The Internal Revenue Service will not pursue its proposed check on the applicability of gift tax contributions to 501(c)(4) organizations. Acknowledging it has limited history or guidance on this issue, the IRS announced it “will not use resources to pursue examinations on this issue. Any future action we take will be prospective and after notice to the public.”

In recent years, 501(c)(4) organizations, which allow for limited disclosure requirements, have taken a more prominent role in the campaign finance landscape.

The Palm Beach County Ethics Commission has voted to limit the public’s ability to speak on items during final hearings prior to a vote or comment at closed-door sessions where decisions on the pursuit of ethics complaints are made.

The limits are intended to limit decisions being made by members of the commission to the guidance of the ethics code and avoid allowing influence from outside the code to be taken into consideration at a final vote.

Public comment will still be allowed concerning commission policies and on other issues being considered.

Federal:

IRS Drops Audits of Political Donors

New Breed of ‘Super PACs,’ Other Independent Groups Could Define 2012 Campaign

From the States and Municipalities:

Alabama

Alabama Democratic Conference Files Lawsuit to Stop New Alabama Law Banning Political Fund Transfers

Arizona

Arizona Conservatives Scramble after Campaign Finance Law’s Defeat

California

Marijuana Lobbyist’s Fundraiser for DA Raises Questions

Veil Drawn on Donors to Latino Caucus-Controlled California Nonprofit

Connecticut

Agent Who Arrested Politicians Now Seeks House Seat

Georgia

Lobby Late Fees Add Up

Illinois

Mayor Rahm Emanuel Proposing New Round of Ethics Reforms

Iowa

Judge Upholds New Iowa Campaign Disclosure Rules

Massachusetts

House Leader Apologizes for Holocaust Remarks

Michigan

Justices Stop Political Gifts Taken at Work

Minnesota

Campaign Board Rejects NOM’s Efforts to Shield Donors in Marriage Battle

Pennsylvania

Lobbying Law on Hold

South Carolina

Lt. Gov. Ard Paying $48,000 Fine

Washington

Ex-Prisons Chief Eldon Vail Says He Resigned Because of an Affair with Subordinate

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.

We are happy to announce Elizabeth Bartz has been nominated president of the State Government Affairs Council.

The official election will be on August 10, during SGAC’s member business lunch at the National Conference of State Legislatures Legislative Summit 2011. It is a one-year term.

In addition to owning and operating State and Federal Communications, Elizabeth participates in many professional organizations including:

State Government Affairs Council, Public Affairs Council, Council on Government Ethics Laws, Washington Area State Relations Group, Diversity Business, Innovate to Motivate, American League of Lobbyists, Greater Akron Chamber of Commerce, Ohio Chamber of Commerce, US Chamber of Commerce, Society of Professional Journalists, and many local organizations.

Congratulations to you, Elizabeth!

Did you know that 13 Presidents of the United States experienced debt problems? It is very easy to believe that once someone ascends to the post of President of the United States that they will never have to worry about their finances ever again, but this is not always the case. Some presidents-such as John F. Kennedy who was worth the equivalent of a billion dollars today-were born into money, but others like Bill Clinton were born poor and earned a modest income before becoming the leader of America.

This week’s Highlighted Site Of The Week, All The Presidents’ Money, shows both the amount of wealth each U.S. President possessed as well as the public debt that existed at the beginning and end of their presidency, each adjusted for inflation.

On this site you can see how the public debt has fluctuated, beginning at the equivalent of $939.8 million at the birth of America under George Washington, hitting its lowest point of the equivalent of $6.3 million under Andrew Jackson, and consistently creeping upward until it surpassed the equivalent of $1 trillion during WWII, and hitting its current mark of a record $14.1 trillion.

It might come as a surprise to some to see the actual worth of each president as opposed to grouping all U.S. Presidents into the category of wealthy elitists (although many would most certainly fit into that category). Nine presidents, including Abraham Lincoln, were worth less than the equivalent of $1 million. This chart also provides some facts relating to the personal finances of the Presidents such that Herbert Hoover donated his presidential salary to charity and that John Tyler inherited a 1,000 acre tobacco plantation, but eventually died in debt because of the Civil War.

With the current budget and national debt debates going on today, its fun to see how the debt has developed throughout American history.

Everyone have a great weekend!

By Labor Day, our clients will find 36 additional municipalities included on our website. As they are completed, we will update our postings so you can check out the additional resources.

Right now, we have provided information on lobbying, political contributions, and procurement lobbying for Alexandria, Virginia (my former home) and Tacoma, Washington.

In the future look for additional cities in New York, Arizona, and Michigan.

The Philadelphia Board of Ethics has announced it will delay enforcement of the city’s lobbying law until 30 days after the effective date of proposed board regulations.

According to a board resolution, the earliest that enforcement of the lobbying law may begin is September 26, 2011. P.C.C. §20-1200, which created Philadelphia’s lobbying law, became effective July 1. The board has previously announced that lobbyist registration will not begin until July 18, 2011 because of delays in implementing the electronic registration system.

