If you live in the Washington, D.C. area, be sure to listen to WAMU 88.5 American University Radio for your direct line to the National Conventions. Elizabeth Bartz, president and CEO of State and Federal Communications, said,”We are very excited to be a part of this crucial service!”

Lobbyists and political committees will be paying more for registration when Governor Jerry Brown signs Senate Bill 1001 into law. The bill passed both houses with the two-thirds majority required to amend the state’s Political Reform Act. Political committees would pay $50 to register and lobbyists would pay $100 to register for a biennial session.

The increased revenue will help with maintaining California’s Cal-Access website, which tracks lobbying activity and campaign finance reports. Political committees currently have no registration fee and lobbyists currently pay $50 to register for the biennial session.

The New York Times, CBS News and Quinnipiac University today released a poll of likely voters in Florida, Ohio and Wisconsin. Florida and Ohio have long been considered battleground states, but according to the new numbers, Wisconsin has now been added to the list of states where the Presidential election will be fought. The poll shows President Obama with only a two point lead over Governor Romney, well within the margin of error. If the election were held today, 49% of respondents in Wisconsin would vote for Obama, while 47% of respondents would vote for Romney.

The new poll comes on the heels of Gov. Romney’s selection of Wisconsin Republican Paul Ryan as his running mate. During a poll conducted in the week prior to the selection, President Obama maintained a six point lead over Gov. Romney. In 2008, President Obama handily won the state over Senator John McCain by a healthy margin of 14 points. Recently, Wisconsin has been slowly moving towards toss-up status, and the Ryan selection seems to have pushed it over the edge. A Republican presidential ticket has not won the state since Ronald Reagan’s reelection in 1984.

Similarly in Florida, Obama maintains a lead with likely voters of only three points at 49% to 46%. However, in Ohio, Obama’s advantage has held steady from the previous poll at six points with 50% to 44% of likely voters favoring the President. The poll further shows that voters in all three states view the economy as the most important issue in the election; 60% of voters in Florida, 59% of voters in Ohio, and 54% of voters in Wisconsin characterized the issue as “extremely important”.

Other notes from the trail:

• Representative Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) has been chosen by the Obama campaign as the stand-in for GOP Vice Presidential Nominee Paul Ryan during debate prep for Vice President Joe Biden. Van Hollen is the ranking member of the House Budget Committee, which Ryan chairs. Ryan and Van Hollen regularly go head to head on the issues that will be discussed in the vice presidential debate. The campaign has also confirmed that Sen. John Kerry will play the role of Gov. Romney in President Obama’s debate prep. Both Kerry and Romney hail from Massachusetts, and with Sen. Kerry comes the added advantage of a debate partner who has previously run for President as well. The Romney campaign has not announced who will stand-in for the President and Vice President during their debate prep.

• Following comments he made that “legitimate rape” rarely causes pregnancy and therefore is not a valid provision for allowing abortion, Representative Todd Akin (R-MO) announced that he will stay in the race for the Senate seat from Missouri. Akin has received numerous phone calls from members of his own party, including Gov. Mitt Romney and Rep. Paul Ryan, to withdraw from the race. As Akin did not step aside from the race prior to a 5 p.m. Tuesday, August 21 deadline, it would now take a court order to remove his name from the ballot should he change his mind. Additionally, under Missouri law, after September 25, his name would remain on the ballot regardless of his intentions.

“Text ‘GIVE’ to Obama: President’s campaign launches cellphone donation drive” by Dan Eggen in The Washington Post.

“Super PAC Contributions Top $300 Million, Most Goes To GOP Groups” by Paul Blumenthal in the Huffington Post.

California: “L.A. campaign finance overhaul scaled back by City Council members” in the Los Angeles Times.

New Jersey: “N.J. judge: Former Newark mayor violated campaign finance laws” by Phil Gregory in Newsworks New Jersey.

You now have two new tools for identifying who is behind a political ad that you see on TV.  The Sunlight Foundation has released Ad Hawk and Glassy Media has offered Super PAC App. Both tools can listen to an ad and tell you what group is responsible for it, and Super PAC App can even point you to Politifact and FactCheck to weigh the facts surrounding the claims of the ad.

The apps are available for iPhone and Android devices.

For full news coverage, be sure to read:

“New apps can instantly identify political ads” by Brendan Sasso in The Hill.

“’Super PAC App’ knows when political ads stretch the truth” by John D. Sutter in CNN.com.

“Who’s Behind That Political Ad? This App Tells You” by Alex Fitzpatrick in Mashable.

Governor Robert Bentley has called a special election to fill the seat for House District 34, currently held by Representative Elwyn Thomas. Representative Thomas was appointed to be executive director of the Alabama Manufactured Housing Commission, and will hold the seat until August 31.

The primary for the seat will by October 23, with a general special election scheduled for December 11 if no runoff is needed. If a runoff election is needed, it will be held December 11, with the general special election to be held January 29, 2013.

