This week we bring you the new Rosa Parks statue that was unveiled at the National Statuary Hall. She is the first African American woman to be honored with a life size statue in the Capitol.

It was on December 1, 1955 that Rosa Parks exercised her right to sit where she wished on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama.  In honor of that day and the celebration of the 100th anniversary of her birth, there was a ceremony for the unveiling of the Rosa Parks statue in the Capitol on February 27, 2013. Many of Ms. Parks’ relatives were at the unveiling ceremony. This wonderful picture of the statue comes from the Architect of the Capitol website.

According to a recent New York Times article, President Obama offered praise for Ms. Parks: “[The president] chronicled how Mrs. Parks, despite having held no elected office, lacking wealth and living far from the seat of power, touched off a movement that made it possible for him to become president.”

Other speakers said she united the country by choosing to be arrested, instead of giving up her seat.

Rosa Parks was given the highest civilian honors from the White House and Congress.  When she died in 2005, she was the first woman “to lie in state” in the Capitol Rotunda.

She will always be remembered for what she did for America.

Enjoy this video from PBS NewsHour:

Thanks for reading and we will see you next time.

Federal:

Are Hashtags a Political #Wasteoftime?

Pro-Obama Group Reverses Stance on Corporate Cash

From the States and Municipalities:

California – LA Mayor’s Race Heads to Runoff between Democratic Rivals Who Share Much Common Ground

California – Oakland City Council Approves Campaign Sunlight Ordinance

Colorado – Federal Judge Dismisses Challenge to Colorado Campaign Finance Law

Florida – Florida Legislators Work to Regain Voter Trust

Massachusetts – Cahill to Pay $100,000 to Settle Case

New Mexico – House Approves Bill for State Ethics Commission

Tennessee – Rep. Curry Todd Lived Rent-Free in Lobbyist’s Home

Texas – Watchdogs: Ethics loopholes obscure lobby perks

Vermont – New Twist on Campaign Finance Debate

Wyoming – Wyoming Legislative Leaders Decry Lobbying Tactics

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 a Texas bill introduced predominantly dealing with the ethics of public servants, the requirement for registering as a lobbyist in the state would be expanded.

House Bill 2737 amends the state’s lobbying law to include goodwill lobbying.

Specifically, the following definition is added: “Communicates directly with a member of the legislative or executive branch to influence legislation or administrative action” or any variation of the phrase includes establishing goodwill with the member for the purpose of later communicating with the member to influence legislation or administrative action.

A person would not be required to register if he or she spends 26 hours or less during the calendar quarter engaging in the communication. Additionally, the other current thresholds for determining whether registering as a lobbyist is required would remain.

The bill, introduced by Rep. Dennis Bonnen, also make changes concerning the regulations of political contributions and expenditures, political advertising, the conduct of public servants, and the reporting of personal financial information by public servants.

Photo of the Texas State Capitol courtesy of Kumar Appaiah on Wikipedia.

State Representative Scott Drury has recently introduced two bills that would change the way lobbyists operate within the state. House Bill 2957 would change the definition of lobbying, thus causing more people to register as a lobbyist.

The bill would add communicating with a local government to influence action to the definition of lobbying. Therefore, all people who lobby a local government without a lobbying ordinance, the cities of Rockford and Springfield for example, would have to register as a lobbyist with the state. Also, those who lobby in a city with a lobbying ordinance, such as Chicago, would have to register with the state, in addition to their current city registration.

House Bill 2964 is a bill aimed at the state’s current prohibition on gifts. It would prohibit the relatives of a state officer, legislator, or employee from receiving prohibited gifts from a prohibited source (under state law, a lobbyist is considered a prohibited source). The bill also adds a new exception to the ban, adjusts one of the current exceptions, and abolishes another of the exceptions.

If the bill passes, a state officer, legislator, or employee would be allowed to accept admission to and the cost of food and beverages consumed at a reception, meal, or meeting by an organization before whom the recipient appears to speak or answer questions as part of a scheduled program where all members of the General Assembly were invited. This would replace the current exception for food and beverage, which allows for those to be provided if catered or consumed on the premises.

The bill would also limit the amount of travel expenses provided to $111 per day and the travel must be on a carrier available to the general public.

It remains to be seen whether either one of the bills will pass, but should they pass in their current form, it will change how lobbyists do business in the state.

Photo of the Illinois State Capitol by Daniel Schwen on Wikipedia.

Lobbying

“K St. ready for cybersercurity cash grab” by Kevin Bogardus in The Hill.

“Under Contract” in The Hill.

Illinois: “Lobbying push at Capitol as gun issue looms” by Rafael Guerrero in the Chicago Tribune.

Pennsylvania: “Gov. Tom Corbett may be open to a gift ban, spokeswoman suggests” by Jan Murphy in the Patriot-News.

Texas: “Watchdogs: Ethics Loopholes Obscure Lobby Perks” by Jay Root in the Texas Tribune.

Campaign Finance

Colorado: “David Sirota Moderates Discussion On Campaign Finance Reform, Democracy In Colorado” by Matt Ferner in the Huffington Post.

Ethics

California: “STATE LEGISLATURE: Area lawmakers given gifts, trips in 2012” by Jim Miller in the Press-Enterprise.

Florida: “Florida House bridles at Senate’s proposed ethics reforms” by Dara Kam in the Palm Beach Post.

Florida: “Matt Reed: Something to cheer, for a change, as Legislature opens” by Matt Reed in Florida Today.

Hawaii: “Hawaii Legislators Exempt Themselves from State Ethics Code” by Barbara Polk in the Hawaii Reporter.

On the first day of the 2013 legislative session the Florida Senate unanimously passed ethics reform bills.

The bills add revolving door provisions, increase the responsibilities of the ethics commission, and require financial disclosure reports to be posted online.