Additionally, the Philadelphia Bar Association has filed suit challenging Philadelphia’s new lobbying law as being too far reaching.   The Bar Association contends that the law’s definition of the term “lobbyist” unfairly targets lawyers who are not engaged in lobbying activities, and that only the state Supreme Court can regulate lawyers.

As the federal government is utilizing the internet in more and more ways to connect with the public, members of the U.S. House of Representatives are following suit by displaying official letters between themselves, President Obama, and other colleagues on Facebook.

Such House members such as Pete Olson from Texas, Cathy McMorris Rodgers from Washington, and Justin Amash from Michigan have posted letters sharing their concern about actions committed by Senator John Rockefeller of West Virginia, Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas, and President Obama.

More is said about these letters in this article called “U.S. House Members Share Letters on Facebook” posted yesterday by Jennifer Moire on allfacebook.com.

July 12 -15, 2011 Social Media for Government Conference by Advanced Learning Institute, Washington, D.C.

August 8 – 11, 2011 NCSL Legislative Summit Booth 217, San Antonio, Texas

November 19-22, 2011 2011 SGAC Foundation Leaders’ Policy Conference , Miami, Florida

By using the hashtag #AskObama, Twitter users could ask any question about jobs, the economy, and other important issues with the possibility that it would be answered by the president himself. Questions that were retweeted by other users stood a greater chance of being answered by the president because Twitter Search algorithms identified the most engaged-with Tweets. The questions were read live to the President by Twitter’s Executive Chairman Jack Dorsey, and were retweeted by @townhall.

With the Open Government Initiative issued by President Obama when he came to office, he stated,

“My Administration is committed to creating an unprecedented level of openness in Government.”

This first ever Twitter hosted Town Hall @ The White House is just the tip of the iceberg concerning the access that social media sites are going to be able to grant ordinary citizens into the federal government.

President Obama started off the Town Hall by making history as being the first American President to live tweet.

Questions that were answered include:

What mistakes have you made in handling this recession, and what would you have done differently?

We definitely need to get more vets into jobs. But when are we going to support the troops by cutting oil dependence?

Immigrant entrepreneurs can build companies and create jobs for US workers. Will you support a startup visa program?

Other questions covered a wide variety of  subjects such as the debt ceiling, promotion of alternative energy, American participation abroad, and collective bargaining rights.

A stab at President Obama made by Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner also made it through asking, “After embarking on a record spending binge that’s left us deeper in debt, where are the jobs?”

President Obama’s answer to this question as well as all others is summarized on @whitehouse. Learn more about the process that was used to choose which questions were answered at the official site for TownHall @ The White House.

We did not have any interns last year because our budget tightened just as did everyone else’s. We missed having them in the office.

You should know we have a great program. First, we pay our interns, which the students love. Second, we pay a bonus at the end of the summer based on the number of hours they work, which their parents love.

Christina Dickos is working with me on business issues in the office. Christina will begin college this September studying English at The Ohio State University.

Emily Kesler is working with Joe May on our social media program. Emily is a junior at Northwestern majoring in Political Science and Psychology.

Zachary Koozer is assisting Ken Kelewae with computer upgrades and updates. Zachary will begin college this September at the University of Akron.

We welcome our summer interns and look forward to a great summer!

Once again, we had the pleasure of honoring a colleague who has been with State and Federal Communications, Inc. for 10 years.  Nicolette Koozer is the in-house graphic designer who makes sure everything we create looks like it came from the same parents.  As it happens, she and I do; Nicolette is my kid sister.

She is a graduate of the Art Institute of Pittsburgh.  She came to us after spending 18 years in the D.C. area doing technical illustration and graphic design work for the military.  In fact, she was also the freelance designer with our predecessor company, State and Federal Associates, Inc. She has been at State and Federal Communications, Inc. since 2001 creating our corporate identity, conference prep, marketing pieces, and maintaining our intranet.

In acknowledging her history with the company, Nicolette shared her joy of working for a company where she appreciated having the privileged of working part-time and being active in her son’s school district in PTA and Music Boosters.

I love that our employees maintain their active life in their own school communities as well as being a part of my outstanding staff.

Congratulations to Nicolette as she joins our previous 10 year achievers–Nola Werren, Ren Koozer, and Jim Sedor.

Here is a video we made to celebrate Nicolette’s anniversary:

On Wednesday July 6, 2011, Mayor Rahm Emanuel will introduce a new ethics ordinance containing “the most comprehensive lobbyist disclosure database in the nation.”

Key components of the proposed ordinance include the creation of a searchable real-time database, a $50 gift limit per single non-cash gift given by a lobbyist, a $100 aggregate gift limit per calendar year on gifts from lobbyists, a prohibition on city employees, officials, or their businesses receiving loans from lobbyists, an amendment to the semi-annual lobbyist report form requiring lobbyists to disclose campaign contributions, and a codification of an executive order issued by Mayor Emanuel in May which bars employees from lobbying the city after leaving city employment.