Federal:

Colbert Declares Victory at FEC

FEC Limits Lawmakers’ Fundraising for Super PACs

From the States and Municipalities:

Alabama

Gambling Trial Highlights Fees Paid to Legislators

Arizona

Justices Strike Down Arizona Campaign Finance Law

Florida

Judge Strikes Down Florida Campaign Finance Matching Law

Illinois

Jury Finds Blagojevich Guilty of Corruption

Massachusetts

Ethics Changes Generate Talk as Proposal to Require Lobbyists to Wear ID Badges Is Likened to Nazi Germany

Massachusetts

Special Education Director Said to Siphon $10 Million

Missouri

Missouri Lawmakers Eat for Free

Nevada

Tougher Nevada Campaign Money Laws Come into Play

New York

New Contribution Rule Limits Assignments to Elected Judges

Oklahoma

Oklahoma Ethics Commission Reprimands NRA Lobbyist

Wisconsin

Wisconsin Justices in Altercation

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.

DELAWARE: The 146th Delaware General Assembly concluded its first regular session June 30, 2011.

IOWA: The Iowa General Assembly adjourned sine die.

NEW HAMPSHIRE: The New Hampshire Legislature adjourned June 30, 2011.

OREGON: The 2011 regular session of the Legislature adjourned sine die on June 30, 2011. Governor John Kitzhaber has 30 days, excluding Saturdays and Sundays, to act upon any bill he receives within the last five days of the session, or the legislation becomes law without his signature.

RHODE ISLAND: The Legislature’s 2011 regular session recessed today. Any bills submitted to Governor Lincoln Chafee must be signed or vetoed by July 10. There is no pocket veto.

State and Federal Communications is marking 18 extraordinary years of serving our clients. We are having a party in the office today, complete with decorations and ice cream.

We even have a video to mark the occasion:

This week’s Highlighted Site Of The Week, American History Fun Facts, provides information on subjects like the American Flag, American Recipes, and Our Founding Fathers.

Did you know:

Grover Cleveland excluded the promise “to obey” from the traditional wedding vows when he married Frances Folsom at the White House on June 2, 1886?

Or:

It wasn’t until 1804 that the first formal Independence Day celebration took place at the White House.

You can learn even more facts if you visit the Fun Fact Back Issues provided by this website which provides a variety of topics that you can learn about.

If you want to know which presidents were nicknamed “His Roundity” or “His Accidency”, you can visit the  Presidential Nicknames page of this website and learn who the holders of those less than flattering nicknames were as well as the nicknames attached to other past presidents and the nicknames that have already been attributed to President Obama.

This site is a fun way to kill a little bit of time while still learning something about the United States of America.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Q. I am a lobbyist but am not registered in a jurisdiction because I mainly use outside counsel and do not meet the registration threshold. Should I be concerned with any reporting requirements or other restrictions?

A. Yes, you need to be familiar with the jurisdiction’s reporting requirements. Even if you do not surpass a registration threshold, your activities may require disclosure. In Pennsylvania, a principal/company is required to report pro-rata compensation and expenses paid to non-lobbyists if they engage in lobbying activities, yet remain under the $2,500 per quarter registration threshold. Though you never engage in direct lobbying, preparation, or strategic planning with your lobbying firm, it may be reportable.

Verify the reporting of political contributions in your jurisdiction. If you are not a registered lobbyist, you may still have responsibility for directing how political contributions are distributed. Vermont, for example, requires political contributions to be disclosed on an employer’s report.

Finally, be aware of gift restrictions. You may believe it is permissible to take a public official to lunch or for a cup of coffee because you are not registered in the jurisdiction. In Massachusetts, a person not registered as a lobbyist may only provide gifts valued at less than $50 to a state, county, or municipal employee. If your company is registered as a lobbyist employer in the jurisdiction, gift restrictions may be applicable to all employees. Michigan only allows a lobbyist employer to provide gifts in a month which are valued at $55 or less. Expenditures which are reimbursed are attributable to the company in all instances. Whether these expenses require reporting will vary.

 

You can directly submit questions for this feature, and we will select those most appropriate and answer them here. Send your questions to: marketing@stateandfed.com.

(We are always available to answer questions from clients that are specific to your needs, and we encourage you to continue to call or e-mail us with questions about your particular company or organization. As always, we will confidentially and directly provide answers or information you need.) Our replies to your questions are not legal advice. Instead, these replies represent our analysis of laws, rules, and regulations.

