SOROS IN. The Hill. “The super-PAC, Ready for Hillary, tweeted on Thursday that Soros would serve as one of the co-chairs of the group’s national finance council.”
CA: SETTLEMENT ANNOUNCED. CA AG. “California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris today announced that the California Attorney General’s Office and the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) have jointly secured a $1 million civil settlement against two out-of-state organizations for violations of the California Political Reform Act.”
CA: LAST HURRAH. LAT. “Ann Ravel is finishing her tenure as California’s top campaign finance watchdog with a splash.”
CA: MASSIVE FINE. The Post. “Two groups that are part of a conservative political network maintained by billionaire industrialists Charles and David Koch have agreed to a record $1 million civil settlement with the California Fair Political Practices Commission, the largest campaign fine in state history.”
CA: LARGEST FINE. Story here. “In a case seeking to unmask the murky multimillion-dollar trail of money pouring into state and national political campaigns, California’s political watchdog agency on Thursday announced the largest fine in its history for campaign-reporting violations and ordered two political action committees to pay the state $15 million for failing to properly report the source of funds spent in the 2012 election.”
CA: HISTORIC PENALTIES. Here. “Two Arizona nonprofit groups that failed to disclose the source of more than $16 million in political donations last year will pay a record $1 million fine under a settlement announced Thursday by the state’s attorney general and political watchdog.”
CA: GROUP FINED. The Times. “‘This case highlights the nationwide scourge of dark money nonprofit networks hiding the identities of their contributors,’ said Ann Ravel, the commission’s chairwoman, in a statement.”
CA: LOBBYIST FIRED. Story here. “Earlier this week, the city fired its Sacramento lobbying firm, Nielsen Merksamer Parrinello Gross & Leoni, after the firm took on a new client that city officials thought created a conflict of interest.”
DE: LAWSUIT TARGET. Here. “Last year, Delaware passed broad new laws on campaign finance ‘reform’ that politicians claimed would lead to more ‘transparent’ government.”
MI: INVESTIGATION. Story here. “The state is investigating Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero and two of his campaign aides over allegations they violated state campaign finance law.”
NY: APPEALS COURT RULES. The Times. “A federal appeals court ruled on Thursday that a conservative group supporting the mayoral candidacy of Joseph J. Lhota may accept contributions of any size, saying New York State’s limit on donations to independent political groups was probably unconstitutional.”
NY: CU CITED. CSM. “A unanimous three-judge panel of the Second US Circuit Court of Appeals cited the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010).”
PA: LOBBYIST GIFTS. Here. “In Pennsylvania, lobbyists have access to policymakers from before the start of the business day until well after the sun goes down. It’s the product of a fundraising culture that’s essentially built into the legislative schedule.”
RI: PAC DISSOLVED. Story here. “The National Rifle Association has dissolved its Rhode Island political action committee, one month after the Rhode Island Progressive Democrats filed a complaint against the organization for failing to disclose its donors.”
VA: SBE RULES. Here. “The State Board of Elections (SBE) said Thursday an out-of-state group did not break a major campaign finance rule after contributing to Democrat Mark Herring’s campaign for attorney general.”
HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND.