May 16, 2013 •
Thursday News Roundup
Here are some great articles for today’s government relations news summary:
Lobbying
“Washington Female CEOs Earn $600,000 Less Than Male Lobby Peers” by Danielle Ivory in Bloomberg Law.
Maine: “Business leaders lobby legislators at the State House” by Dan Carrigan in WCSH News Portland.
South Carolina: “SC Senate version of ethics-reform bill fails to regulate local government lobbying” by Curt Olson in Watchdog.org.
Campaign Finance
“Pelosi: IRS scandal illustrates need to reverse Citizens United” by Mike Lillis in The Hill.
Hawaii: “Hawaii Monitor: Campaign Spending And Ethics Get Tech Upgrades” by Ian Lind in the Honolulu Civil Beat.
Indiana: “Indiana is a zero in study of states’ campaign finance disclosure law for outside groups” by Mary Beth Schneider in the Desert Sun.
Minnesota: “Legislature moves to raise campaign limits” by Rachel E. Stassen-Berger in the Star Tribune.
New Mexico: “New Mexico gets failing grade in campaign finance disclosure study” by Matthew Reichbach in the New Mexico Telegram.
New York: “N.Y. ethics disclosures due” by Joseph Spector in the Journal News.
New York: “Cuomo Threatens Subpoenas in Bid for Public Campaign Financing” by Freeman Klopott in Bloomberg.
Vermont: “Campaign finance reform failure means caps on donations unlikely to occur until 2016 campaign cycle” by Nat Rudarakanchana in Vermont Business Magazine.
Ethics
“House Ethics Committee Approves Waiver for Gifts From Member’s Partner” by Kent Cooper in Roll Call’s MoneyLine.
“Edwards to Speak at Retreat a Year After His Trial” by The Associated Press on ABC News.
Connecticut: “A fixer’s tale of attempted bribes” by Mark Pazniokas in the Connecticut Mirror.
Missouri: “Mo. ethics panel fines ex-Sen. Wright-Jones $270K” by The Associated Press in the San Francisco Chronicle.
Missouri: “KC Council committee endorses more stringent ethics rules” by Lynn Horsley in the Kansas City Star.
Nebraska: “Email Trips Up Nebraska Attorney General, Agrees to $19,000 Penalty” by Kent Cooper in Roll Call.
Nevada: “Whittemore trial for illegal campaign contributions questions if strings attached to money” by Scott Sonner (Associated Press) in The Republic.
New Jersey: “N.J. accuses ex-candidate from Paterson of failing to report $700,000 in campaign spending” by Anthony Campisi in the Bergen Record.
New York: “John Liu Refunds Tainted Campaign Contributions” by Jill Colvin in Politicker.
New York: “Report Finds Lawmaker Was Shielded by Leaders” by Danny Hakim in The New York Times.
Texas: “Questions of Contradiction in Ethics Bills” by Emily Ramshaw and Aman Batheja in the Texas Tribune.
State Governments
Texas: “Texas House defeats term limits referendum” by Will Weissert (Associated Press) in the Houston Chronicle.
Washington: “Wash. lawmakers look to make recall process easier” by Mike Baker (Associated Press) in the Olympian.
Government Tech and Social Media
“State App Collection Published by NASCIO” in Government Technology.
May 14, 2013 •
Tuesday Lobbying and Campaign Finance News
Keep up with the latest government relations news with these articles:
Lobbying
“Lobbying and Contributions by High Frequency Traders” by Kent Cooper in Roll Call.
“K Street worries over spread of IRS scandal amid push for tax reform” by Erik Wasson and Peter Schroeder in The Hill.
New York: “When Campaign Aides Are Lobbyists, Questions Mount” by Ross Barkan in City Limits.
Tennessee: “Tennessee Ethics Commission to meet on Ingram lobbying case” by Andy Sher in the Times Free Press.
Campaign Finance
“SEC nears decision on requiring businesses to disclose donations” by Ben Goad in The Hill.
“States’ Seek to Limit Undisclosed Political Donations” by Matea Gold, Chris Megerian and Mark Z. Barabak in Governing.
“IRS mess adds to campaign finance free-for-all” by Byron Tau, Tarini Parti and Kelsey Snell in Politico.
