Arizona: “Arizona redrawn legislative maps sent to Justice” by Mary Jo Pitzl in the Arizona Republic.

Florida: “Redistricting is creating rifts in the state’s non-partisan high court” by Mary Ellen Klas in the Miami Herald.

Missouri: “Same Missouri Senate seat filed for in east and west” by David Lieb (Associated Press) in the Missourian.

New Mexico: “Legal fight may be nearing an end over map for state House districts in this year’s elections” by The Associated Press in The Republic.

New York:  “New congressional district lines expected in NY” by The Associated Press in the Long Island Business News.

New York: “State’s Congressional District Line Proposals Due Today” by NY1 News.

Ohio: “Bipartisan state lawmakers offer reform for map-drawing process in redistricting” by Aaron Marshall in the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

Texas: “Texas political maps issued by federal court” by Alex Isenstadt in Politico.

Wyoming: “Wyoming Senate advances legislative redistricting bill” by The Associated Press in The Republic.

Social Media News

“Top 14 Government Social Media Initiatives” by J. Nicholas Hoover in Information Week.

“How Social Media Is Keeping the GOP Primary Going” by Micah Sifry in TechPresident.

IT News

“New York Officials Promise Reforms After Scathing IT Audit” by Matt Williams in Governing.

“Baltimore’s top IT official resigns after alleged ethical violations emerge in N.Y.” by Gus Sentementes in The Baltimore Sun.

Open Data

“In New York, Landmark Open Data Legislation Will Soon Be Up for a Vote” by Sarah Lai Stirland in TechPresident.

Utah Representative Kraig Powell has introduced a bill prohibiting anonymous cash contributions over $50 and requiring forfeiture of the contributions.

As written in HB 493, anonymous contributions over $50 to state and local candidates must be given to the governmental entity where the position the candidate is pursuing exists, such as to a school district’s general fund for a local school board candidate. Other beneficiaries of the anonymous political donations over $50 would be the state’s general fund, and county and municipality general funds.

Reporting by the candidates of the transferred anonymous contribution would not be required.

Elizabeth Bartz, President and CEO of State and Federal Communications, joined other business leaders from Ohio in a public statement of support for U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio).

According to a press release:

Business leaders from across Ohio announced their support of Senator Sherrod Brown today in a statement citing his strong record of fighting for Ohio jobs and businesses. The announcement highlights Sen. Brown’s efforts to fight China’s illegal currency manipulation and cut down on outsourcing, both of which costs Ohio jobs.

The public statement opens with the following:

“As business leaders in Ohio we know that Senator Sherrod Brown is a champion for Ohio’s business community and is fighting everyday for Ohio jobs and businesses. We urge Ohioans across the state not to believe third-party attack ads that say otherwise. Sherrod Brown has consistently demonstrated that Ohio jobs are his top priority and his commitment to strengthening Ohio employers will not waver. When it comes to Ohio’s business community, Senator Sherrod Brown is ready and willing to help.“

To read the full text and see the other supporters in the statement, you can find the press release at this link.

The Times Developer Network is now offering data from reports received by the Federal Election Commission through its Campaign Finance API (application programming interface). What was once a set of reports updated weekly, or in some cases daily, is now updated every 15 minutes.

You can find campaign finance information for the presidential and congressional candidates, PACs and super PACs, electronic filings by date and type, independent expenditures, and electioneering communications.

For the full story, be sure to read “Campaign Finance Data in Real Time” by Derek Willis in The New York Times.

You’ll be interested to also see “Campaign finance updates in real time? There’s an API for that” by Meranda Watling in 10,000 Words.

The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected a challenge to Maine election laws brought by the National Organization for Marriage claiming Maine’s reporting requirements for political action committees are vague and over-broad.

The Supreme Court let stand the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision to uphold the constitutionality of the laws requiring the disclosure of contributions and expenditures in elections by PACs and by independent groups.

Maine defended its laws by arguing the laws were designed to inform voters about who is spending money to influence their votes.

The State Ethics Commission has found the county’s new public ethics law to be below state standards because it allows elected leaders to accept tickets to sporting events from people who do business with the county.

Although state lawmakers are prohibited from free sports tickets, both state and county laws allow lawmakers to accept free admission to charitable, cultural, and political affairs events if the tickets come from the events’ sponsors.

Michael Lord, Executive Director of the commission, notes that the county’s ethics law does not call for disclosure of those tickets, which is required under state rules.

The county has maintained that its ethics laws are among the toughest in the state, but the commission has warned the county that it is not in compliance with a 2010 law that requires local ethics laws to be at least as strong as those state lawmakers must follow.

