PAY TO PLAY DEBATE. BNA. “The SEC is about to face off against Tennessee and Georgia state Republicans in a lawsuit over the constitutionality of a rule restricting political payments by municipal advisors ( Georgia Republican Party v. SEC, 6th Cir., No. 16-03732, 5/4/17 ; Tennessee Republican Party v. SEC, 6th Cir., No. 16-03360, 5/4/17 ).”
AL: VIOLATIONS ANNOUNCED. APR. “Alabama’s secretary of state says nearly 100 political candidates and donation groups have broken state campaign finance rules.”
CA: STEERING NONPROFITS. NPQ. “It’s a time-tested and well-known way for donors to curry favor with elected officials who often control their fate, with philanthropic intent being secondary. And, if you are a nonprofit taken under the wing of a powerful politician, why would you complain, especially given the challenges of traditional fundraising?”
MN: LAW IS COMPLEX. MST. “In the past five years, only one public official or employee was convicted under the state’s law against soliciting or accepting a bribe, according to state court data. Bribery prosecutions are rare in Minnesota because the state’s politics are relatively clean but also because bribery is hard to prove, said former Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner, now in private practice.”
MN: RETHINKING CAMPAIGN FINANCE. TC. “Minnesota Republicans want to fundamentally redesign the state’s laws governing how candidates raise and spend campaign money.”
OH: PAY TO PLAY SETTLEMENT. L360. “A partner at Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP agreed Tuesday to pay almost $95,000 to settle an Ohio federal lawsuit filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that alleged he was involved in a pay-to-play scheme between client State Street Corp. and a Buckeye State official.”
PA: SUPER PAC TRACK GRAB. PPG. “What is for sure is that a routine luncheon speech at a country club near York on Tuesday landed Mr. Wagner the role of unwitting star in a pair of YouTube videos, showing him angrily confiscating a video camera from the tracker, who works for a liberal-leaning opposition-research super PAC based in Washington.”
TN: AUDIT RESPONSE. TN. “Former state lawmaker Jeremy Durham says his wife is a constituent and campaign adviser, so he claims it is legal for him to use campaign funds to buy her football tickets, food and drinks at a game and a plane ticket to accompany him to a conference in Chicago.”
TX: BILL MOVES. CHRON. “State officials — including legislators — would be required to disclose their government contracts, bond counsel work and legal referral fees under a bill that the House of Representatives gave preliminary approval to on Tuesday.”
HAVE A GOOD DAY.