“Pelosi Injects Campaign Finance Debate Into IRS Scandal” by Emma Dumain in Roll Call.
Nebraska: “Nebraska Attorney General fined $19,000 by FEC” by The Associated Press in the Beatrice Daily Sun.
Texas: “House set to send disclosure bill to Gov. Perry” by Will Weissert (Associated Press) in the Houston Chronicle.
Vermont: “Vt. lawmakers drop campaign finance reform” by The Associated Press in New England Cable News.
From the State Legislatures
Arizona: “Lawmakers to see cut in daily pay this week” by The Associated Press in the Arizona Capitol Times.
Utah: “Utah Lawmakers Back to Capitol to Prep for Next Year” by The Associated Press in KUTV News.
Washington: “Washington lawmakers return to Capitol for special session” by The Associated Press in The Oregonian.
Washington: “Washington Gov. Inslee narrows priorities for legislative special session” by The Associated in The Oregonian.
Elections
“Which States Saw Voter Turnout Jump, Decline Most Last Year?” by Mike Maciag in Governing.
Social Media
“Social Advocacy & Politics: A Virtual Political Debate Via Twitter” by Alan Rosenblatt in Social Media Today.
May 13, 2013 •
Monday News Roundup
Let’s start off the week with these lobbying, campaign finance, and ethics news articles:
Lobbying
“Lobbying registrations for April return to numbers not seen since 2011” by Catherine Ho in the Washington Post.
“Taxpayers footing $3 million lobbying bill for local governments” by Andrew Doughman in the Las Vegas Sun.
“Do lobbyist spending reports measure influence?” by Andrew Doughman in the Las Vegas Sun.
New York: “Lobbying group donations fall off with new NY rule” by The Associated Press in Bloomberg BusinessWeek.
Tennessee: “Lobbying still thriving business in Nashville” by Tom Humphrey in the Knoxville News.
Campaign Finance
Alabama: “Legislators’ to-do list for final day includes bills on guns, campaign finance, drug testing welfare applicants” by Mike Cason in the Birmingham News.
Arizona: “Director of Arizona campaign finance agency leaving” by The Associated Press in KTAR.
Vermont: “Galbraith angers Vt. Senate colleagues” by The Associated Press in the Boston Globe.
Ethics
“FEC revolving door spins ever so slowly” by Byron Tau in Politico.
New York: “N.Y. court upholds ethics commission subpoena power” by The Associated Press in the Albany Times Union.
Political Advertising
“Shedding light on anonymous ads” editorial by Sen. Ron Wyden and Sen. Lisa Murkowski in Politico.
Form the State Legislatures
Minnesota: “Minn. lawmakers enter homestretch of 2013 session” by The Associated Press in the Brainerd Dispatch.
North Carolina: “Dome: Jam-packed action expected in legislature for Crossover Week” by Mary Cornatzer and Lynn Bonner in the News & Observer.
North Carolina: “NC House wants many closed sessions recorded” by The Associated Press in the Winston-Salem Journal.
Redistricting
Florida: “Florida Supreme Court hears redistricting case” by Steve Bousquet in the Miami Herald.
Government Tech and Social Media
“What’s Your City Watching on YouTube?” by Eric Jaffe in Nextgov.
May 10, 2013 •
News You Can Use Digest – May 10, 2013
Here are highlights from the latest edition of News You Can Use:
National:
States Try to Tackle ‘Secret Money’ in Politics
Federal:
Campaign Contribution Limits Broken Repeatedly In 2012 Election with No FEC Oversight
From the States and Municipalities:
Alabama – Campaign Finance Law Revisions Pass House; Headed Back to Senate
Georgia – Gov. Deal Signs Law capping Georgia Lobbyist Spending at $75 a Go
Hawaii – How One Lawmaker Blocks Hawaii’s Ethics Reforms Year after Year
Kansas – Seventy-Four Percent of Lobbyist Spending on Kansas Lawmakers Unaccounted For
New Jersey – Judge Approves $728,300 in Bonuses for Employees of Engineering Firm Accused of Campaign Finance Violations
New York – Senator in Corruption Case Spoke of Silencing Witnesses, Prosecutors Say
North Carolina – Private Conservative Group ALEC Carries Sway in Legislature
Pennsylvania – Orie Melvin Must Write Apology Letters to Pennsylvania Judges on Photos of Herself
South Carolina – South Carolina Sends Mark Sanford Back to House
Tennessee – Tom Ingram Faces Heat over Lobbying Pay
Texas – Lobby Disclosure of Consulting Ties Passes the Senate
Vermont – House OKs Cap on Donations to Super PACs
Washington – Lobbyists Spend Big Bucks on Dinners, Other Tabs for Lawmakers
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.
