The campaign finance practices of Democratic Gubernatorial candidate Jay Inslee have come under fire as his campaign has asked supporters of his past congressional campaigns to roll their donations forward to his current campaign, regardless of contribution limits.

Inslee could then ask those donors for additional money that would be subject to the state’s campaign finance limits for the 2012 election cycle.

Republican candidate Rob McKenna’s campaign, characterized the money as “illegal.”

The Washington Public Disclosure Commission staff has stated that Inslee’s interpretations of campaign finance regulations are correct.

McKenna’s campaign pointed to federal election documents that show Inslee never declared the cash as surplus money, meaning it cannot be transferred, and also questioned whether a federal candidate could ever move money to a state campaign because the cash was raised under different election rules.

Amid declining web traffic and engagement, Cuyahoga County Council has turned to social media as a way to better engage its constituents.

Today’s Cleveland Plain Dealer features “Cuyahoga County Council streams meetings, turns to social media” by Harlan Spector. The article reveals that the Cuyahoga County Council is now on Facebook, has a Twitter account, and offers live video streaming of council meetings.

I also found a county government YouTube channel and separate Facebook.

The Congressional Management Foundation has released a new report about the use of social media on Capitol Hill.

The 16-page document says congressional offices are using social media as a way to monitor public opinion, as a tool to get the word out about lawmakers’ messages and activities, and as another way to communicate with constituents.

The study says younger staffers see more value in the use of social media than older staffers.

You can read the Congressional Management Foundation’s article, “Social Media Used Extensively by Congress,” which was posted today. Here is the pdf of the report.

Ginny Looney, the Ethics Officer for the city of Atlanta Ethics Office, has announced she will be leaving the position in order to work as a clerk for the Georgia Supreme Court.

Looney, who was the first appointee to the position in 2003, made the announcement at the most recent Atlanta City Council meeting.

Among her accomplishments during her time holding the position, Looney developed the city’s electronic disclosure system, helped to craft city ethics laws, and established the city’s 24/7 ethics hotline.

Looney’s final day is set to be September 30, 2011.

Photo of the Atlanta City Hall doors by Jeff Clemmons on Wikipedia.

Federal:

Edwards Campaign Owes $2 Million

Pakistan’s Military Plotted to Tilt U.S. Policy, FBI Says

Washington’s Long Debt-Ceiling Debate Hits K Street in the Wallet

From the States and Municipalities:

Alabama

Country Stars Push Senator to Vote

California

Jerry Brown Assumes Uncommon Influence over FPPC

Georgia

Ethics Panelists Gave to Campaigns

Hawaii

Hawaii Ethics Director: Lawmakers ‘Pushed’ the Line on Gifts

Maine

Judge Strikes Down Maine’s Matching Funds Law

Massachusetts

Massachusetts House Democrats Block Debate on Republicans’ Ethics Rules Changes

North Carolina

North Carolina Election Will Go On, Even if No One Is Running

Pennsylvania

Chairman: Ethics board ‘being strangled’ by budget cuts

Pennsylvania

Philadelphia Official Fired for Accepting Meals, Gifts from City Contractors

Tennessee

Tennessee GOP Finds Loophole in Campaign Law

Washington

Judge Blocks Washington Limit on Recall Contributions

West Virginia

Some W.Va. Election Ad Rules Again Struck Down

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.

Elected officials and government agencies increasingly are using social media platforms as a way to be in touch with their constituents. I am often asked, “How do I find them?”

For anyone interested in lists of public officials on social media, there are a few key places to go. One place is the Government and Social Media Wiki with its ever expanding lists of federal, state, and local elected officials and agencies. There is also DCI Group’s Digital America with its interactive map of the states offering a Twitter and Facebook grade for each state and links to connect with your state officials.

The latest offering comes from Stateline.org. They published an article today, “How many governors are using social media?” According to the article, 47 of our 50 governors are using social media. You’ll find an interactive infographic by Mary Mahling showing the state, the name of the governor, and links to their Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, and YouTube accounts.

This is a valuable resource. Thank you Mary Mahling and Stateline.org!

As August 2nd approaches and the federal government gets closer and closer to the possibility of defaulting on its debt, I’m sure there are many people out there who believe they could contribute a few of their own ideas to Congress and President Obama to aid in creating an improved national budget.

This week’s Highlighted Site Of The Week allows you to create your own national budget, giving you complete control over taxes and government spending. BudgetHero gives all the power to the player to decide if spending will be increased or cut on controversial programs such as defense, Social Security, and health care as well as to increase or decrease taxes on a number of different sources.

Each issue is represented by a card that includes a brief description of the policy change, the pros and cons of making the change, the impact on the nation it would have, and the 10 year impact it would have on the budget. Whether you are serious about creating a balanced budget or just experimenting with different possibilities, this game is a fantastic way of breaking the partisan barriers and seeing the difficulties that exist in deciding how the nation’s money should be spent.

I went through the game and created my own custom budget thinking I made enough cuts while keeping what I consider the important programs only to see that the government would still go broke by 2032. I suppose it’s a good thing the fate of the nation doesn’t rest in my hands.

This article from the Washington Post tells more about the game as well as about an upgrade to BudgetHero 2.0. Enjoy!

Everyone have a great weekend!

The special session of the Utah Legislature adjourned after one day, as expected.

Several items were passed including a resolution calling for a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Photo of the Utah State Capitol by BigBen212 on Wikipedia.

Judge Thomas Johnston of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia has struck down key provisions of campaign finance law pertaining to electioneering communications.

In a suit filed by West Virginians for Life and the Center for Individual Freedom, the court held that while the state of West Virginia could regulate advertisements that “can have no other reasonable meaning than to urge the election or defeat of one or more clearly identified candidates,” the state could not require financial disclosures from third party groups creating advertisements that are merely “susceptible” to the interpretation that they are an appeal for or against a specific candidate.

Further, the court struck down the extension of electioneering communication regulations to print media while upholding the applicability of such regulations to broadcast media.

The special legislative session called on Tuesday by Governor Mark Dayton adjourned at 3:43 a.m. Wednesday morning.

The Legislature passed 12 budget bills that were signed by Governor Dayton in order to reopen state government.

True to the recent trend that can be observed in both local governments and the federal government, the city of Burleson, Texas has released a new Facebook app named the Citizen Request Tracker soon to be spread  to other communities nationwide that makes it easier for citizens to report problems and request services from its local government.

This app can help alert the local authorities about such issues such as pot holes, graffiti, barking dogs and malfunctioning streetlights.

Read more about the Citizen Request Tracker Facebook App in “New App Connects Social Media Users with Municipal Services” by Brian Heaton posted on GovTech.com.

We now provide information on lobbying, political contributions, and procurement lobbying for Miami, Florida; Pembroke Pines, Florida; and Vancouver, Washington on our website.

The image of North America by Bosonic dressing on Wikipedia.

The Cuyahoga County Executive and Inspector General, in collaboration with the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio have announced plans to offer additional vendor ethics training courses.

The first vendor ethics course was offered for construction vendors only. Training sessions will soon be scheduled for health and human services providers, professional services providers, and miscellaneous service providers.

Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton has called a special legislative session to begin today at 3 p.m. for a vote on a budget agreement that would end the state’s government shutdown.

Governor Dayton stated that some state agencies could re-open as early as Wednesday if the budget agreement is finalized.

Photo of the Minnesota State Capitol dome by Mulad on Wikipedia.