SCHOCK ETHICS UPDATE. Politico. ”The House Ethics Committee will not form a special investigative panel to probe allegations that GOP Rep. Aaron Schock (Ill.) improperly solicited super PAC contributions from other Republican lawmakers, including Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.). But it is not dropping the case either.”
OWENS ETHICS UPDATE. Politico. “The House Ethics Committee will keep an eye on Rep. Bill Owens but has stopped short of launching a formal investigation into whether the backbench Democrat took an improperly funded trip to Taiwan.”
EXCESS FUNDS SPENDING. USAT. “Former House members are spending their leftover money to pay for everything from luxury cars to foundations that bear their names, a USA TODAY review of new campaign-finance reports shows.”
SHIFT VIEW. Roll Call. “But proponents of an election law overhaul, who had received assurances from incoming freshman Democrats that they would back such fixes as campaign finance disclosure and federal matching funds legislation, see the House Majority PAC video as a bad sign.”
LOBBYING STATUS. The Post. “Is the lobbying business shrinking or just changing? It’s hard to say.”
TRAVEL RULES AND EXTENDED TRIPS. Roll Call. “House lawmakers and staffers normally cannot accept lobbyist-sponsored travel connected to official business lasting more than one day.”
NEWS REPORT: COMPLAINT FILED. Story here. “The California Republican Party has filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission alleging that Rep. Raul Ruiz’ appearance in a Super PAC’s online video amounts to an illegal campaign contribution.”
FL: SCOTT’S SPENDING. Story here. “Rick Scott is preparing to defend his Florida governorship with the most expensive reelection campaign in state history, drawing up plans for a battleship-sized political operation aimed at overcoming the Republican’s deep personal unpopularity.”
FL: PARTIES AND LEADERSHIP FUNDS UNDER PROPOSAL. Story here. “In place of CCEs, the bill would lift the $500 maximum contribution to candidates to $10,000, and require far more rapid disclosure of donors for candidate committees, political committees and electioneering committees.”
HAVE A GOOD DAY. I’ll send around the next set of links on Monday. Have a great weekend.