Certainly you have heard about the recommendation that each of us should be taking 10,000 steps every day for our health. As part of its wellness program, State and Federal Communications is taking up the challenge and today we kick off our “We’re Walking” program.

We have divided into three teams and for six weeks we will walk in the morning, at lunchtime, and after work – whenever we can. At the end of the six weeks, we will see which team has walked the most steps. The winners will receive bragging rights, of course, and a few prizes.

Good luck to all of the participants!

Campaign Finance

“FCC’s political ad rule disappoints supporters and foes alike” by Andrew Feinberg in The Hill.

“The FCC Makes Campaign Finance (a Bit) More Transparent” by Kirsten Salyer in Bloomberg.

“FCC Approves Political Ad Rule” by Amy Schatz in The Wall Street Journal.

Ethics

“Former State Senator Is Sentenced to 7 Years in Vast Bribery Case” by Benjamin Weiser in The New York Times.

“Illinois Gov. Ryan’s Corruption Appeal Sent Back to Lower Court” by The Associated Press in Governing.

“Aaron Schock hit with FEC complaint” by John Bresnahan in Politico.

Campaign and Government Tech

“With the 2012 Election Looming, NRCC Names a New Digital Director” by Nick Judd in TechPresident.

“Philadelphia Embraces The World Of Open Data” by Sarah Lai Stirland in TechPresident.

Members of the Alaska House of Representatives are considering their next step after the Senate abruptly adjourned from the special session on Friday.

The Senate adjourned following the Governor’s decision to pull an oil tax bill, which was one of two measures on the special session agenda.Under the state Constitution, the House could remain in session, forcing the Senate to return every three days.

It is not clear how soon a decision will be reached or announced.

Photo of the Alaska State Capitol by Kevin Lam on Wikipedia.

The independent expenditure rules that were previously adopted by the New York City Campaign Finance Board were published in the City Record and have an effective date of May 16, 2012. The new rules will not be enforced for any election occurring prior to August 13, 2012.

The rules cover what type of expenditures and communications must be reported to the Board, which contributions supporting those expenditures must be reported to the Board, who must file with the Board, and when those reports have to be filed with the Board.

National:

Conservative Nonprofit Acts as a Stealth Business Lobbyist

Social Media Directors Increasing in Government

Federal:

‘We the People’ Petition Site the Newest Tool in K Street Lobbying Repertoire

Who Pays When The President Travels for The Campaign?

From the States and Municipalities:

Alabama

House OKs Lobbyist Penalty

California

AT&T Wields Enormous Power in Sacramento

California

California Ethics Czar Urges Disclosure of Payments to Web Pundits

Louisiana

Cap on Legislative Wining and Dining Moves to $56

Minnesota

Debt-Laden Minnesota GOP Notified of Eviction

New York

Lobby Formed for Cuomo Blew Deadline

North Carolina

Charles Thomas, N.C. Speaker’s Top Aide, Linked to Lobbyist

North Dakota

North Dakota Bridles at Neighbor’s Capitol Insult

Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania Lawmaker Wins and Loses on the Same Day

South Carolina

ALEC Has Special Exemption in South Carolina’s Lobbying Law

West Virginia

Ethics Ruling Regarding House Speaker Raises Concerns

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.

The United Way of Summit County held their 2012 Annual Meeting at the John S. Knight Center in Akron, Ohio on Wednesday, April 25. After a very successful 2011 campaign, State and Federal Communications received two awards in recognition of its efforts.

Along with nine other organizations, the company was given the Campaign Chair Award. According to the United Way, this award was “presented to organizations for extraordinary achievement, outstanding increases and successful first-time campaigns.”

State and Federal Communications also received the “Highest Per Employee Corporate Giving Award” in the category of a company with 49 or fewer employees.

Thank you United Way of Summit County. We are thrilled to be a part of the amazing work you do each year. And thank you to everyone here at State and Federal Communications for their generous effort to make our campaign a success!

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) approved several advisory opinions on a variety of issues.

In AO 2012-12, the FEC allowed a corporation to solicit contributions from its non-corporate franchisees and licensees’ executive and administrative personnel. The FEC found the personnel were part of Dunkin Brands, Inc. restricted class because of the degree of control it maintained on the franchisees and licensees.

In another opinion, the FEC concluded an association of physician-owned hospitals are not federal contractors although they provided services to patients in government-sponsored healthcare programs such as Medicaid. Therefore, the association is not prohibited from making contributions to independent expenditure-only political committees.