May 9, 2013 •
Thursday News Roundup
Here are some great articles for today’s government relations news summary:
Lobbying
“Lobbyists Snag Top Staff Positions on Capitol Hill” by Lee Fang in The Nation.
Tennessee: “Tom Ingram faces possible fine for failing to register as lobbyist” by Tom Humphrey in the Knoxville News.
Texas: “Lobbyist transparency bill sent to Perry” by The Associated Press in the Houston Chronicle.
Campaign Finance
FEC commissioners speak: “Hard truths of campaign finance” opinion piece by Donald F. McGahn, Caroline Hunter and Matthew Petersen in Politico.
“Why Big Money Still Won in 2012” by Jonathan Backer in the Huffington Post.
Alabama: “Bill before House today repeal state limit on corporate campaign contributions; Lawmaker says it’s a ‘pretend’ cap” by Kim Chandler in the Birmingham News.
New Jersey: “Lawmakers Get Cold Feet About Campaign Finance” by Hank Kalet in NJ Spotlight.
New York: “Carlucci, other senators study plans for campaign finance reform” by Laura Incalcaterra in the Journal News.
Ethics
New York: “Ex-lawmaker to be sentenced in NYC in fraud case” by The Associated Press in the Arizona Daily Star.
Political Advertising
“House Backs Updating Rules on Political Ad Disclosures” by Becca Aaronson in the Texas Tribune.
Government Tech and Social Media
“Ohio City Deploys 2-in-1 Email and Social Media Archiving” by Sarah Rich in Government Technology.
Procurement
“Most Top Contractors Increased Business With Federal Government in 2012” by Eric Katz in Government Executive.
May 8, 2013 •
Wednesday Government Relations News
Here is our roundup of the latest articles on lobbying, campaign finance, ethics, and more!
Lobbying
“K Street firms fear backlash from new scrutiny of political intel work” by Kevin Bogardus in The Hill.
“Dicks joins D.C. lobbying firm” by Jim Brunner in the Seattle Times.
“Congress Members Sprinting for Money to Lobbying After Election” by Jonathan Salant in Bloomberg BusinessWeek.
Delaware: “Del. House approves lobbying reform bill” by Randall Chase (Associated Press) in the News Times.
District of Columbia: “In D.C. Circuit, Lobbyists Fight Obama Lobbying Ban” by Andrew Ramonas in the Blog of Legal Times.
Tennessee: “Lobbyist On Payroll Of Both Governor, Special Interests” by Ben Hall on WTVF News.
Campaign Finance
“RNC urges Supreme Court to strike campaign-finance limits” by Sam Baker in The Hill.
“SEC Considering New Rule for Political Contributions by Public Companies” on PBS Newshour.
Arizona: “Senate lawmakers move to overhaul public financing” by The Associated Press in the Arizona Daily Sun.
Colorado: “Colorado Supreme Court hears 1st Amendment challenge to campaign finance law” by Matt Arnold in the Examiner.
New York: “Public Hearing in Albany Is Held Without the Public” by Thomas Kaplan and Jesse McKinley in The New York Times.
Vermont: “House OKs cap on donations to super PACs” by Peter Hirschfeld in the Rutland Herald.
Ethics
North Carolina: “9 Investigates: Needed changed in NC Ethics Commission operations” by Jim Bradley on WSOC TV News.
South Carolina: “SC Senate panel advances ethics reform” by Seanna Adcox (Associated Press) in the Spartanburg Herald-Journal.
Open Data
“A New Home for Data on Politics and State Governments” by Sarah Lai Stirland in TechPresident.
May 7, 2013 •
Tuesday Lobbying and Campaign Finance News
Keep up with the latest government relations news with these articles:
Lobbying
“The Bottom Line” in The Hill.
