Federal:

K Street Flags Shortcomings of Lobbying Law

From the States and Municipalities:

Arizona

Judge: Listing of PAC contributors unconstitutional

California

California’s Campaign Finance Watchdog Agency Demands Names of Donors to Shadowy Arizona Group

California

Judge Rejects Former Bell Police Chief’s Bid to Double Pension

Florida

State Ethics Commission: David Rivera broke 11 ethics laws while serving in Florida Legislature

Georgia

Atlanta Region Sees Spike in Public Corruption Cases

Idaho

Idaho Sues to Force Disclosure of Secret Donations

Illinois

Appeals Court Allows Illinois Limits on Campaign Financing

Iowa

‘Donations’ to State Agency Let Landlords Avoid Charges

Kentucky

Ethics Panel Wants Lobbyists to Report Ad Spending

Montana

Supreme Court Won’t Block Montana Campaign Finance Law Ahead Of Elections

New Jersey

Infamous Federal Informant Solomon Dwek Is Sentenced to Six Years, Must Pay $22.8 Million

North Dakota

Campaigning Fargo Candidate Finds Body under Tree

Tennessee

With Registry’s Ruling, Burchett Case Closed

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.

Lobbying

“K Street flags shortcomings of lobbying law” by Dave Levinthal in Politico.

“Lobbying spending goes up even with Congress away” by Dave Levinthal in Politico.

“K Street prepares for sequestration battle” by Kevin Bogardus in The Hill.

“Facebook continues record lobbying spending” by Jennifer Martinez in The Hill.

“Lobbying Groups Object to Proposed NY Ethics Regulations” by Chris Vest in Associations Now.

“Romney and the lobbysists” by Heath Brown in The Hill.

Campaign Finance

“Citizens United: What Obama, Romney would do about campaign finance reform” by Justin Elliott in the Alaska Dispatch.

“Mauled by Ads, Incumbents Look to Declaw Outside Groups” by Jennifer Steinhauer in The New York Times.

Campaigns and Elections

“Why Are Elections On Tuesdays?” by Selena Simmons-Duffin on NPR.

“Why Campaigns Are Happy Your Vote Isn’t as Private as Many Think It Is” by Nick Judd in TechPresident.

Tech and Social Media

“Federal website satisfaction dips slightly” by Joseph Marks in Nextgov.

Lobbying

“Campaign season idles K Street” by Kevin Bogardus and Megan R. Wilson in The Hill.

“K Street Lobbyists Decamp to the Campaign Trail” by Kate Ackley in Roll Call.

“Chamber ramps up lobbying spending” by Peter Schroeder in The Hill.

“Jack Abramoff: Congress members don’t know they’re being bribed” by Louis C. Hochman on NJ.com.

Michigan: “Stateside: Lobbying in Michigan, the ‘Wild, Wild West’” on Michigan Radio.

Ontario: “Fixing ‘user errors’ in city lobbying registry not officials’ job” by David Reevely in the Ottawa Citizen.

Campaign Finance

New York:  “Spending big to take money out of politics” by Jimmy Vielkind in the Albany Times Union.

Colorado: “Springs considers new campaign finance rules” by Niel Chacón in the Colorado Springs Gazette.

Minnesota: “Minnesota serves as political campaign ATM” by Rachel E. Stassen-Berger in the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Tech and Social Media

“Crush Robocalls, Win $50K” in Government Technology.

“Tool helps agencies manage social media messaging” in Nextgov.

South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley has created an independent commission responsible for making recommendations to reform state ethics and open records laws.

The executive order establishes an 11-member panel to review several ethics areas including conflict of interest rules, lobbying regulation, and enforcement of existing laws.

The governor expects a report from the commission by January 28, 2013, just weeks after the beginning of the next legislative session.

Photo of Governor Haley courtesy of Albert N. Milliron on Wikipedia.

