PAYMENTS IN THE NEWS.   FN.  “Democratic Rep. Gregory Meeks (N.Y.) has paid a company that is owned by his chief of staff’s wife nearly $200,000 from his campaign funds, Federal Election Commission filings show.”

LIBERATE THE (C)(4).     NPQ.  “It should surprise no one that a growing number of nonprofits have chosen to form affiliated 501(c)(4)s that, in exchange for giving up tax deductibility, provide the organizations a much greater ability to affect political outcomes.”

ZERO TO DO.   DN.  “Danny Ainge and his wife contributed $250,000 to a political action committee supporting their son, Tanner, in his 3rd Congressional District primary race but have nothing to do with how the money’s being spent, the elder Ainge said Tuesday.”

CA:  MEETING AND FLIP.   SB.  “A former labor lobbyist who serves on California’s political watchdog agency met privately, talked on the phone and exchanged text messages with a lawyer working for Senate Democrats while advocating for the agency to flip a longstanding legal interpretation of campaign finance law in favor of Sen. Josh Newman.”

DC:  DONATIONS ACCEPTED.    WP. “Regulators are scrutinizing $3,500 in excessive donations to the 2014 election bid of Attorney General Karl A. Racine, a potential embarrassment for one of the District’s foremost champions of campaign-finance reform.”

NJ:  EMERGING SUPER PAC.  OBS.  “Phil Murphy may have limited how much he can spend to win the governor’s mansion, but it looks like he’ll get help from a newly-formed super political action committee.”

OH:  DRUGMAKER DISCLOSURE.   DIS.  “While an association of big drug makers hasn’t divulged which members are bankrolling a campaign against an Ohio prescription drug ballot issue, two companies voluntarily disclosed that they gave more than $7.7 million.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.