August 3, 2012 •
See You at NCSL!
We are very excited to go to the National Conference of State Legislatures Legislative Summit in Chicago. Seven members of our staff will be attending. If you are planning to be there, please stop by booth 923 and say hello!
August 3, 2012 •
NCSL – Trip of the Year
August 6-9, 2012
In a few days, we are leaving for Chicago to attend our 13th National Conference of State Legislatures. This is no small feat for State and Federal Communications anymore—we are taking seven (7) staff people and our exhibit booth, which I refer to as my “retirement condo.”
Our schedule for the week is color coded for exhibit times, NCSL meetings we attend, State Government Affairs Council (SGAC) events, Washington Area State Relations Group (WASRG) events, Women’s Legislative network events, and other social events held throughout the week.
In addition, State and Federal Communications is a sponsor to both Ohio Night and Virginia Night—but we are definitely more involved with Ohio Night. Our friends from Whirlpool are providing the Penthouse level from the World of Whirlpool for our function. We are definitely excited that so many folks from the state legislature are attending this year’s NCSL Legislative Summit.
The best thing about NCSL is you will find us if you have any questions or concerns about taking legislators out to dinner or a baseball game (Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday – White Sox vs. the Royals Thursday through Sunday – Cubs vs. the Reds ). You can find us in Booth 923 in the Exhibit Hall on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Stop on by to say hello.
The sad part of this year’s program is Bill Pound’s wife, Margie, passed away on July 25th after a long illness. Our hearts and prayers are with Bill and his children at this time. May Margie’s Memory Be Eternal.
Thank you.
August 3, 2012 •
News You Can Use Digest – August 3, 2012
Here are highlights from the latest edition of News You Can Use:
National:
Conservatives Work to Cull Moderate Republicans
Poll: Public doesn’t like lobbyists, OK with lobbying
Federal:
Conservative Group Challenges Red Line Dividing Candidates, Super-PACs
FEC Says It Will Enforce Nonprofit Disclosure Rules
Households Divided by Campaign Donations
From the States and Municipalities:
California
Two Former Lynwood Officials Guilty of Illegally Boosting Salaries
Georgia
Georgia Voters Back Limits on Lobbyist Spending
Iowa
Contributions Dodged Rules, Records Show
Kentucky
Kentucky Lawyer’s Threatened Sanction Rejected on Free-Speech Grounds
New Jersey
Trenton Residents Lobby for Creation of City Ethics Board
New York
Lobbyists to Disclose Donors Since July 1
North Carolina
New Lobbyist Rankings Reflect GOP Takeover of NC Legislature
Ohio
Jimmy Dimora Sentenced to 28 Years in Prison, ‘A Life Sentence,’ Lawyers Say
Utah
Utah Supreme Court Ruling Ends Ethics Initiative Bid
West Virginia
W.Va. Election Commission Votes to Defend Public Financing Plan
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.
August 2, 2012 •
Social Media and Political Campaigns in the News
Social media continue to play a big role in the political campaigns. Take a look at these articles:
“New App Delivers Latest Political Polls Instantly to Your iPhone” by Alex Fitzpatrick in Mashable.
“Twitter will gauge voter sentiment in new venture” by Stephen Shepard in NextGov.
“Twitter Political Index Launches, But Is It Actually Measuring ‘Voter Sentiment?’” by Micah Sifry in TechPresident.
“Obama Campaign Debuts Mobile Canvassing App” by Sarah Lai Stirland in TechPresident.
“Ohio Democrats cry foul over Republican Gov. John Kasich’s social media blasting of Obama during president’s visit” by Reginald Fields in the Plain Dealer.
“It’s the Romney Veepstakes, Pushed Straight to Your Phone” by Sarah Lai Stirland in TechPresident.
August 2, 2012 •
Thursday News Roundup
Lobbying, campaign finance, and ethics
Lobbying
“Commish claims board shields lobbyist” by The Associated Press in The Wall Street Journal.
