Amber Fish-Linke and Sarah Gray, Myra Cottrill and Becky Campbell, Michael Beckett and Shamus Williams, John Cozine and Steve Quinn, and Jen Zona and Jon Spontarelli each competed alongside a deep field of Akron’s best tossers. While we were unsuccessful in our bid to win the tournament, State and Federal was proud to be a part of what could be a new Guinness World Record.

The New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC) has 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. A copy of the proposal can be found here.

ELEC will conduct a public hearing at its offices concerning this proposal on Tuesday, October 16 at 11:00 a.m.

Lobbying

“Lobbyists Keep Busy Despite Legislative Lull” by Kate Ackley in Roll Call.

“How Many Lobbyists Are Really Breaking the Law?” by Elahe Izadi in the National Journal.

Campaign Finance

Montana: “Republicans ask court to axe Montana’s campaign contribution laws” by Matt Gouras (Associated Press) in The Republic.

New Jersey: “Political action committees gave $18M to N.J. campaigns last year, analysis shows” by Matt Friedman in the Trenton Times.

Redistricting

Ohio: “Ohio Supreme Court says ballot summary for redistricting issue is inaccurate” by Joe Guillen in the Plain Dealer.

Pennsylvania: “Supreme Court to hear redistricting arguments today” in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Ethics

“HHS chief violated law restricting political activity, OSC finds” by Eric Katz in Government Executive.

“Scandals are making uphill battles even steeper for some lawmakers” by Alexandra Jaffe in The Hill.

Alaska: “APOC says Senate candidate failed to disclose clients” by Richard Mauer in the Anchorage Daily News.

Social Media and tech

“You Gotta Have Friends: New Study Shows Facebook Can Get Out the Vote” by Micah L. Sifry in TechPresident.

“Study: Facebook drove turnout in 2010” by Steve Friess in Politico.

“Facebook to Cities: Change Page Names, or Else” by Noelle Knell in Governing.

“Web pioneer providing voter database for free” by Gregory Korte in USA Today.