Federal:

American Bridge Super PAC Uses Unique Research, Tracking Strategy to Hold Republicans Accountable

Lobbyists Ready for a Comeback under Romney

From the States and Municipalities:

Alabama

91-Year-Old Alabama Mayor Admits to $201,000 Theft

California

Campaign Watchdogs Say Arizona Group’s $11 Million Donation Exploits Loophole in California Law

Florida

Legislature’s New Leaders Back Tough Ethics Reform

Georgia

Loopholes Abound in Some Lobbyist Gift Bans

Illinois

City Axes Speed Camera Firm’s Bid, Citing Delay in Reporting Ethics Case

Montana

Montana Contribution Limits in Place through Election

New Jersey

Bergen Executive’s Veto of Changes to Political-Contributions Law Draws No Challenge

Ohio

Ohio Early Voting Cleared by High Court in Obama Victory

Oklahoma

Oklahoma Ethics Commission Will Lose Three Key Workers on Same Day

Pennsylvania

Lobbyists’ Checks Buy Lawmaker Access

Washington

Seattle City Council Revamps Campaign Finance Rules

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.

City Council has passed the resident-driven Sunshine Ordinance with the intention to make city government more transparent. The ordinance requires builders to hold community meetings in connection with certain developments and calls for online posting of additional information regarding requests for proposals.

Although advocates originally proposed registration requirements for lobbyists, the new law provides only online access to city officials’ scheduled meetings with lobbyists and to information on forms already required to be filed by campaign committees and public officials.

The measure’s effective date will be November 14, 2012, 30 days from Monday’s final vote.

Photo of the Santa Ana City Hall courtesy of Eli Pousson on Wikipedia.

Lobbying

“Lobbyists ready for a comeback under Mitt Romney” by Anna Palmer in Politico.

“Lobbyists Might Join Romney’s Team” by Kate Ackley in Roll Call.

“Hill Climbers: Long Hill Career Leads to K Street” by Molly C. Braswell in Roll Call.

Wyoming:  “ALEC Model Bill Group Triggers Calls for Transparency” by Greg Nickerson in WyoFile.

Campaign Finance

“The IRS’s ‘feeble’ grip on big political cash” by Kenneth P. Vogel and Tarini Parti in Politico.

Ethics

Florida: “Gaetz unveils massive ethics overhaul proposal” in the Orlando Sentinel.

Campaign Finance

“PACs attack: N.Y. seeing a flood of outside money” by The Associated Press in Pressconnects.com.

Florida: “Meet Florida’s big-time donors to super PACs” by Alex Leary in the Miami Herald.

“Md. referendum campaigns raise $53 million” by John Wagner and Aaron C. Davis in The Washington Post.

Lobbying

“Loopholes abound in some lobbyist gift bans” by Chris Joyner in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

“Patton Boggs moves to reinvent itself” by Catherine Ho in The Washington Post.

“Lobbying Efforts From Tech Companies Surge On Capitol Hill” in Fast Company.

Kentucky: “Ellen Williams joins McBrayer lobbying team” by Tom Lotus in the Courier-Journal.

Pennsylvania: “Lobbyists could be subject to open-records law” by Dan Miller in the Patriot-News.

Pennsylvania: “Lobbyists’ checks buy lawmaker access” by John L. Micek in the Morning Call.

Ethics

“Jackson Jr. probe focuses on house” by Kevin Robillard in Politico.

Campaigns and Elections

“Candidates turn to geo-targeting in ads” by Megan R. Wilson in The Hill.

“For politically playful news orgs, the 2012 election means social interactivity” by Adrienne LaFrance in Nieman Journalism Lab.

“Campaigns Mine Personal Lives to Get Out the Vote” by Charles Duhigg in The New York Times.

Tomorrow at a public hearing at its offices at 11:00am, the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC) will consider proposed changes to the administrative code allowing for electronic filing for lobbyists’ annual reports.

Electronic filing would be mandatory through ELEC’s website and would replace the requirement to file paper copies. Copies of what a lobbyist files electronically must be retained by the lobbyist. The proposed amendments cover governmental affairs agents, represented entities, and representatives of “persons communicating with the general public.” The proposals also make technical changes, such as substituting “represented entity” for “lobbyist” throughout the relevant sections.

Other issues to be addressed at the meeting include proposed amendments concerning campaign cost index adjustments and personal financial disclosure statements by candidates.

