Governor Nathan Deal has issued a Writ of Election setting Tuesday, November 8, 2011 as the date for a special election to fill the vacant seat in state senate district 28.

The seat became available upon the resignation of Sen. Mitch Seabaugh, who resigned the seat in order to accept his appointment to the position of deputy state treasurer by Governor Deal.

The runoff election, if necessary, will be held December 6, 2011.

The New Mexico Republican Party, represented by attorney James Bopp, Jr., has filed a lawsuit challenging New Mexico’s campaign finance law. The suit asks the federal district court in Albuquerque to declare unconstitutional part of a state law which sets a contribution limit of $5,000 to or by political parties. The law was passed in 2009, but did not become effective until after the 2010 election.

The lawsuit also contends that federal election law precludes New Mexico from restricting how much money a national political party can give to a state party organization for election work, such as registering voters and encouraging voter turnout.

California Governor Jerry Brown has signed senate bill 398 into law. The bill alters definitions and reporting requirements for those who do business with the board of a public pension or retirement system to manage securities or other assets and went into effect upon signature.

Specifically, the new law modifies the definition of external managers to mean a person who is seeking to be, or is, retained by a board or an investment vehicle to manage a portfolio of securities or other assets for compensation, or a person who manages an investment fund, and who offers or sells, or has offered or sold an ownership interest in the investment fund to a board or investment vehicle. The law also alters the definition of a placement agent to a person directly or indirectly hired, engaged, or retained by, or serving for the benefit of or on behalf of, an external manger and who acts or has acted for compensation as a finder, solicitor, marketer, consultant, broker, or other intermediary in connection with the offer or sale to a board or investment vehicle either the investment management services of the external manager or an ownership interest in an investment fund managed by the external manager.

Additional changes made as the result of the new law include the exemption of placement agents from any requirements imposed by a local government agency, including lobbyist registration and reporting, if the placement agent is an employee, officer, or director of an external manager, or of an affiliate of an external manager, and the external manager is registered as an investment adviser or a broker-dealer with the Securities and Exchange Commission or any state securities regulator. Further, placement agents are exempt from local requirements if the external manager is participating in a competitive bidding process, such as a request for proposal, or has been selected through a competitive bidding process and is providing services pursuant to a contract executed as a result of that bidding process, or when the external manager, if selected through competitive bidding, has agreed to a fiduciary standard of care for the contract.

In “The Week Ahead in Congress,” Donny Shaw  from Open Congress gives us this week’s agenda for U.S. Congress and the legislation that is being considered.

From Govloop: Christopher Whitaker discusses the ten app winners in round two of the contest where people write helpful apps using open government data from the city of Chicago. “Chicago Apps Contest Round II: Community Apps that bring the civic awesomeness”

From the Washington Post: Marjorie Censer writes about a new government contracting trend in here article “Federal agencies turn to contractors for social media help.”

The American League of Lobbyists website posted a new Lobbyist Certificate Program opportunity – “Effective Communications: Congress and the Media – A Lobbying Certificate Program Session with Media and Issue Ad Experts.” The session will discuss how to use social and traditional media effectively and  how to get a high return on your efforts.

From the Evansville Courier and Press: Ellie Price describes IN.gov’s use of QR codes to bring traffice to government websites in “Indiana to take smartphone plunge.”

Federal:

How One Criminal Case Hit K Street

Hybrid PACs: Super PACs and Traditional PACs Can Merge

Lobbyists In On ‘Super’ Secrets

OMB Finalizes Details on White House Lobbying Reform Rules

From the States and Municipalities:

Alabama

Commission’s Opinions Further Define 2010 Ethics Law

Delaware

Colbert Takes Satirical Swipe at Abuse of Delaware Spending Disclosure Laws

Minnesota

Disclosure Rules Apply, Campaign Finance Board Says

New Jersey

N.J. Ethics Reform Efforts Bogged Down for Year

New Mexico

New Mexico Governor Signs Bill to Close Loopholes in State Contract Bidding

New York

NYC Mayor Cross-Examined at Ex-Operative’s Trial

Texas

Recall Case Likely to Extend Beyond El Paso

Utah

Lobbyists Want Keys to the Gym and Valet Parking at Capitol

Virginia

Trackers an Evolving but Undeniable Political Force

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.

Jim Sedor is editor of News You Can Use.

Each week the U.S. House Office of the Clerk gives “Historical Highlights” and today it remembers how 93 years ago the country was facing a flu pandemic. The House and Senate decided to close the public galleries.

The Office of the Clerk gives us an idea of the scope the problem: “According to some modern estimates, more than 50 million persons perished worldwide in the 1918–1919 outbreak; most sources attribute 500,000 or more deaths in the U.S. alone to the Spanish flu. Washington, D.C., swelled by an influx of government workers during the First World War, was particularly hard hit.”

They reported that there were 400 deaths in D.C. during the second week of October, and 730 deaths the week after that. A number of House members were absent from the session and action had to be taken.

U. S. Rep. Henry Rainey (D-Ill.) said, “Mr. Speaker, it is matter of common knowledge that an epidemic of alarming proportions is prevailing throughout the country. … Out of an abundant precaution the Senate has ordered the galleries closed, which action, I understand, meets with the approval of the medical authorities, and so I ask unanimous consent that the Speaker be instructed to close the galleries of this House until further action shall be taken by the House.”

The motion was approved without objection, and the House and Senate galleries were closed and were not reopened until November 4.

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) will no longer prohibit nonconnected political committees from accepting corporate and labor organization contributions, provided the political committee maintains and deposits those contributions into separate bank accounts.

The Commission will also not limit the amounts permissible sources can contribute to such accounts.