The reform package now moves to the House, where somewhat different versions of the legislation are already under consideration.

Lobbying

“K Street Files: Both Sides Rev Up for Wage War” by Elizabeth Newlin Carney in Roll Call.

“K Street’s gravy train runs dry as Georgian leaders move past election” by Kevin Bogardus and Julian Pecquet in The Hill.

“Former Sen. Jon Kyl joins lobby shop at Covington” by Catherine Ho in the Washington Post.

New York: “Best-paid lobbyists, spenders unveiled” by Chris Bragg in Crain’s New York.

Pennsylvania: “Pa.’s Corbett and wife disclose gifts from lobbyists and businesses” by The Associated Press in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Pennsylvania: “Corbett’s acceptance of gifts give rise to calls for laws on gift bans” by Jan Murphy in the Patriot-News.

Campaign Finance

“Study shows Super PACs made mockery of campaign law” by Taylor Lincoln in The Hill.

Arizona: “Arizona senate approves contribution limits to recall campaigns” by Howard Fischer in the East Valley Tribune.

Kentucky: “Ky. House passes bill to publicly finance state SC races” by Jessica M. Karmasek in Legal Newsline.

Ethics

Florida: “Florida lawmakers vote for ethics and early voting changes” by Mary Ellen Klas in the Tampa Bay Times.

Legislative Issues

Missouri: “Mo. House endorses change to term limits” by The Associated Press in the News Tribune.

South Dakota: “SD Senate approves boost in expenses for lawmakers” in the Rapid City Journal.

Open Government

“Sen. Del Marsh says GOP committee members did not violate Open Meetings Act” by Mike Cason in the Birmingham News.

Redistricting

Kentucky: “House redistricting plan would create new Lexington district” by Jack Brammer and Beth Musgrave in the Lexington Herald-Leader.

Lobbying

“Lobbyists predict rebound in 2013” by Kevin Bogardus and Ben Goad in The Hill.

Minnesota: “Minnesota lobbyists spent $65.2M in 2011, report says” by Bill Salisbury in the Pioneer Press.

Campaign Finance

California: “New Campaign Finance Tracker Helps You Follow the Money in L.A. Elections” on Community Television of Southern California.

Texas: “Bill Would Double Campaign Finance Disclosures” by Ryan Murphy in the Texas Tribune.

Ethics

“Ethics commission agrees to seek outside investigator in Gessler case” by Tim Hoover in the Denver Post.

Florida: “Will lawmakers pass campaign reform or just face-lift?” by Aaron Deslatte in the Orlando Sentinel.

Florida: “Ethics legislation could be passed on opening day” by The Associated Press in the Miami Herald.

Social Media

“Are hashtags a political #wasteoftime?” by Steve Friess in Politico.

A bill to change lobbying regulations has passed the House and is currently in the Senate Committee on Public Policy.

House Bill 1222 expands the definition of lobbying to include communications with any legislative employee and requires lobbyists to file registration statements and activity reports electronically.

The bill also increases the annual lobbyist registration fee from $100 to $200 and makes the lobbyist registration year match the current lobbyist reporting period.

The bill passed the House 94-0 on February 25, 2013.

Elizabeth Bartz, president and CEO of State and Federal Communications, and four of the company staff are attending the Public Affairs Council’s 37th Annual National PAC Conference in Miami Beach, Florida. We are excited about the conference, which runs from March 4-7 and boasts the theme: “Rethink. Reinvent. Reinvigorate.”

You can follow the conversations on Twitter with the hashtag #PAC13 and the handle @PACouncil.

State and Federal Communications is proud to be the sponsor for the Wi-Fi access for this conference.

Maybe we’ll see you there!

Lobbying

“Home Sweet K Street” by Kate Ackley in Roll Call.

Campaign Finance

“Political campaign finance reform advocates to hold ‘K Street 5K’ in DC, Apr 13” by Karen Ruben in The Examiner.

Arizona: “Arizona House legislation would allow for campaign finance changes” by Howard Fischer in the East Valley Tribune.

Georgia: “Florida’s ethics reforms offer glimpse of Georgia’s future” by Chris Joyner in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

New York: “NYC public advocate: State, local governments must lead efforts to regulate dark money” by Michael Beckel in the Center for Public Integrity.

Vermont: “New twist on campaign finance debate” by Peter Hirschfeld in the Times Argus.

West Virginia: “Senate President supports public campaign finance bill” on West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

Ethics

“Suit Over How Larry Craig Paid Legal Bills Heads To Court” by Jessica Robinson in Boise State Public Radio.

Florida: “Bill would strengthen Florida Commission on Ethics enforcement” by Jeff Marcu in First Coast News.

Tennessee: “Rep. Curry Todd lived rent-free in lobbyist’s home” by Nate Rau in The Tennessean.

Utah: “Senate panel advances bill for executive branch ethics commission” by Dennis Romboy in the Deseret News.

March 4-7, 2013   2013 National PAC Conference, Miami Beach, Florida

March 6, 2013   Ohio Birthday Party, Washington, D.C.

March 13-15, 2013   SGAC Annual Meeting, Savannah, Georgia

April 14-16, 2013   NASPO Conference, Indianapolis, Indiana

April 22-25, 2013   BIO International Convention, Chicago, Illinois

At any given time, more than 1,000 legislative bills, which can affect how you do business as a government affairs professional, are being discussed in federal, state, and local jurisdictions. These bills are summarized in the State and Federal Communications digital encyclopedias for lobbying laws, political contributions, and procurement lobbying, and can be found in the client portion of the State and Federal Communications’ website.

Summaries of major bills are also included in monthly e-mail updates sent to all clients. The chart below shows the number of bills we are tracking in regards to lobbying laws, political contributions, and procurement lobbying.