“Anne Northup joins Rudy Giuliani’s lobbying firm” in the Courier-Journal.
Delaware: “Del. House to vote on lobbying reform bill” by The Associated Press in the San Francisco Chronicle.
Minnesota: “MN local governments spend $1.1 million on lobbying Washington” by Tom Steward in Watchdog.org.
Campaign Finance
New Jersey: “Lawmakers introduce bill to overhaul NJ’s campaign finance laws” by David Levinsky in the Burlington County Times.
New York: “Group cites 100,000 NY campaign finance violations” by The Associated Press in The Wall Street Journal.
Vermont: “Lawmakers take up controversial campaign finance bill” by Terri Hallenbeck in the Burlington Free Press.
Ethics
California: “FPPC proposes $2,500 fine related to Chris Kelly’s 2010 AG bid” by Torey Van Oot in the Sacramento Bee.
California: “Ex-state Sen. Michael Rubio fined for not reporting home sale” by Patrick McGreevy in the Los Angeles Times.
Colorado: “Colorado ethics panel: Scott Gessler can have criminal defense fund” by Joey Bunch in the Denver Post.
Delaware: “Man serving federal time for campaign finance scheme expected to plead guilty in Del. case” by The Associated Press in The Washington Post.
New York: “CSEA seeks ethics probe” by James M. Odato in the Albany Times Union.
New York: “N.Y. senator charged with stealing funds for failed campaign” by Jessica Dye in Reuters.
Texas: “Bill Banning ‘Double Dipping’ Dies in Committee” by Jay Root in the Texas Tribune.
May 6, 2013 •
Monday News Roundup
Let’s start off the week with these lobbying, campaign finance, and ethics news articles:
Lobbying
“Why Lobbying Is Now Increasingly In The Shadows” by Peter Overby on NPR.org.
“Quarterly Lobbying Reports Show Yet Another Decline” by Russ Choma in OpenSecrets.org.
Kansas: “74% of lobbyist spending on Kansas lawmakers unaccounted for” by Dion Lefler and Brent Wistrom in the Kansas City Star.
New Mexico: “Lawmakers raise concerns about Carruthers’ lobbyist past” by The Associated Press in the Santa Fe New Mexican.
Campaign Finance
“States’ Seek to Limit Undisclosed Political Donations” by Matea Gold, Chris Megerian and Mark Z. Barabak in Governing.
Montana: “Montana governor vetoes campaign finance, water commission bills” by The Associated Press in the Missoulian.
New York: “Senate GOP Hearings Will Examine NYC’s Public Campaign Financing System” by Karen DeWitt on WNYC.
New York: “Bill Would Bar Political Consultants From Also Lobbying” by Ken Lovett in the New York Daily News.
North Carolina: “Poll shows NC voters want to retain campaign finance law for statewide judges” in the News & Observer.
Ethics
Pennsylvania: “Baker’s bill adds much-needed transparency” by Robert Swift in the Citizens’ Voice.
South Carolina: “SC Senate Ethics Committee adds altering documents to ethics allegations against Sen. Ford” by Seanna Adcox (Associated Press) in The Republic.
South Carolina: “SC ethics reform proposal will see ‘substantial’ changes in Senate” by Jamie Self in The State.
Virginia: “Va. cabinet member discloses taking gifts” by The Associated Press in the Virginian-Pilot.
Redistricting
North Carolina: “Dome: Study finds – surprise! – redistricting benefits majority party” by Craig Jarvis in the News & Observer.
May 2, 2013 •
Thursday News Roundup
Here are some great articles for today’s government relations news summary:
Lobbying
California: “California lobbying firms make $40.1M in first quarter” by Kathy Robertson in the Sacramento Business Journal.
Illinois: “Evaluating Municipal Lobbying Data: Chicago” by Alisha Green in the Sunlight Foundation blog.
Campaign Finance
“Billionaire’s son pushes for campaign-finance overhaul” by Brian Tumulty in USA Today.
Arizona: “Horne campaign finance case puts contribution limits at risk” by Howard Fischer in the Arizona Daily Sun.
Florida: “Ramba: Campaign-finance reform will just shuffle paper work” by Aaron Deslatte in the Orlando Sentinel.