In an statement released by the FEC, it stated, consistent with its agreement to a stipulated order and consent judgment in Carey v. FEC, it would no longer enforce 2 U.S.C. §§ 441a(a)(1)(C) and 441a(a)(3), as well as any implementing regulations, against any nonconnected political committee with regard to contributions from individuals, political committees, corporations, and labor organizations under certain conditions.

A single committee may now contribute directly to candidates and political committees, and make independent expenditures, separating the funds only by using two separate bank accounts. The committee must maintain the statutory limits on the solicitation of funds used for direct contributions while it may simultaneously seek unlimited funds for use in their independent expenditures.

The FEC intends to develop new regulations and amend its reporting forms. Until that time, the Commission says committees should follow the procedures the FEC outlines in its current statement, which is located here.

This post follows up  previous articles by George Ticoras, “FEC Agrees Not to Enforce Some Laws Against NDPAC” and “One PAC Is Enough.”

I saw this item on Eric Brown’s Political Activity Law blog.

YouTube is now the place to watch the latest political videos with its new YouTube Politics Channel. According to YouTube’s blog, “The new YouTube Politics site will feature the latest campaign ads, parodies, gotchas, and speeches, offering you a 360-view of the election.”

YouTube Politics follows in the footsteps of other Google projects that touch upon politics and elections, such as YouTube News and YouTube Town Hall. Of course since it is YouTube, you will be able to follow each candidate to see how they are doing by seeing their stats – how many video views they have had, how many subscribers, and the quality of the comments they receive.

YouTube’s blog offers this announcement in honor of the event: “YouTube.com/Politics: Tracking the 2012 election campaign through online video” and here is Politico’s coverage of the launch: “Google to Launch YouTube Politics” by Jennifer Martinez.

An ethics reform bill heralded this summer by Massachusetts House Republicans has been blocked.

The Democratic-controlled house voted 116 to 34 today against a motion allowing House Bill 3718 out of committee for a full vote. Among the changes in the bill are the requirement lobbyists wear badges identifying themselves as such, contribution restrictions for house members, and the prohibition of house members and their staff from contacting public entities regarding pending procurement decisions.

The reform measure arose as a response to the conviction this summer of former house speaker Salvatore DiMasi on seven counts of corruption.

This post follows up a previous article by George Ticoras, “New House Ethics Rules Proposed for Massachusetts” from June 23.

Photo of the Massachusetts Statehouse by Fcb981 on Wikipedia.

Registered federal lobbyists may not serve on any boards, commissions, or similar groups created by the President, the Congress, or an Executive Branch department or agency, the Office of Management and Budget (O.M.B.) has affirmed.

The O.M.B. issued its Notice of Final Guidance detailing, in a question and answer format, the limitations of federal lobbyists’ service on federal boards and commissions. The policy does not apply to full-time federal employees, state lobbyists, or employees of organizations that engage in lobbying activities. If an appointment is made pursuant to statutory authority or presidential directive by Congress or state governors, the O.M.B. encourages the appointments to be made to individuals who are not federally registered lobbyists whenever possible.

The O.M.B. policy was created at the directive of a June 18, 2010 Presidential memorandum “Lobbyists on Agency Boards and Commissions.” Federal lobbyists on boards and commission as of June 18, 2010 may serve out the remainder of their terms.

The O.M.B.’s final guidance will be effective 30 days from issuance in the Federal Register.

Indiana’s government website, IN.gov, now boasts 1 million registered users – people who receive emails, text messages, and RSS feeds from the site. IN.gov links to 82 state agency websites and there are 1600 topics to which anyone can subscribe.

Govtech.com reports today about the landmark in the article “1 Million Users Register for Indiana Digital Updates” by Sarah Rich. The article says, “According to Indiana, the state is the first in the country to reach 1 million registered users through GovDelivery.”

It is easy to see why In.gov is such a success. The site is clean, nice-looking, and easily navigable. You can readily find social media links, a subscription menu, transparency information, links for offering suggestions and sending email, and even a QR code.

I couldn’t help but be impressed with the degree to which Indiana’s Office of Technology has done its homework. They have analyzed the usage of the website by monitoring whether the agencies are releasing information regularly for each subscription topic and whether anyone is subscribing to the feed. If not, the topic is removed. They have determined the program has saved them over $200,000 in costs by reducing the need to print and mail information.

State and local governments, take note!

The Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board released a statement of guidance that details when groups are required to disclose donors who support or oppose a ballot initiative.

The guidelines suggest that a group that is involved in multiple activities including the support or opposition of ballot initiatives must determine how much of a contribution is directed to a ballot initiative influencing effort.  Money specifically designated for ballot question expenditure purposes and money given in response to an express or implied solicitation to support a group’s campaign to promote or defeat a ballot question is considered a contribution for the purpose of promoting or defeating a ballot question which requires donor disclosure.

The Campaign Finance Board will consider adopting the guidelines at its next meeting.

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) issued an Advisory Opinion stating a “project” created by a trade association may make certain communications to the general public asking individuals to contribute directly to particular federal candidates.

The Utah Bankers Association (U.B.A.) had requested the Advisory Opinion. It intends to solicit the general public through its website and e-mail, as well as through the website of “Friends of Traditional Banking,” a project created for this purpose. There will be no coordination with any candidate and no contributions will be accepted or forwarded to federal candidate’s committees.

In Advisory Opinion 2011-14, the Commission concluded the expenses for soliciting contributions through a trade association’s own website and e-mail is not an in-kind contribution because an internet communication is not a “public communication” if it “is not placed for a fee on another person’s website,” and therefore does not meet the content prong test of coordinated communications. The Commission also found U.B.A.’s plan is not “electioneering communications” which are limited to broadcast, cable, or satellite communications

Other questions related to the U.B.A. request were also addressed in the opinion.

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