The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals struck down a Wisconsin law that set limits on contributions to groups that independently spend on political speech and permanently enjoined enforcement of the law.

The appeal was brought by the political action committee of Wisconsin Right to Life, which previously won a temporary injunction against enforcing the law during recall elections earlier this year.

The court found that after Citizens United v. FEC, W.S. §§ 11.26(4) is unconstitutional to the extent that it limits contributions to committees engaged solely in independent spending for political speech.

Federal House and Senate resolutions meant to blunt the Supreme Court’s Citizens United v. FEC decision have recently been submitted to Congress.

Senate Joint Resolution 33, introduced by Senator Bernie Sanders, and House Joint Resolution 90, introduced by Representative Theodore E. Deutch, both expressly exclude for-profit corporations from “the rights given to natural persons” and prohibit corporation spending in all elections, including ballot issues.

Additionally, the resolutions allow the government “to regulate and set limits on all election contributions and expenditures, including a candidate’s own spending, and to authorize the establishment of political committees to receive, spend, and publicly disclose the sources of those contributions and expenditures.’’

The amendment proposed reads as follows:

Section 1. The rights protected by the Constitution of the United States are the rights of natural persons and do not extend to for-profit corporations, limited liability companies, or other private entities established for business purposes or to promote business interests under the laws of any state, the United States, or any foreign state.

Section 2. Such corporate and other private entities established under law are subject to regulation by the people through the legislative process so long as such regulations are consistent with the powers of Congress and the States and do not limit the freedom of the press.

Section 3. Such corporate and other private entities shall be prohibited from making contributions or expenditures in any election of any candidate for public office or the vote upon any ballot measure submitted to the people.

Section 4. Congress and the States shall have the power to regulate and set limits on all election contributions and expenditures, including a candidate’s own spending, and to authorize the establishment of political committees to receive, spend, and publicly disclose the sources of those contributions and expenditures.

Other constitutional amendments introduced related to campaign finance can be found in our prior blog posts, including Constitutional Amendment to Control Campaign Financing and Constitutional Amendment to Reverse Citizens United.

The West Virginia Legislature convened a special session on Sunday, December 11, 2011.

The session has been called to discuss the regulation of oil and gas wells.

The California Fair Political Practices Commission has approved changes to the gift regulations which will take effect on January 1, 2012.

Changes to the regulations include the ability for public officials to accept gifts from lobbyists without disclosure if a dating relationship exists.

Additionally, officials will be able to accept tickets to sporting events if the officials are attending the event to perform a ceremonial duty.

In such circumstances, the gifts are to be reported by the agency and not the official.

Federal:

Gingrich, Romney Campaigns Count on Lobbyists to Pay the Bills

Occupy D.C. Protesters Shut Down K Street

Stephen Colbert Gets Love at FEC

From the States and Municipalities:

Alabama

Alabama Ethics Law Limits What Students Can Give Teachers; Homemade Cookies OK, Hams Not Allowed

California

California Ethics Agency Relaxes Rules on Gifts to Politicians

California

Watchdog Agency Fines Former Pinole Councilman $111,500 for Ethics Violations

District of Columbia

D.C. Council Tentatively Approves Ethics Reform Bill

Georgia

Fines Levied on Georgia Politicians Reported Reduced Because of Notification Costs

Illinois

Blagojevich Hit with 14-Year Prison Sentence

Maryland

Jack Johnson, Former Prince George’s Executive, Sentenced to Seven Years in Corruption

Maryland

Rule Would Allow Campaign Donations by Text Message

Minnesota

Minnesota Ads Discussing Gay Marriage Approved For Less Financing Disclosure

Missouri

Missouri Politicians Enjoyed World Series Thanks to Lobbyists

Vermont

Vermont Court Imposes $10,000 Penalty in Campaign Finance Suit

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.

Their profile and first tweet say “Updates from the Twitter Government & Politics team, tracking creative & effective uses of Twitter for civic engagement…Welcome to @gov! Stay tuned for best practices, case studies and other updates from the Twitter Government & Politics team…”

With a big presidential election year ahead of us, I wonder if they intend to keep track of the use of Twitter in political campaigns. We should keep an eye on the official Twitter blog for more information.

Governing broke this news in “Twitter Launches @Gov Account for Tracking Civic Engagement” by Dylan Scott.