Missouri:
Missouri: “Senate bill would limit campaign contributions” by Jonathan Shorman in the News-Leader.
New York: “WATCH LIVE: Senate IDC hosts hearing on campaign-finance reform” by Jon Campbell in Politics on the Hudson.
Ethics
Connecticut: “Malloy’s trip on People Magazine’s dime raises questions” by Ken Dixon in the Connecticut Post.
North Carolina: “NC elections board gets new chair, exec director” in the Daily Dispatch.
New York: “Director leaving high-profile NY ethics commission” on CBS Albany News.
Pennsylvania: “Gov. Corbett discloses gifts, free travel for 2012” by The Associated Press in the Patriot-News.
Pennsylvania: “9 members of Congress from Pa. cited in nepotism report” by Melissa Daniels in The Reporter.
From the State Legislatures
“Elections—and Rules—Have Consequences” by Karen Shanton in NCSL’s The Thicket.
Indiana: “Indiana Governor Mike Pence doesn’t rule out vetoes of legislative bills” in the Courier-Journal.
Louisiana: “House committee shoots down effort at term limits for statewide elected officials” by Jeff Adelson in the Times-Picayune.
Government Tech and Social Media
“YouTube goes to Washington” by Seth Rosenblatt in CNET News.
Campaign finance changes take effect later this year
Two major bills passed by the Florida Legislature were signed by Governor Rick Scott late on Wednesday, May 1, 2013. The bills make significant changes to the state’s ethics and campaign finance laws.
Senate Bill 2, the state’s ethics overhaul, becomes effective immediately upon becoming a law.
House Bill 569, the campaign finance bill, takes effect November 1, 2013, except for the provisions eliminating committees of continuous existence (CCEs). CCEs are prohibited from accepting contributions after August 1, 2013, and their certification will be revoked as of September 30, 2013. Additionally, the bill requires the Division of Elections to present a proposal for mandatory electronic filing to the legislature by December 1, 2013.
For previous coverage about this legislation, see “Florida Legislature Passes Campaign Finance Bill” and “Florida Ethics Bill Heads to Governor Scott” by Jennifer Zona.
May 1, 2013 •
South Carolina House Passes Ethics Bill
Campaign and lobbyist reporting would be expanded
The House has passed a bill to overhaul ethics laws, including campaign finance and lobbying. House Bill 3945 creates the Joint Committee on Ethics and the Public Integrity Unit to investigate complaints and replace the separate House and Senate ethics committees.
The bill includes new reporting requirements for campaign contributions just before an election and extends lobbyist registration and reporting for individuals lobbying local governments and school boards.
A final approval on Wednesday, May 1, 2013, allows the bill to meet the crossover deadline for Senate consideration. If sent any later, the bill would need a two-thirds vote for Senate passage.
May 1, 2013 •
Wednesday Government Relations News
Here is our roundup of the latest articles on lobbying, campaign finance, ethics, and more!
Lobbying
“Report: Obama To Pick Cable and Wireless Industry Lobbyist To Chair FCC” by Sarah Lai Stirland in TechPresident.
“Bottom Line” in The Hill.
California: “Lobbying intensifies on immigration reform” by Elizabeth Aguilera in the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Delaware: “Common Cause of Delaware cites lobbying concerns in study” by Craig Anderson in the Delaware State News.
Michigan: “Nell Kuhnmuench ‘probably the best lobbyist in Lansing’” by Kristen M. Daum in Greater Lansing Woman.
Campaign Finance
“Springtime for disclosure” by Jonathan Backer in The Hill.
“113th Congress Freshmen Take $6.5 Million in PAC Money During First Three Months” by Kent Cooper in Roll Call’s Political Moneyline.
“‘Too Much Money in Politics’” by Kimberly A. Strassel in the Wall Street Journal.
Montana: “Montana legislative leaders to interview 5 for political practices commissioner” by Charles S. Johnson in the Missoulian.
Ethics
North Carolina: “New members of NC elections board set to meet” by Michael Biesecker (Associated Press) in the Jacksonville Daily News.
Pennsylvania: “Pa. lawmakers, other public officials disclose gifts, travel, other freebies in annual filing” by Mark Scolforo (Associated Press) in The Republic.
