The State Ethics Commission has issued a memorandum concerning provisions of the ethics law relating to regulated lobbyists and campaign finance activities.

State law prohibits a lobbyist or a person acting on behalf of a lobbyist to engage in certain campaign activities including soliciting contributions or forwarding tickets to fundraising events.

The memorandum does not constitute an advisory opinion but addresses common issues and provides approaches for compliance with the technical provisions of the law.

The memorandum is available online here.

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) released its annual adjustment of the threshold limit for lobbyist bundling disclosure.

The federal lobbyist bundling disclosure threshold has been increased from $16,200 for 2011 to $16,700 for 2012.

The FEC is required to adjust the threshold amount annually to account for inflation, rounding to the nearest multiple of $100.

Ethics

“Blagojevich to serve sentence at Denver-area prison” by Natasha Korecki in the Chicago Sun-Times.

Missouri: “Mo. lawmaker says waiting for elections could mean better ethics bill” by The Associated Press in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Missouri: “Ethics reform in Missouri appears to be a nonstarter in election year” by Jason Hancock in the Kansas City Star.

New Mexico: “Governor signs bill intended to crack down on corruption within government” by The Associated Press in The Republic.

Government Transparency

South Carolina: “House panel OKs bill setting cost limits on FOIAs” by The Associated Press in the Greenville News.

Alaska: “Governor signs campaign finance bill” by The Associated Press in USA Today.

“Financial disclosures show power of super PACs” by Fredreka Schouten in USA Today.

“Santorum ‘super’ PAC returned big foreign donation” by Stephen Braun in the Boston Globe.

Massachusetts: “Casinos industry spent millions lobbying in Mass.” by The Associated Press in the Boston Herald.

Oklahoma: “Lobbyist: Lawmaker Morgan sought help for ‘friends’” by Nolan Clay in the Tulsa World.

South Carolina: “Senators hold moment of silence for missing lobbyist, search continues” by Noelle Phillips in The State.

Wisconsin: “Union lobbying plummets in last half of 2011” by Bill Lueders in Wisconsin Watch.

Hawaii: “Tech-Savvy Leaders Push Honolulu Toward Gov 2.0” by Michael Levine in Honolulu Civil Beat.

Maryland: “NIC to Run Maryland’s Website” in Government Technology.

New York: “Mayor Bloomberg Puts N.Y. Government On Facebook” by Julie Andrews on All Facebook.

The U.S. Supreme Court has stayed a Montana Supreme Court decision upholding the state’s law prohibiting independent political expenditures, related to a candidate, by a corporation.

In December of last year, the Montana Supreme Court found Citizens United v. FEC did not compel invalidating the state’s 1912 Corrupt Practices Act, concluding the state, because of its history and the history of the Act, has a compelling interest to impose statutory restrictions. The Montana Court emphasized the Citizens United decision allows restrictions to be upheld if the government demonstrates a sufficiently strong interest.

The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling stays the state Court’s ruling until either a formal appeal to the US Supreme Court is denied, or, if an appeal is accepted, the US Supreme Court mandates the termination of the stay.

In the one page order by the US Supreme Court, Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote, “Montana’s experience, and experience elsewhere since this Court’s decision in [Citizens United v. FEC], make it exceedingly difficult to maintain that independent expenditures by corporations ‘do not give rise to corruption or the appearance of corruption.’ A petition for certiorari will give the Court an opportunity to consider whether, in light of the huge sums currently deployed to buy candidates’ allegiance, Citizens United should continue to hold sway.”

Associate Justice Steven G. Breyer joined in Justice Ginsburg’s statement.

Photo of the United States Supreme Court building frieze by UpstateNYer on Wikipedia.

Federal:

Edwards Treasurer Never Saw 2011 Campaign Reports

Lobbyists Sue Obama Administration after Being Booted from Boards

Most of Romney’s Top Fundraisers Remain Anonymous

From the States and Municipalities:

California

California’s Political Watchdog Panel Eases its Approach to Ethics Issues

District of Columbia

D.C. Official Says Proposed Ballot Initiative Banning Corporate Donations Advances

Florida

Deerfield Beach ‘PAC Man’ Faces 2,052 Counts of Breaking Election Laws

Georgia

Lobbyist Handouts Not Fully Disclosed

Illinois

PAC Sues Over State’s Campaign Finance Law

Illinois

Report: Chicago, Los Angeles, New York most corrupt cities; Louisiana most corrupt per capita

Minnesota

Lobbying Violations Vex Understaffed Minnesota Regulator

Missouri

Missouri Supreme Court Strikes Down Most of Ethics Law

Montana

U.S. Supreme Court Asked to Undo Montana Campaign Money Ban

Vermont

State Sues Dubie and RGA, Alleging 2010 Campaign Collusion

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.

Good news iPhone owners! NCSL’s blog just noted the Alaska Legislature has come out with an app allowing you to keep up with legislative news on your phone. Best of all, it is free!