Trustees of the Houston Independent School District (HISD) hope to change ethics rules involving vendor contracting.

According to the Houston Chronicle, the new rules would require trustees to disclose relationships with vendors, prohibit trustees from voting on contracts where a vendor contributed $500 or more to a trustee’s political campaign, and prohibit vendors’ contributions while bidding for HISD contracts.

Last October, similar ethics changes were discussed but not implemented by HISD. The trustees are expected to vote on new policies in September.

The Board of Supervisors has unanimously approved campaign contribution limits to take effect January 1, 2013. The ordinance subjects supervisors and countywide candidates to the same limits as state legislative candidates at $3,900 per election cycle from individuals and $7,800 from small contributor committees.

Contributions or expenditures of $10,000 or more to candidates and independent expenditure committees will now be disclosed electronically. Currently, state law requires disclosure for amounts greater than $50,000 for state and independent committees, but no requirements are in place for local races.

The ordinance goes before the board again Tuesday, August 28, 2012 for adoption.

Seal of San Bernardino County, California by Jetijones on Wikipedia.

Lobbying

California:  “Bill raises fees on lobbyists to fund disclosure” by The Associated Press in the Mercury News.

North Carolina:  “Despite laws, NC legislators still ask lobbyists for money” by Laura Leslie in WRAL.com.

South Carolina:  “SC: Top-paid State House lobbyist earns $673K” by Eric K. Ward in Watchdog.org.

Campaign Finance

Arizona: “State Sen. Gould: No improper campaign spending” by Rebekah L. Sanders in the Arizona Republic.

Ethics

Kansas: “Kansas lawmakers unwittingly broke open meetings law” by Brad Cooper in the Kansas City Star.

North Dakota:  “Legislators to create code of conduct after North Dakota named ‘most corrupt state’” by Wendy Reuer in InForum.

South Carolina:  “Haley, Wilson unveiling ethics reform package” by The Associated Press in the Greenville News.

Redistricting

“2012 Pre-election Turnover is Typical for a Redistricting Year” by Karl Kurtz in NCSL’s The Thicket blog.

Montana: “Commission wraps up proposal for new Montana House districts” by Mike Dennison in the Missoulian.

California: “Bill would let voters impose greater disclosure requirements on political campaign spending” by The Associated Press in The Republic.

Hawaii: “Cashing In: Hawaii’s Top Ten Campaign Donors” by Lindsey Txakeeyang in the Honolulu Civil Beat.

Louisiana: “Lee Zurik Investigation: Politicians owe the state thousands in fines” by Lee Zurik on WVUE Fox 8 News.

Nebraska: “Campaign finance donation removed from state tax return” in the Lincoln Journal Star.

“Romney’s campaign coffers have $60 million more than Obama’s” by T.W. Farnam in the Washington Post.

“Ask Kim Barker Anything About Campaign Finance (a Reddit Chat)” by Amanda Zamora in ProPublica.

“New Online Game Puts Players in the Lawmaker’s Chair” by Sarah Lai Stirland in TechPresident.

“Study Examines Influence of Social Media on Interaction Between People and their Governments” by Lisa Goldman in TechPresident.

“Federal Mobile App Provides Real-Time Economic Stats” by Brian Heaton in Government Technology.

“Republicans plan a tech-heavy convention” by Steve Friess in Politico.

“Tweets Surrounding Paul Ryan Pick May Have Violated Electioneering Rules” by Emma Dumain in Roll Call.

“Social Media and Politics: An Interview with George Scoville” by Bianca Sciotti in the Independent Voter Network.

Lobbying

“Lawmakers Rack Up Hefty Bills Wining and Dining Donors” by Emily Cahn in Roll Call.

“Here’s How Wall Street Finds Out Exactly What’s Going On In Congress All The Time” by Linette Lopez in Business Insider.

Campaign Finance

“Can the super-rich buy American elections?” by Mark Colvin on ABC News.

“From Citizens United to Super PACs: A Campaign Finance Reading Guide” by Amanda Zamora in ProPublica.

“Non-profits outspending Super PACs” by Alicia Budich, Robert Hendin in CBS News’ Face the Nation.

Ethics

Pennsylvania: “Report faults ethics board: Small staff and lack of authority cited” by Melissa Daniels in the Tribune-Democrat.

Governor Jerry Brown has told legislative leaders he intends to call a special session to deal with issues related to the federal healthcare law signed by President Obama in 2010.

The special session, planned for December, will give the governor and lawmakers an opportunity to keep working on healthcare proposals that have failed in the current session, which ends August 31, 2012.

Bills passed in a special session can take effect within 90 days of passage rather than at the beginning of the following calendar year.

Photo of the California State Capitol by Henri Sivonen in Wikipedia.

It can all be found on the NCSL 2012 Legislative Summit Resources page.

Have a great weekend!