DONATION QUESTIONED. LN. “Washington PDC documents revealed this week show Planned Parenthood Votes Washington PAC reporting a $75,000 donation from New York-based Planned Parenthood, a 501(c)(3)-designated non-profit organization.”
RAVEL AND THE INTERNET. WE. “[Commissioner Ann] Ravel, a former deputy assistant attorney general for consumer litigation at the Justice Department, has for years argued in favor of regulating political speech on the Web. She succeeded to some extent in California during her 2011-13 tenure as chair of the state’s Fair Political Practices Commission, implementing a rule that required bloggers to disclose whether they received $500 or more from a political campaign.”
AL: TRANSFER BAN UPHELD. MA. “A federal appeals court Tuesday upheld the Alabama’s ban on transfers between political action committees, saying it did not affect a political group’s ability to make independent expenditures.” The AG’s press release and a copy of the opinion are online here.
CA: INVESTIGATING DEMOCRATIC PARTY. YB. “The Fair Political Practices Commission has launched an investigation into the California Democratic Party and alleged violations of the Political Reform Act in response to Consumer Watchdog’s investigative report, Brown’s Dirty Hands, the public interest group was told.”
MS: SEARCHABLE REPORTS. CL. “Mississippi politicians running for state or district offices now can — if they so choose — file campaign finance reports in a ‘searchable’ electronic format that will allow people to more easily track the influence of money in politics.”
NC: SENATOR INDICTED. 12. “A longtime North Carolina state senator has been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges stemming from allegations he spent more than $200,000 in campaign funds over several years for his personal benefit.”
SD: DEBATING REFORM. R. “Initiated Measure 22 — billed by proponents as an anti-corruption act — would impose new caps on campaign contributions, establish a state ethics commission, prohibit certain state officials from lobbying until two years after the conclusion of their public service and create a publicly funded campaign system.”
HAVE A GOOD DAY.