“GOP Hits Obama on Lobbyist Meetings at ‘Caribou’” by Devin Dwyer, Shushannah Walshe and Mary Bruce on ABC News.
Campaign Finance
“TV stations begin publishing political ad spending” by Mark Binker on WRAL.com.
“Oregon Gets Low Marks For Campaign Finance” by April Baer in Oregon Public Broadcasting.
“The New Rules Of Campaign Finance: Small Dollars Are No Longer King” by Michael Scherer in TIME Magazine.
Ethics
“Laura Richardson fined $10K by ethics panel” by John Bresnahan in Politico.
Utah: “Push for ethics initiative will continue, backers say” by Robert Gehrke in the Salt Lake Tribune.
August 1, 2012 •
Georgia Voters Support Lobbyist Gift Limits
Primary ballots push the issue
Republicans and Democrats voted overwhelming to limit gifts from lobbyists to lawmakers. The issue was among several nonbinding questions appearing on Republican and Democratic primary ballots.
The vote will not change state law, but it may put political pressure on lawmakers to enact gift limits. Unofficial results show 87 percent of Republicans voted to cap gifts at $100, while 71 percent of Democrats voted in support of setting some kind of limit on what lobbyists can spend.
August 1, 2012 •
Lobbying and Campaign Finance in Today’s News
Take a look at our Wednesday news summary:
Lobbying
Georgia: “Voters want lobbyist gift cap” by Kristina Torres in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Utah: “Utah Supreme Court ruling ends ethics initiative bid” by Robert Gehrke in The Salt Lake Tribune.
The Hill’s “Lobbying World” from July 31.
Campaign Finance
“Washington mayor under fire as finance scandal swirls” by Ian Simpson in Reuters.
“NY board keeps secret donors to pro-Cuomo lobbyist” by The Associated Press in The Wall Street Journal.
Ethics
“Attorney general appoints former prosecutor to Oklahoma Ethics Commission” by The Associated Press in The Republic.
Guidelines to go through formal rulemaking process now
The New York State Joint Commission on Public Ethics voted to approve draft regulations and guidelines for implementing the public disclosure requirement for lobbyists and their clients. The commission’s interpretation of the state’s new lobbying act states that starting July 1 certain lobbyists and lobbying employers must disclose individual funding behind their lobbying campaigns. The law would apply to donors of more than $5,000.
There will be two filed reports each year, with the first being due January 15, 2013.
Good government advocates were hoping that the law would be applied starting June 1, when the disclosure provisions were to go into effect. However, the commission said that a “fair and reasonable” reading of the law required the disclosure to begin in July.
These proposed regulations now have to be submitted through the formal rule promulgating process under state law. This means a public comment period and publication in the state register will have to occur before the rule officially goes into effect.
July 31, 2012 •
Ready, Set, Walk: The challenge is over!
The results are in for the walking challenge
After a one-week walking challenge between the Public Affairs Council and State and Federal Communications, the results have arrived at last!
Coming in first place with 1,771,196 steps, 23 employees at State and Federal Communications took the win, out-walking the Public Affairs Council by 129,967 steps.
The top 23 walkers at the Public Affairs Council reached 1,641,229, coming very close to victory. Both teams utilized their time and effort to improve their health and spark friendly competition.
Intern Maria Varonis of State and Federal Communications, who participated in the walking challenge, spoke of how this competition influenced her and all of the participants.
“The first day we didn’t have to wear our pedometers, something felt amiss at my hip….It was sort of sad since I realized I wasn’t contributing to anything anymore,” Varonis said. “Working as a team to obtain a common goal both of health and of victory is an amazing feeling. We should all be proud of ourselves. I know I am.”
July 31, 2012 •
Tuesday Lobbying News Summary
Keep up with the latest lobbying news with these articles:
“Poll: Public looks down on lobbyists, but OK with firms using them” by Bernie Becker in The Hill.
