FUNDRAISING SURPRISES.. Roll Call. “House campaigns reported their fundraising totals for July through September this week, revealing some surprising hauls from more than a handful of members and candidates.”
THE POST-MCCUTCHEON WORLD. Here. “Lawyers will then be asked by clients—likely to be donors or past aides of those candidates who are suddenly interested in forming an array of innocuous-sounding organizations—how much distance they must maintain from a particular campaign. The implicit goal would be to create a network of PACs, ‘independently’ run by unaffiliated volunteers but who can reliably be counted upon to support a particular candidate. The effect, defenders of the aggregate caps worry, will be that donors circumvent the base contribution limits by exponentially making PACs contributions in a way not previously possible.”
SUN CENTER UPDATE. WT. “A group of 10 states, led by California, has come together to form a new nonpartisan organization to pool resources to tackle campaign-finance abuses across the country. Organizers say the new States’ Unified Network Center could become a powerful pressure group for stricter enforcement of campaign-finance laws.”
AZ: NOT GUILTY PLEA. Story here. “An ex-Phoenix lobbyist whose former clients included the Fiesta Bowl has pleaded not guilty to conspiracy and illegal campaign contribution charges.”
CO: IN KIND WORTHY OF CHEECH AND CHONG. Story here. “An organization that gave away free marijuana cigarettes as a way to protest possible taxes in Colorado has filed an unusual campaign finance report, after a watchdog group said the pot qualified as a campaign contribution.”
FL: PLEA LIKELY. Here. “Suspended Sweetwater Mayor Manuel Maroño and lobbyist Jorge Forte appear to be laying the groundwork to plead guilty to a corruption conspiracy stemming from their pocketing thousands of dollars in kickbacks while seeking federal grants in an FBI sting operation.”
PA: PROPOSED LIMITS. News here. “If a proposed list of regulations is approved by the Philadelphia Board of Ethics, a City Council member would be allowed to accept Eagles tickets and dinner from a lobbyist as long as the total value didn’t exceed $200.”
VA: COMPLAINT FILED. Story here. “The Republican Party of Virginia has filed a complaint with the Virginia State Board of Elections accusing an out-of-state Democratic organization of violating campaign finance disclosure laws in a way that the GOP says conceals the identity of contributors to Sen. Mark R. Herring, the Democratic candidate for attorney general.”
VA: CUT CREDIT? News here. “Virginia Attorney General Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II said Thursday that a tax credit the state should look at cutting is one people can claim for donating to political candidates.”
UK: FREE SPEECH FEARS. Story here. “Lobbying reforms will curb fundamental rights to free speech while failing to restore public confidence in the political system, a parliamentary report has warned.”
HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND.