Thursday’s political law links, 3/21/13

MSFT AND FCPA. The Post. “Microsoft has addressed allegations that its partners are being investigated by the U.S. government for engaging in illegal activity, saying that it will ‘cooperate fully in any government inquiries.'”

MENENDEZ DRIP. US News. “As the scandal surrounding Senator Bob Menendez, D-N.J., grows into a steady drip, drip, drip of increasingly damaging stories for Senate Democrats (following an FBI raid of a top Democratic donor’s offices), we learn today that this sordid story extends far beyond the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.”

MARKEY AND CAMPAIGN MONEY. Story here. “Democratic U.S. Rep. Edward Markey has focused on campaign finance issues in his U.S. Senate campaign, calling on the Republican candidates to sign a pledge refusing to allow third party organizations to advertise in the race.”

SBUX BAN REJECTED. Story here. “Starbucks Corp. investors on Wednesday rejected a shareholder proposal to prohibit the world’s biggest coffee chain from making political contributions or forming a political action committee.”

FREE SPEECH LOSES. FEC Release.

AZ: CASE DISMISSED. Story here. “An administrative-law judge has recommended dismissal of a campaign-finance case against Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne and a trusted aide on technical grounds that the secretary of state erred in turning it over to Maricopa County’s top prosecutor.”

AZ: INCREASE IN LIMITS URGED. Story here. “Increasing the amount of money Arizonans can contribute to political candidates would deter those who want to give more from working through political action committees and improve transparency, a state lawmaker contends.”

FL: REFORMS TAKING SHAPE. Story here. “Less than three weeks into the 60-day session, both the Florida House and Senate are advancing ethics changes designed to hold politicians to higher standards of conduct while they’re in office and after they’ve left.”

GA: DELAY TO TODAY. Story here. “The state Senate has delayed until Thursday its answer about ethics reform.”

NY: CUT THE COMMISSION. Story here. “One of the last minute wrenches in the state budget negotiations is said to be a Senate Republican push to cut money for the state ethics commission.”

SC: HALEY CASE HEARD. Story here. “The S.C. Supreme Court heard arguments for nearly an hour Wednesday whether John Rainey’s lawsuit that Haley failed to disclose conflicts on interest and lobbied on behalf of her employer while was a state representative from Lexington County could be heard in state court.”

CANADA: BAN ON AFTER-HOUR LOBBYING? Story here. The plan was rejected.

HAVE A GREAT DAY. I’ll send around the next set of links on Monday. Have a great weekend.

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