The Federal Election Commission issued two advisory opinions today, including one allowing federal candidates to solicit contributions for independent expenditure-only political committees (IEOPC) up to $5,000.

In AO 2011-12 revised draft A, which was approved unanimously by the six commissioners, the FEC held solicitations by federal candidates are restricted to the applicable “limitations, prohibitions, and reporting requirements” of 2 U.S.C. §441i(e)(1)(a). While an IEOPC may accept unlimited contributions, the commission held the law still restricts the contribution amount a federal candidate may solicit. Therefore, although federal officeholders and candidates, and officers of national party committees cannot solicit unlimited contributions for an IEOPC, they may still make solicitations within the monetary strictures of the amended Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971.

The advisory opinion also concluded federal officeholders and candidates, and national party officers, may attend, speak at, and be featured guests at fundraisers held by an IEOPC, even when unlimited contributions are simultaneously being solicited from corporations, individuals, and labor organizations. The federal candidate would have to restrict their personal solicitation at the event to the amounts limited by the law.

A second advisory opinion was also issued granting Viacom a press exemption from reporting expenses as contributions, with some exceptions, for its employee Stephen Colbert’s new political action committee, which Mr. Colbert intends to use a vehicle for commentary on the current state of campaign finance.

Elizabeth Bartz offers a few more pictures from after Stephen Colbert’s appearance at the Federal Election Commission’s open meeting today:

ALASKA: The Legislature’s second special session ended with the Senate adjourning sine die on June 27 and the House adjourning sine die on June 28.

MAINE: The Maine Legislature adjourned sine die June 29, 2011.

TEXAS: The Texas Legislature adjourned their special session on Wednesday, June 29, 2011. Barring another special session, the Legislature will not meet again until January, 2013.

Elizabeth Bartz, President and CEO of State and Federal Communications is attending the Federal Election Commission Open Meeting where Stephen Colbert will be answering questions about his super PAC. You can follow her tweets covering the event at @ElizabethBartz. Be sure to follow Dan Backer’s @DBCapStrategies tweets – he is also covering the event.

There is a live broadcast of the FEC Open Meeting here.

Listen live to this meeting.

Elizabeth Bartz tweets: “We are starting. Mr. Colbert’s request is first. Then there will be a break so people can leave.”

Here are a few pictures she took while waiting for and from inside the event:

Providence, Rhode Island will not have its online portal set up for lobbyist registrations by July 1, the date the new city local lobbying ordinance takes effect. However, the City Clerk will accept e-mail registrations containing the name, address, telephone number, e-mail address, and lobbyist’s employer’s identification.

No registration fee will be due or accepted until the online portal becomes available. After the online portal becomes available, the City Clerk will contact individuals to complete the registration process.

The registration information can be e-mailed to astetson@providenceri.com.

Darrell West, Vice President and Director of the Brookings Institution’s Governance Studies published the following article:  “Ten Ways Social Media Can Improve Campaign Engagement and Reinvigorate American Democracy” on June 28.

In it he reports the findings of a panel discussion regarding how social media can have an effect on American politics , especially concerning campaigns, elections, and civic participation.

You can find video coverage or an audio file of the event at the event’s media page, or you can read some of the tweets from the event.

In response to the U.S. Supreme Court decision which struck down Arizona’s public funding matching system, West Virginia Secretary of State Natalie Tennant has indicated that West Virginia will review its own public funding program.

West Virginia’s public funding program, approved by lawmakers in 2010, is set to begin with a pilot project involving two state Supreme Court seats up for election in the 2012 general election. West Virginia’s law would give candidates who opt into the program more state money as spending by their opponents or independent expenditures by third parties increased.

Tennant has stated that she plans to meet and discuss this issue with Governor Earl Ray Tomblin and Attorney General Darrell McGraw.

Photo of Natalie Tennant courtesy of Natalie Tennant on Wikipedia.

After months of asking to be able to use video conferencing services like Skype and ooVoo, U.S. House members have been given the green light to use it.

The benefits are clear – representatives and their staff can have a greater connection to their constituents and to each other. It would be a real money-saver.

The risks were also clear – using the service and placing all those cameras in the offices could lead to unauthorized use and security leaks. Apparently the security issues have been worked out and – with a set of rules – members may use Skype and ooVoo.

For more on this news, you can read “House enables use of Skype, video teleconferencing for members” by Debbie Siegelbaum in The Hill.

Here is another article in Politico: “House allows members to Skype” by Kim Hart.