CORPORATE SPENDING CONFERENCE. The Conference Board’s Corporate Political Spending Conference will be held on May 15, 2012 in Washington, DC. The program is led by Caplin & Drysdale’s Trevor Potter and the day’s interesting panels will feature representatives of Microsoft, Coca-Cola, Google, Altria, and other corporations, law firms, and news organizations. More information is available in this brochure.
PUBLIC FINANCING PUSH. The Times. “Public financing of presidential elections, the greatest reform to come out of the post-Watergate era, died this year after a long illness.”
SUPER PACS AND CONTRACTORS. Story here. “The FEC has indicated that the statute is still in effect, although some election law experts believe it will be found unconstitutional in the wake of Citizens United.”
DLA POLITICAL ALERT. Tips on how businesses can stay compliant are topic of this Political Law Alert from DLA Piper.
EDWARDS TRIAL UPDATE. The Times. “On Friday, the end of two weeks of testimony in a trial that is expected to stretch toward the end of the month, both her close confidant and her estate manager described how agitated she became when she realized some of the millions of dollars she had given to Mr. Edwards’s presidential bid and to his favorite causes had been used instead to hide a pregnant mistress, Rielle Hunter.”
SHOPPING AND GIVING. Politico. “Americans may soon find it easier than ever to participate in pocketbook politics thanks to a series of new and pending federal campaign finance decisions that loosen restrictions on Internet and mobile technology.”
ELECTRONIC FILING. Story here. “Under arcane Senate rules, candidates don’t have to file their campaign finance reports electronically and can, instead, go through a tedious process that holds up reports for weeks, even months.”
VIEW ON L.A. ETHICS COMMISSION. Here. “The commission is the city’s political watchdog, enforcing laws to protect against improper influence in contracting, unfairness in political fundraising and spending, and conflicts of interest among officeholders and lobbyists.”
GA GIFT BAN REVIEW. Story here. “The language in Gov. Nathan Deal’s order is crystal clear on how the state bureaucracy is supposed to handle lobbyists. But it’s less so on whom it covers.”
HAVE A GREAT DAY.