CAMPAIGN FINANCE TARGET. Vox. “Seeing the federal government slip into Republican hands is terrifying campaign finance experts, who are bracing for a wave of deregulation that could give millionaires and billionaires powerful new ways to influence American politics.”
NEW LOBBY RULES. NYT. “Aides to President-elect Donald J. Trump announced Wednesday night that his transition team would not include lobbyists and that members of the administration would be barred from lobbying for five years after they left government service.”
REVOLVING DOOR. WE. “William Schultz, general counsel at HHS is rejoining Zuckerman Spaeder, the downtown D.C. law firm where Schultz was a lobbyist up until the start of the Obama administration.”
LIEU CASE REPORT. LNO. “According to the complaint, the plaintiffs suffered damages because the FEC intentionally delayed their agency’s action regarding the plaintiffs’ complaint about campaign financing.”
CT: STATE COMMISSION RULES. TD. “The State Elections Enforcement Commission has found that state Sen. Cathy Osten’s opponent in the 2014 election violated campaign finance laws by spending public funds on a mailer that characterized Osten and Gov. Dannel P. Malloy as ‘two peas in a pod.'”
DC: ETHICS CENSURE. Fox. “A former District of Columbia schools chancellor has been censured by the city’s ethics board for soliciting a six-figure contribution from a company that was doing business with the school system.”
FL: LOBBY RULES DIFFERENCE. SSN. “New Florida Senate rules released Tuesday do not include the broad-based restrictions on lobbying and budget measures that will be imposed by the House, instead settling for tweaks and smaller changes.”
MD: LOBBYIST RENEWAL OPEN. BW. “The State Ethics Commission administers a lobbying regulatory program including registration, disclosure, reporting and standards of conduct for executive, legislative, and grassroots lobbying. The lobbying registration year opens November 1 and ends October 31 the following year. A registration is only valid for a one-year period requiring a new registration for each year in which a person engages in activities requiring registration. Registration must occur within five days of engaging in such activities.”
AUSTRALIA: CAMPAIGN FINANCE STATE OF PLAY. Guard. “Australia’s political donations regime is so inadequate that 85% of the privately raised income going to major political parties is hidden from public scrutiny, a new report has found.”
FEDERALIST SOCIETY CONVENTION TOMORROW. I’ll be attending the Federalist Society Annual Convention tomorrow, so I’ll send around the next set of political law links next week. In the meantime, I may tweet a few photos from the events I’ll be attending, including a panel on First Amendment issues and a speech from Sen. Ted Cruz. The full agenda is here. If I don’t see you tomorrow, have a great weekend.
HAVE A GOOD DAY.