Lobbying

“Sandy adds a twist to some firms’ lobbying efforts” by Alex Guillen in Politico.

“Business Lobbying In 2012 Soared, Buoyed By Fiscal Cliff Crisis” by Christina Wilkie in the Huffington Post.

“K Street stumbles for the second straight year” by Catherine Ho in the Washington Post.

Georgia:  “Road contractors shower governor with campaign donations” by Greg Bluestein, Ariel Hart and James Salzer in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Wisconsin: “Contract lobbying still ‘under the radar’” by Bill Lueders in Wisconsin Watch.

Campaign Finance

Arizona:  “Jan Brewer taps lawyer for Clean Elections post” by The Associated Press in the Arizona Capitol Times.

Florida:  “Florida group wants to end caps on campaign donations” by T.W. Farnam in the Washington Post.

Washington:  “Lawmaker wants to fix Public Disclosure Commission online system” by Brad Shannon in the News Tribune.

Ethics

“Ethics Panel Requires Added Disclosure of Funds, Accounts” by Amanda Becker in Roll Call.

Connecticut:  “Smoke shop owner pleads guilty in campaign finance case” by Mark Pazniokas in the Connecticut Mirror.

Iowa:  “Iowa Ethics and Campaign Finance Disclosure Board seeks complaint process change” by Rod Boshart in the Sioux City Journal.

Texas:  “Weak Disclosure Laws Keep Public in the Dark” by Ryan Murphy and Jay Root in the Texas Tribune.

Elections

“Missouri House passes elections bill” by Elizabeth Crisp in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Virginia: “Lawmakers move to change Va. electoral vote system” by Julian Walker in the Virginian-Pilot.

Washington:  “Washington state lawmakers press for speedier election results” by The Associated Press in the Oregonian.

From the State Legislatures

Idaho:  “Wednesday highlights in the Idaho Legislature” in the Idaho Statesman.

Redistricting

Virginia: “Va. House Speaker holds key to redistricting vote” by Errin Haines and Laura Vozzella in the Washington Post.

Virginia: “Stewart cheers Va. Senate redistricting” by Laura Vozella in the Washington Post.

A one-day special session of the Arizona Legislature was called by Governor Jan Brewer yesterday to impeach the chairwoman of the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission.

The Senate vote to impeach Chairwoman Colleen Coyle Mathis passed with the required two thirds majority. The chairwoman, a registered independent, was ousted with a party line vote of 21 Republican senators in favor of the removal and 6 Democratic senators opposed.

Governor Brewer alleges gross misconduct by Chairwoman Mathis in her role in the independent commission, which also has two democratic members and two republican members.

Photo of the Arizona State Capitol building by 2candle on Wikipedia.

Governor Jan Brewer has called the Legislature to begin a special session on Friday, June 9, 2011.

The purpose of the special session is to extend unemployment benefits for the state’s jobless.