“Hey, Big Companies: People Like You! (And Don’t Mind Your Lobbying)” by Elahe Izadi in the National Journal.
“For retailers chief lobbyist, battles in Congress go on and on” by Vicki Needham in The Hill.
“Silicon Valley web giants go their own way with new lobbying startup” by Brendan Sasso in The Hill.
Florida: “Several lawmakers work for lobbyists, group says” by Matt Dixon in the Florida Times-Union.
Georgia: “Ga. voters weigh in on lobbying caps, abortion” by Ray Henry in the Sacramento Bee.
North Carolina: “New lobbyist rankings reflect GOP takeover of NC legislature” by Robert Willett in the News & Observer.
Utah: “Loophole lets thousands in lobbyist expenses go unreported” by Robert Gehrke in the Salt Lake Tribune.
July 30, 2012 •
We’re Going to See President Obama!
This Wednesday in Akron, Ohio
President Barack Obama is coming to speak on August 1, 2012 at the John S. Knight Center in downtown Akron. Here is a picture of our excited interns, who were waiting in line to get tickets at the center.
July 30, 2012 •
Monday News Roundup
Don’t miss these articles on lobbying, campaign finance, ethics, and social media:
Lobbying
“Statehouse Live: At least 8 GOP legislators registered to attend ALEC meeting” by Scott Rothschild in the Lawrence Journal World.
Oklahoma: “Lobbyist gift-giving to Oklahoma lawmakers is up again for the third straight year” by Michael McNutt in the Oklahoman.
Campaign Finance
“Massachusetts Senate calls for Congress to pass law reversing Citizens United decision” by Robert Rizzuto in the Republican.
“Big campaign donors can remain a big secret” by Jon Murray and Mary Beth Schneider in the Indianapolis Star News.
Ethics
Alabama: “Lawmakers plan to run again as ‘double dipping’ ban looms” by Sebastian Kitchen in the Montgomery Advertiser.
Connecticut: “7 charged in Donovan probe” by Ken Dixon in the Connecticut Post.
Illinois: “Feds widen probe into newly retired South Side lawmaker” by Ray Long and Monique Garcia in the Chicago Tribune.
Illinois: “Ex-Illinois lawmaker subpoenaed over scholarships” in the Quad-City Times.
South Carolina: “Taxpayer bill for Haley ethics probe is $61,000” by Andrew Shain in the Charlotte Observer.
Utah: “Utah Supreme Court weighs fate of 2010 ethics initiative” by Cathy McKitrick in the Salt Lake Tribune.
Political Campaigns and Social Media
“New Site Seeks to Aggregate User-Generated Political Videos” by Miranda Neubauer in TechPresident.
July 30, 2012 •
More Disclosure Required by FEC
Electioneering
The Federal Election Commission (FEC) announced persons reporting electioneering communications must report the name and address of each donor giving $1,000 or more, aggregated since the first day of the preceding calendar year.
The application of this rule applies retroactively to March 30, 2012, coinciding with a court decision in Van Hollen v. FEC that ruled the current regulation, 11 C.F.R. 104.20(c)(9), is invalid.
Previously, donors were only required to be disclosed if their donations were “made for the purpose of furthering electioneering communications.” The FEC will now consider all donors as contributors “regardless of their subjective purpose in contributing.”
As the Commission has not adopted any new regulations or explanation of its rules, and Van Hollen v FEC is still pending, the FEC outlined this requirement in a public statement issued Friday.
July 30, 2012 •
Conservative…No, Liberal!
See if you can spot a certain famous State and Federal Communications couple in this United Way Campaign video!
Too much fun. We are proud to be a supporter United Way of Summit County, and thankful for all of the wonderful work they do!
State and Federal Communications, Inc. provides research and consulting services for government relations professionals on lobbying laws, procurement lobbying laws, political contribution laws in the United States and Canada. Learn more by visiting stateandfed.com.