On Wednesday, K Street was the center of focus for many Occupy protesters. Offices were on lock-down and dozens of arrests were made.

Be sure to read Politico’s “Occupy D.C. protesters shut down K Street” by Robin Bravender and Abby Phillip.

The action was part of a larger demonstration this week in Washington D.C. According to the article, “About 2,000 activists flooded Washington, D.C., this week to participate in the weeklong  ‘Take Back the Capitol’ movement, according to a labor organizer close to the protests.”

K Street sign is a derivative of a photo by Ben Schumin on Wikipedia.

State and Federal Communications  is proud to work in Akron and we recognize that we have a responsibility to reach out to the community around us. This holiday season we decided to participate in a Giving Tree project.

Our tree is in the lobby with tags requesting gifts for someone in need. The tags are nearly all claimed by employees who will be a Santa for someone. There are just a few unclaimed items left.

The tree is benefitting the Summit and Medina County Battered Women’s Shelter, and the items we’re providing range from anything like clothing (boots, scarves, coats for children and women) to Christmas toys and supplies for the shelter itself.

Instead of adopting one specific family, these items will go toward the shelter and the families that come in during the weekend of Christmas and often can bring nothing with them for the holidays.

This “campaign” will go through December 21st which is final drop off time at the shelter.

A member of Georgia’s Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission said he is stepping down from the panel after just three months to accept an appointment as a judge. Chan Caudell said he would submit his letter of resignation to Governor Nathan Deal. The Georgia constitution bans individuals from serving simultaneously in two branches of government.

Caudell’s sudden departure is the latest challenge for the five-member panel overseeing campaign finance and lobbying in the state.

The ethics panel has been hit hard with funding cuts that some say have undermined its ability to perform its duties. Earlier this week an open records request revealed that fines for late campaign finance reporting were reduced by millions of dollars because the panel could not afford to send out the required late notices.

One of the remarkable moments I had at the 2012 COGEL Conference in Nashville was visiting with Hawaii State Senator Les Ihara, Jr. We spoke about COGEL and I had to put in a plug that the conference will be held in Columbus next year! He spoke about NCSL and other things coming in the next year.

Senator Ihara was interested in sharing about the Hawaii Ethical Lobbying Association and so that is our Highlighted Site of the Week. The website has the organization’s pledge of ethics, as well as listing news about an Ethical Lobbying and Campaign Spending Workshop.

Senator Ihara, who was named co-chair of NCSL’s Legislative Effectiveness Committee, has received the Good Government Angel Award from the Hawai‘i Pro-Democracy Initiative, Lawmaker of the Year from Small Business Hawai‘i, the Good Government Award from Common Cause Hawai‘i, and many other awards. The Hawaii State Legislature site offers an interesting list of the measures the senator has introduced.

Have a great weekend!

The Palm Beach County Commission on Ethics has issued a reminder concerning holiday gifts to county and municipal officials and employees. The Commission noted that holiday gifts given by lobbyists and vendors are still impermissible if the gift exceeds the aggregate $100 per calendar year limit or the gift is given to influence or reward the employee.

The Commission issued the reminder to employees and officers of the county and the 38 municipalities within the county after several requests for advisory opinions were received concerning the subject-matter.

After hearing an explanation of the rules, Ethics Commission Chairman Edward Rodgers questioned whether the rules went a bit far, asking “Are we not serving as a grinch for Christmas?”

Aerial photo of Palm Beach, Florida by Michael Kagdis on Wikipedia.

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS: Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has announced the creation of an ethics reform task force charged with overhauling and strengthening the city’s ethics ordinance.

The task force will be given four months to rewrite the city’s ethics ordinance.

CLARK COUNTY, NEVADA: The Clark County commissioners passed a new lobbying policy on December 6, 2011.

The policy permits county commissioners who are public employees to return to their public jobs immediately after serving in an elected position.

The ethics amendment also prohibits commissioners from working as paid consultants or lobbyists on any issue coming before a public body in Clark County.

Georgia Governor Nathan Deal is expected to call for a special election in January to replace Georgia House Representative Len Walker who has accepted a ministerial position with a north Georgia chapel.

Tom Kirby will campaign for Walker’s District 107 seat. Kirby said Walker is expected to resign his term at the year-end and the governor will then call for a special election.

The seat will have to be contested again in November 2012 under the new District 114.

The change is a result of redistricting.