Texas: “Disclosure Bills Get Little Love From Top Leaders” by Emily Ramshaw in the Texas Tribune.
From the State Legislatures
NCSL Members Mobile App on the NCSL website.
Nevada: “Nevada Legislature lagging in number of approved bills” by Ed Vogel in the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Redistricting
Arizona: “Brewer OKs extra redistricting commission funds” by The Associated Press in Arizona Capitol Times.
Kentucky: “Beshear hopes to call special session to deal with legislative redistricting” by Jack Brammer and Beth Musgrave in the Lexington Herald-Leader.
Government Tech and Social Media
“NYC BigApps Refines the Civic Hackathon” by Sam Roudman in TechPresident.
April 30, 2013 •
Joint Commission on Public Ethics Proposes Rule Changes
Gift and Source of Funding regulations targeted in proposed changes
The New York Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE) unveiled proposed changes to the ethics rules Tuesday, which could make it easier for lobbyists to conceal their donors and funders from the public. At its monthly meeting, JCOPE proposed changes to the gift regulations and the recently enacted source of funding regulations.
Under the source of funding regulations, lobbyists must disclose the names of anybody who provided them with funding in excess of $5,000 for lobbying purposes, but only if they meet a certain threshold. The current rules allow for a waiver of this requirement only if there is a substantial likelihood of harm. Under the proposed change, JCOPE would lower the standard to a reasonable likelihood or probability of harm.
Executive Director Ellen Biben said the current standard may be unconstitutional, thus necessitating the change. “The substantial likelihood standard may be constitutionally too high,” Biben said. “We agree.”
In the proposed change to the gift ban, JCOPE puts a concrete dollar amount on the term “nominal value.” Under current law, a lobbyist is prohibited from giving a gift to a public official and gift is defined as something worth more than nominal value. However, there is no dollar figure attached to the current definition of nominal value.
Under the proposed definition, nominal value will be defined as an item or service with a value of $10 or less. Therefore, if the proposed change is enacted, lobbyists will be prohibited from giving a public official a gift with a value in excess of $10.
In order for the rules to go into effect, JCOPE commissioners must approve the proposals. There is no set time table on when the commissioners will review the proposals and make a decision on their enactment.
April 30, 2013 •
Tuesday Lobbying and Campaign Finance News
Keep up with the latest government relations news with these articles:
Lobbying
“Ethics Group CREW Bails on Lobbying Efforts” by Kent Cooper in Roll Call’s Political Moneyline.
Arizona: “Action lacking despite opportunities to improve Arizona’s lobbyist reporting system” by Evan Wyloge and Hank Stephenson in the Arizona Capitol Times.
Florida: “NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell lobbies lawmakers in Tallahassee to back Dolphins stadium renovation bill” by Toluse Olorunnipa and Charles Rabin in the Miami Herald.
Michigan: “State Rep. Andy Schor intros bills to adjust term limits, restrict post-office lobbying by lawmakers” by Angela Wittrock in Michigan Live.
Utah:”Loopholes allow lobbyist spending to vanish from reports by Lee Davidson” in the Salt Lake Tribune.
Campaign Finance
“Why don’t Americans care more about campaign finance reform?” by Juliet Eilperin and Scott Clement in the Washington Post.
“Bipartisan Campaign Finance Bill Aims to ‘Follow the Money’” by Chris Vest in Associations Now.
Maine: “Senate backs resolutions supporting campaign finance, immigration reforms” by Matthew Stone in the Bangor Daily News.
Ethics
“Latest ethics proposal rejected by AG” by John Lyon in the Arkansas News.
New York: “NY ethics board proposes changes to gifts, disclosure requirements by some lobbying groups” by The Associated Press in The Republic.
South Carolina: “Fate of ethics bill to be determined Tuesday in S.C. legislature” by Kirk Brown in the Anderson Independent Mail.
Procurement
“7 Ideas for the Future of Local Government” by Steve Ressler in Government Technology.
State and Federal Communications, Inc. provides research and consulting services for government relations professionals on lobbying laws, procurement lobbying laws, political contribution laws in the United States and Canada. Learn more by visiting stateandfed.com.