Additionally, the FEC found a New Hampshire campaign finance statute requiring disclaimers for telephone surveys was preempted by federal statutes and FEC regulations because the calls in question were only related to federal candidates.

The FEC also let stand the $46,200 aggregate limit for contributions to federal candidates over a request to contribute amounts over this limit.

The FEC press release concerning these and other decisions can be found here.

“1,000 Independent Agents Lobbying Lawmakers in Washington” by Young Ha in Insurance Journal.

Alabama: “Lawmakers recommend reprimand for lobbyist” by Sebastian Kitchen in the Montgomery Advertiser.

California: The San Francisco Ethics Commission announced that their Lobbyist Electronic Filing System will experience down time for maintenance. For the schedule, see the Ethics Commission news update.

Delaware: “Bill would expand lobbyist disclosures” by Randall Chase (Associated Press) on WDEL.com.

“States Aim to Launch More Mobile Apps” by Hilton Collins on Government Technology.

“Twitter Chat Experiment Under Way in the Silicon Valley” by Brian Heaton on Government Technology.

“Salesforce Getting Social in New Government Cloud” by Matt Williams in Government Technology.

“Social Media Directors Increasing in Government” by Elaine Pittman in Governing.

During a Rules Committee hearing, the U.S. Senate considered a bill requiring senators to file electronically with the Federal Election Commission, just as members of the House of Representatives and presidential candidates do. The bill, called the Senate Campaign Disclosure Parity Act, was sponsored by Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and received support from Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.).

For full news coverage, be sure to read:

“Senate considers entering digital age for campaign filings” by Susan Davis in USA Today.

“Schumer: Senators should file campaign reports electronically” by Tom Brune in Newsday.

Image of the Seal of the United States Senate by Ipankonin on Wikipedia.

Elizabeth Bartz, President and CEO of State and Federal Communications, and John Cozine, Research Manager for the company, contributed to a publication by the National Association of State Procurement Officials (NASPO). The white paper, “Effective Communication between State Procurement and Industry,” was presented at NAPSO’s recent national meeting.

The How to Market to State Governments Meeting was held April 15-17 in Orlando, Florida.

State and Federal Communications’ contribution can be found in the “Vendor Reporting and Disclosure” section, which covers compliance issues regarding lobbying, vendor disclosure, and pay-to-play.

“We felt it was important that we participate to make sure the paper included information about compliance,” said Bartz.

The North Carolina General Assembly convened as scheduled for a special session on April 23, 2012.

Both the Senate and the House will meet again on April 25, at which time they are expected to adjourn until the scheduled regular legislative session begins on May 16, 2012.

Photo of North Carolina State Legislative Building by Jayron32 on Wikipedia.

“Redistricting takes some of the ‘swing’ out of House fights” by Susan Davis in USA Today.

Alaska: “It may be too late for another legislative redistricting plan” by Becky Bohrer in the Anchorage Daily News.

Arizona: “State Supreme Court reaffirms that governor shouldn’t have fired redistricting chair” by Howard Fischer in the East Valley Tribune.

Kansas: “Kobach warns of redistricting crisis” by John Hanna (Associated Press) in the Lawrence Journal-World.

Mississippi: “Mississippi lawmakers tackle redistricting” by Phil West in The Commercial Appeal.

Pennsylvania: “Pennsylvania’s new map pits incumbent Democrats in primary” by Sean Lengell in The Washington Times.

Vermont: “Vermont Senate endorses redistricting plans” by Nancy Remsen in the Burlington Free Press.

Wyoming: “State: Redistricting plaintiffs have no standing to file suit” by Trevor Brown in the Wyoming Tribune Eagle.

“This Week in Tech: House boots up ‘cyber week’” by Brendan Sasso and Andrew Feinberg in The Hill.

NCSL is hosting its “Social Media Policies for State Legislatures” webinar on April 27.

Nextgov gives us a sneak preview of their forthcoming new website!

Here is a link to The New York Times Election 2012 App for iPhone and Android. Their site gives this description:

“News, opinion, polls and live election night results. From The Times and other top sources around the Web. It’s the best campaign coverage anywhere, all in one app.”

District of Columbia: “Hackers Shut Down District of Columbia Government Website” by Nikita Stewart in The Washington Post.

Iowa: “Iowa lawmakers go on camera to deliver updates” by James Q. Lynch in the Quad-City Times.