According to the blog, this is what you will find: “The app provides information on committee schedules, bill status, the house and senate calendars, and contact information of every legislator in both chambers. It also allows the user to stream committee hearings directly from your phone and watch the proceedings in real time.”

Be sure to take look at “New Alaska iPhone App” by Morgan Cullen on The Thicket.

Here is the iTunes App Store page with The Alaska Legislature App.

Thank you to Research Associate George Ticoras for pointing me in the direction of this news.

This week’s Highlighted Site is the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History and its Star Spangled Banner Exhibit. Take a look at the gallery where our treasured flag has been housed since 2008.

It’s history is fascinating! According to the site:  “On September 14, 1814, U.S. soldiers at Baltimore’s Fort McHenry raised a huge American flag to celebrate a crucial victory over British forces during the War of 1812. The sight of those ‘broad stripes and bright stars’ inspired Francis Scott Key to write a song that eventually became the United States national anthem. Key’s words gave new significance to a national symbol and started a tradition through which generations of Americans have invested the flag with their own meanings and memories.”

The National Museum of American History’s site is wonderfully interactive. You can collect stars to complete the flag by taking a quiz about the history of the War of 1812.

There is an interactive flag page where you can view details documenting the damage the flag has sustained and the various attempts to restore it over the years.

Sing along with the lyrics to the National Anthem on the O Say Can You Sing? page and watch a video of the winner of the National Anthem Singing Contest from 2009.

On the Share Your Story page, you have the opportunity to tell everyone what the flag means to you.

Check out their Twitter feed (@amhistorymuseum) and their Facebook!

I hope you enjoy this amazing exhibit and I wish each of you a great weekend!

Arizona: “Arizona House Speaker wants June special election on redistricting” by Mary Jo Pitzl in The Arizona Republic.

Florida: “Gov. Rick Scott signs off on new congressional districts” by Brandon Larrabee in the Miami Herald.

“With redistricting lawsuit looming, legislators want immunity” by Mary Ellen Klas in the Tampa Bay Times.

“House redistricting tweaks quietly put U.S. Rep. Sandy Adams in her preferred district” by Mark K. Matthews and Aaron Deslatte in the Orlando Sentinel.

Maryland:  “Alternative redistricting plans stalled” by Danielle E. Gaines in the Gaithersburg Gazette.

Missouri: “Missouri Supreme Court examines new US House districts” by Chris Blank in the Kansas City Star.

New York: “Senate redistricting proposal comes under fire” by Aaron Besecker in The Buffalo News.

“Judge calls for ‘special master’ to redraw state legislative and congressional district boundaries” by Kenneth Lovette in the New York Daily News.

Washington: “Secretary of state asking justices to approve redistricting plan” byThe Associated Press  in The Seattle Times.

Wisconsin: “Court issues stern order in state redistricting” by Scott Bauer in the Green Bay Press Gazette.

“Federal judges slam GOP lawmakers over redistricting secrecy” by Patrick Marley in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

According to a press release, “During a regularly scheduled meeting today, the Campaign Finance Board determined that nine campaigns in the 2009 elections committed violations and one campaign in the February 2009 special election committed violations. ”

You can view a video archive of the meeting here:

The New York City Campaign Finance Board has released revised proposed rules regarding the disclosure of independent expenditures in city elections.

The revised proposed rules are available here.

The revisions include a new definition of electioneering communication, different reporting requirements, and changes to covered expenditures.

The board will accept public written comment on the rules until March 2, 2012. The final rules will be adopted at a subsequent meeting of the board.

This afternoon Rhode Island Governor Lincoln D. Chafee announced the upcoming introduction of a bill requiring those engaged in “independent expenditures” and “electioneering communications” to report donors and expenditures and to include disclaimers on media and internet advertising.

The Governor’s bill, Transparency in Political Spending Act (TIPS), was created with legislative leaders and Common Cause Rhode Island.

The Governor’s press release detailing the bill defines “independent expenditure” is an expenditure that expressly advocates for the election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate and is not coordinated with any candidate’s campaign, authorized candidate committee or political party committee. “Electioneering communications” is defined as print, broadcast, cable, satellite, or electronic media communications not coordinated with any candidate, authorized candidate committee or political party committee which unambiguously identifies a candidate and is made within 60 days of a general or special election or within 30 days of a primary and can be received by 5,000 or more persons in the constituency.

Governor Chafee said, “[TIPS] seeks to [make] individuals and organizations trying to influence the outcome of an election accountable to the people of Rhode Island.” The collaboratively developed legislation was announced by the Governor with Common Cause Rhode Island’s Executive Director, John Marion, and the legislation’s sponsors: House Speaker Gordon Fox, Senate President M. Teresa Paiva Weed, Senate President Pro Tempore Juan Pichardo, and Representative Chris Blazejewski.