SEC HITS FIRM. CL. “The Securities and Exchange Commission has fined a Cleveland investment firm $100,000 over recent campaign contributions company executives made to state officials that violated federal ‘pay-to-play’ rules.”
REFORM SIGNAL. MNN. “As expected, Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was re-elected Speaker of the House, and it looks as though campaign finance reform will be one of the issues first up among the new bills House Dems will be introducing.”
REFORM BILL DROPPING. RC. “Automatic voter registration, independent redistricting commissions, super PAC restrictions, forced release of presidential tax returns — these are just a handful of the provisions in a massive government overhaul package House Democrats will formally unveil Friday, according to a summary of the legislation obtained by Roll Call.” The article has some more details about the campaign finance elements proposed, including restrictions aimed at foreign money.
VIEW ON PAYMENTS. JUS. “At a minimum, it is simply not clear that President Trump violated election laws in using his money to pay off an individual who otherwise might have revealed a previous sexual affair with him. FEC regulations make clear that a candidate may make unlimited contributions and unlimited expenditures from his own funds.”
COURT HAS NO JURISDICTION. DC. ” Since nothing in the [FECA] gives the Court the power to review investigative decisions made along the way if an administrative complaint was neither dismissed nor ignored, the Court concludes that the challenged agency action is not reviewable under FECA. It further finds that the agency’s actions in this circumstance are not reviewable under the APA…”
FL: CLOSING CHANNELS. FP. “The first-term state lawmaker filed a bill (SB 224) to stop the practice of contributions funneling through multiple political committees, his third attempt since joining the Legislature in 2016.”
MN: TARGETING DONORS. CBS. “Minnesota campaign finance officials may push to require political groups to name donors who pay for issue advertisements that don’t directly advocate for or against a candidate or issue.”
OR: REFORM LATER. PM. “According to the article, although Brown cannot run for re-election in 2022 because of Oregon’s limit of two consecutive terms in the governor’s office, she finished her campaign with around $700,000 in the bank and currently is raising funds for her inauguration, estimated at less than $100,000.”
SD: NEW LAW. KTV. “Under the new rules, if the same person starts or runs more than one committee, those groups will share a single contribution limit.”
VA: BILLS FILED. NBC. “Democrats and Republicans have also made early moves to address some of Virginia’s loose campaign finance rules.”
HAVE A GOOD WEEKEND.