DONATIONS AND ENTRY BAN. NYT. “The Obama administration overturned a ban preventing a wealthy, politically connected Ecuadorean woman from entering the United States after her family gave tens of thousands of dollars to Democratic campaigns, according to finance records and government officials.”
IRS FREEZE. Politico. “IRS Commissioner John Koskinen on Wednesday told employees that the $346 million cut to the agency budget is bound to reduce tax collections from potential tax cheats by at least $2 billion and hurt taxpayer services.”
WHAT THE NEW LAW DOES. Insidepoliticallaw.com. “The following chart should help summarize how much individuals could give to the various accounts per year…”
READY FOR… WT. “The group, though, did not respond to an email inquiry, and some of the members of Mr. Romney’s inner circle from the 2012 campaign said they were clueless about the effort.”
LEE HAMILTON ON LOBBYING. SCsun-news.com. “The best lobbyists are masters at making the system work for them. My guess is that their influence over policy surpasses the media’s clout, and they have now become the fourth branch of government.”
CO: ORTIZ FINED. KOAA. ”Pueblo County Clerk and Recorder Gilbert Ortiz was fined for alleged violations of state campaign finance laws.”
KS: CFR FOR WICHITA. Watchdogwire.com. ”We need laws to prohibit Wichita city council members from voting on or advocating for decisions that enrich their significant campaign contributors.”
KY: GRIMES ON DUAL CANDIDACY. WHAS11. “Six weeks after she lost her own bid for the U-S Senate, Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes (R-Kentucky) tells WHAS11 if U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) tries to appear on the same ballot for both Senate and President in 2016, she will challenge him in court.”
NY: ETHICS REFORM OUTLOOK. NYDN. “Gov. Cuomo Wednesday expressed little confidence he can achieve ethics reforms such as creation of a statewide campaign public finance system and other campaign finance changes, saying the legislators have refused to budge even with the possibility of a pay raise dangling in front of them.”
NY: DELAY BLAME. Capital NY. ”Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver says any delays over campaign finance reforms aren’t his fault.”
HAVE A GOOD DAY. I’ll send around the next set of links on Monday. Have a great weekend.