Lobbying

“Lawmaker Sues State Bar Over Lobbying” by Joe Harris in the Courthouse News Service.

“Long-time lobbyist to retire” by Bill Rankin in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Campaign Finance

“Changing campaign-finance laws might not deter corruption” by Lydia Coutré in the Columbus Dispatch.

“Top donors go all in on state ballot measures” by Will Evans in the Bay Citizen.

Ethics

“State Ethics Commission clears Sen. Gary Siplin in newsletter complaint”  in the Miami Herald.

Social Media and Technology

“The Rise of Mobile in Election 2012” by Matt Petronzio in Mashable.

“Online, Next Presidential Debate Will Feature a Moderator that Wasn’t” by Micah L. Sifry in TechPresident.

“Code for America Accelerator Program Takes Shape” by Sarah Rich in Government Technology.

Legislative Issues

“Bill limits N.J. legislators’ unexcused absences” by The Associated Press in NorthJersey.com.

National:

Are Voter ID Opponents Winning the Battle but Losing the War?

Federal:

House, Senate Campaigns Welcome Lobbyists Shunned by Team Obama

Obama, Romney Face Most Narrow Electoral Map in Recent History

From the States and Municipalities:

Arizona

State Lawmaker Ben Arredondo Pleads Guilty to Two Felonies

Florida

Butterworth Skirts State Lobbying Laws to Land $44 Million-a-Year Contract in Broward

Illinois

Federal Judge Upholds Limits on Contributions to State Candidates

Maryland

Del. Tiffany Alston Suspended from Office, General Assembly Lawyer Says

Montana

Appeals Court Reinstates Campaign Finance Limits

Nevada

Ross Miller Pursues Campaign Finance Law Violations against AFP

Ohio

Ohio Republican Party Reaches Settlement to Resolve Complaint That it Lied in Campaign Literature against Redistricting Issue

Texas

DeLay Attorneys: Ex-GOP Star Didn’t Launder Money

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.

Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs is calling for measures to monitor and prevent lobbyists from texting county commissioners during meetings. The county commission voted in September to delay putting a measure requiring employers to provide employees with sick time on the ballot. Three of the four commissioners who voted to delay the measure acknowledged that they were texting with lobbyists opposed to the measure during the meeting, and later deleted a number of those texts.

Mayor Jacobs released a memo stating that she ordered a system to be set up to archive text messages from county phones. She is also calling for the county to study how other governments address electronic lobbying during meetings, in consideration of a potential ban on such discussions.

Advocates for the proposed sick time ballot initiative have filed suit claiming that the county commissioners violated state public record and open meetings laws, and asking the court to set aside the vote on the measure.

Campaign Finance

“How Citizens United has transformed campaigns: An introduction to Big Sky, Big Money” by Kai Ryssdal on Marketplace.

“Celebrities Recruited to Make Case on Campaign-Finance Reform” by Thomas Kaplan in The New York Times.

Lobbying

“Nats fever sweeps Congress, K Street” by Kevin Bogardus in The Hill.

Government Tech and Social Media

“New App Opens Up Presidential Documents” in Government Technology.

National:

Selling Votes is Common Type of Election Fraud

Federal:

For Election Losers, Many Paths through the Political Wilderness

Medical Research Funding Tied to Advocacy, Study Finds

From the States and Municipalities:

Arkansas

Americans for Prosperity Puts Big Money on Legislative Races in Arkansas

Illinois

Emanuel Replaces Ethics Board

Maine

Supreme Court Won’t Hear Appeal by Anti-Gay Marriage in Maine Case

Massachusetts

Native Americans Chafe at Brown-Warren Race

Minnesota

Campaign Finance Board Rules Minnesota Majority’s Dan McGrath Did Not Break Lobbying Rules

Montana

Judge Tosses Montana Campaign Finance Limits

Nevada

Nevada Secretary of State Seeks More Campaign Disclosure, Restrictions in Aurora Act

Oregon

Oregon Supreme Court Refuses to Limit Campaign Spending

Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania Voter ID Law Shouldn’t Be Enforced This Time, Judge Rules

Rhode Island

Ethics Commission Sets Hearing on Disclosure of Paid Trips for Officials

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.