DEREGULATION IN BILL. WSJ. “House Republicans are backing several provisions that could reshape campaign finance rules ahead of next year’s midterm elections as spending negotiations continue this fall.”
WHAT’S IN THE BILL. FN. “Corporations would be able to ask their employees to donate to unlimited numbers of trade associations’ political action groups instead of limiting employee solicitations to one group per year.”
CA: TRIAL SET. SFE. “Superior Court Judge Tracie Brown dismissed all charges against former Human Rights Commissioner Nazly Mohajer, who was accused along with former commission staff member Zula Mae Jones and former school board member turned political consultant Keith Jackson of soliciting $20,000 in bribes from an undercover FBI agent during multiple meetings, which took place mostly in 2012.”
GA: 66 COUNT INDICTMENT. GAP. “Snellville Mayor Tom Witts has been charged with a myriad of financial crimes including using campaign money to take a cruise, buy plane tickets and pay for a subscription to a pornographic website, according to an indictment handed down by a grand jury on Thursday.”
IL: CAMPAIGN SUV. IT. “Legislators, who are barred from spending campaign funds for personal use, typically lease rather than purchase vehicles. One expert on campaign finance says that the senator’s purchase of a 2017 Ford Expedition XLT for $61,146 last April raises both ethical and political questions.”
NJ: RULING IN CASE. OBS. “The ruling on Friday by a three-judge panel of the Appellate Division is a win for the state’s campaign finance watchdog agency, the Election Law Enforcement Commission. The appeals court ruled that ELEC acted legally when it voted to authorize the complaint against DiVincenzo in 2013.”
NM: FINAL VERSION ADOPTED. KRWG. “New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver has adopted the final version of a campaign finance rule intended to provide much needed guidance regarding New Mexico’s Campaign Reporting Act (CRA) and to bring the CRA into constitutional compliance following numerous court cases.”
NY: LOOPHOLE IN LAW. NYDN. “A spokesman for the de Blasio campaign told The News that the firm was on host committees for campaign-sponsored events. The spokesman said that, under the city’s campaign-finance law, hosts are not considered intermediaries or fund-raisers if the campaign covers the costs of the event.”
VA: LOBBYIST EVENTS. VP. “Virginia lawmakers continue to shrink away from meals, galas and other entertainment occasions paid for by lobbyists – they attended less than half such events in 2016-2017 as they did three years ago.”
HAVE A GOOD DAY.