Federal:

Foster Friess Aspirin Joke Shows Danger to Candidates of Outside Political Groups

Lobbyists Decertify after Obama Ban

From the States and Municipalities:

Arizona

Fiesta Bowl Case: Junker pleads guilty to felony charge

California

Ethics Commission Delays Vote on Raising Contribution Limits

Colorado

Colorado Supreme Court Upholds ‘Magic Words’ Test for Political Spending by 527s

Colorado

Secretary of State Scott Gessler Rewrites Colorado Campaign Finance Rules

Florida

Miami Beach House Rep. Steinberg under Investigation by Feds for Bizarre Texts

Illinois

William Beavers Indicted on Tax Fraud Charges

Indiana

Lawmaker Takes Jab at Girl Scouts

Iowa

Denied Jobs, Blacks in Iowa Test New Bias Theory

Montana

High Court Halts Montana Corporate Spending Ban

New York

Critics Wary of State Elections Panel Plan to Oversee Super PAC Operations

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 Texas Ethics Commission announced there is no requirement to file the 30-day pre-election report due March 5th.

Normally, committees such as general and specific-purpose political committees that support or oppose a candidate or measure must file reports 30 days before an election in which the committee is involved, covering the first day after the period covered by the last report through 40 days before the election.

The Ethics Commission lifted the requirement because there is no ballot for the April 3rd election. The state’s primary election dates will likely be changed once redistricting in Texas has been finalized.

New York Senator Gustavo Rivera has introduced Senate Bill 6533 that would forbid lobbyists convicted of class D felonies or more serious offenses from lobbying in the state for three years.

The barred person may seek to re-register as a lobbyist with the Joint Commission on Public Ethics after three years.

The commission may determine if the suspension should be lifted or extended for a maximum of an additional two years.

The Los Angeles City Ethics Commission has voted to shorten the length of time during which candidates for office may conduct fundraising.

If the commission’s ruling is approved by city council, candidates for city council will have 12 months instead of the current 18 months for fundraising, and citywide candidates will have 18 months instead of the current two year period for fundraising.

The commission additionally decided to delay the vote on whether or not the campaign contribution limit should be increased from $500 to $1,100 per donor.

Photo of the Los Angeles City Hall by Brion VIBBER on Wikipedia.

The Arizona House of Representatives passed House Bill 2642, which will require more disclosure for local governments who lobby the state lawmakers. Two amendments were not added to the bill – one requiring American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) disclosure and another that would remove the one year “revolving door” waiting period for lawmakers to become lobbyists.

To find out more about the details of the new lobbying law (and what did not pass with it), be sure to read:

“Insider: Lobbyist bill passes without extras” by Mary Jo Pitzl in The Arizona Republic.

“Lawmakers OK more disclosure on lobbying” by Howard Fischer in the Arizona Daily Sun.

Photo of the Arizona House of Representatives Chamber by Willem van Bergen on Wikipedia.

Our Highlighted Site of the Week is The Newseum, a news and journalism interactive museum in Washington, D.C. On Level 6, the Newseum opened a new exhibit last Friday called Every Four Years: Presidential Campaigns and the Press.

On display are Tina Fey’s SNL Sarah Palin red suit and glasses, a microphone used by Franklin D. Roosevelt to deliver his famous “fireside chats,” handwritten notes taken by John F. Kennedy during a 1960 presidential debate with Richard Nixon, and much more.

According to their site: “The Newseum’s new election-year exhibit, ‘Every Four Years: Presidential Campaigns and the Press,’ explores how media coverage of presidential campaigns has evolved from William McKinley’s 1896 front porch campaign to Barack Obama’s 2008 Internet campaign, as candidates and reporters tangle over issues, images and control of the story.”

Take a look at this great article about the exhibit – “Campaign laughs and history on view at D.C.’s Newseum” by Brett Zongker (Associated Press) in the Washington Times.

You can follow the Newseum’s social media, too!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Thank you to News You Can Use Editor Jim Sedor for finding this great exhibit.

Secretary of State Scott Gessler announced on Wednesday the adoption of a recodified set of rules concerning Colorado campaign financing aimed at simplifying the state’s campaign finance process. Among the most notable changes to be made, total fines for late or incomplete campaign finance reports are now to be limited to $50 per day for up to 180 days for a maximum fine of $9,000.

Additionally, Gessler’s office will continue to utilize the $5,000 threshold at which issue committees must register and report, created by Gessler’s adoption of Campaign and Political Finance Rule 4.27, despite a state district court ruling Gessler did not have the authority to increase the threshold from the constitutionally-mandated figure of $200 after a finding by the court determining the threshold to be too burdensome.

Also, in accordance with the Colorado Supreme Court’s decision released the day prior to Gessler’s release of the recodified campaign finance rules, a 527 political group is limited to accepting up to $550 from any person every two years if the 527 group is engaging in express advocacy for a particular candidate by use of certain “magic words” such as “vote for” or “elect.”

Critics of Gessler have claimed the changes made are outside his authority and a legal challenge is expected. The rules are scheduled to temporarily take effect on March 7, 2012, with the rules being permanently effective on March 30, 2012.