8.1 political law links

OBAMA HAUL.   WP.  “An initiative backed by former president Barack Obama to end Republican control of legislative maps by targeting state-level contests has raised more than $10.8 million this year.”

SUPER PAC EDGE.   NBC.   “With their gazes already trained toward 2018 midterm elections — and even the 2020 presidential race — conservative super PACs are this year pummeling their liberal counterparts in fundraising, according to a Center for Public Integrity analysis of new Federal Election Commission filings.”

TOUGHEN FARA?   Hill.   “Lawmakers called for strengthening laws on how the Department of Justice (DOJ) regulates foreign lobbying efforts at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Wednesday.”

CA:  TOUGH RESTRICTIONS PASSED.   LAT.  “Anaheim elected officials and workers will be barred from lobbying the city for two years after they leave their jobs under a new ‘sunshine ordinance,’ the strictest restriction on government lobbying in Orange County.”

NM:  PUBLIC FINANCING ADVENTURE.  ABQ.  “Albuquerque’s Board of Ethics voted 7-0 Monday to investigate a complaint alleging that City Council candidate Javier Benavidez used fraudulent tactics to obtain about $38,000 in public campaign financing.”

NY:  “MATCHING FUNDS FOR DUMMIES.”   CS.  “The Campaign Finance Board implemented it to encourage those running for office to engage with voters rather than seek large contributions from wealthy social interests. The program matches contributions between $10-$175 from New York City residents. Funds are reciprocated at a $6-to-$1 rate, so if someone donates $175, it will be matched at $1,050.”

OH:  KASICH A PLAYER.  TR.  “Kasich has continued to travel the nation to press his positions, particularly on preserving the Medicaid expansion of health care coverage for the low-income, with the financial support of the super PAC that supported his presidential bid.”

TX:  SOROS PLAYS.   WE.  “With the help of hedge fund billionaire George Soros, the National Democratic Redistricting Committee hopes to wrest control from voters of congressional re-districting in 2021 when booming conservative states such as Texas will gain seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. All for the benefit of their special-interest donors.”

TX:  BIG CHECKS COMMON.   CHRON.  “Though rare in Texas politics, the delivery of a single, seven-figure check — which the Porters presented to Abbott at his Austin campaign office when they met him for the first time in late June — is part of a growing national trend toward seven-figure donation checks, say experts who follow political money-giving.”

UT:  SUPER PACS COMPETE.   UP.  “Two more super PAC’s have joined the fray in the GOP 3rd District primary.”

UK:  MP/LOBBYIST.   GUA.  “Sheerman’s registration raises questions about the role of MPs and whether they should be lawmakers and lobbyists.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.

7.31 political law links

COLLUSION DELUSION.   DC.  “A dose of reality is in order. No, Trump Jr.’s meeting with Natalia Veselnitskaya—a Russian lawyer linked to the Kremlin—did not break any campaign finance laws. Not a single one.”

GOOGLE LOBBYING.   GUA.  “Figures released last week show that Google spent a record amount of almost $6m lobbying in Washington DC in the past three months, putting the Silicon Valley behemoth on track to be the top corporate lobbying spending in the US. Last year it ranked number two, behind Comcast.”

LOBBYING IN AFRICA.   ECON.  “Western firms have long offered help to shady leaders wanting to gild their reputations overseas. Increasingly, however, they are being drafted to run domestic political campaigns too—spreading deft propaganda via social media.”

MD:  MAYOR SEEKS REFORM.   CG.  “All of the candidates expressed support for transparency, but Pantelides, a Republican, was the most forceful in his commitment to changing the city’s laws.”

NY:  NAME STILL THERE.   NYP.  “Paterson’s typed name also appears on the signature line of a letter sent just last month to the FEC on Rangel campaign matters.  There’s just one problem: Paterson hasn’t worked for Rangel’s campaign for three years.”

OH:  JUDGES AND CONTRIBIUTIONS.  DIS.   “Do campaign contributions affect how judges decide cases? Studies indicate the answer is yes. A recent effort by Cleveland attorney Subodh Chandra to disqualify a Summit County judge illustrates how money might drive the public’s thinking on a judge’s impartiality.”

SD:  PLAN TO PURSUE.   KOT.  “South Dakota’s House speaker plans to pursue ballot measures to raise tobacco taxes for technical schools and ban out-of-state political contributions to ballot question campaigns.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.  

7.27 political law links

CLAIM REBUTTAL.   PHILLY.  “U.S. Rep. Robert Brady’s lawyer pushed back Wednesday against federal prosecutors’ claims that the congressman secretly paid a political rival $90,000 to drop a bid to unseat him in the 2012 Democratic primary.”

SUPER PAC DIVERSIFIES.   WP.  “The CLF’s multimillion-dollar campaign, unfolding this year in 20 targeted districts and expanding next year to 30, is an ambitious bet that the Republican House majority can be spared from midterm backlash over President Trump.”

BIG DATA AND GOOGLE.   WFB.  “A data firm that is backed by Eric Schmidt, the chief executive of Alphabet, Google’s parent company, has been paid millions by Democratic committees, Federal Election Commission filings show.”

MINIBUS ETHICS.   RC.   “Another amendment from Rep. Brendan F. Boyle , D-Pa., would block the use of taxpayer money to pay any of the legal bills for Trump and his family members in the Russia investigation.Trump is allowed to use campaign funds for legal fees and has already tapped the committees set up for his re-election to do so.”

REGISTERED LOBBYISTS DROP.   BB.  “The number of federally registered political lobbyists has fallen by 14 percent thus far in 2017 from the 2016 total.”

NE:  LIMITS INITIATIVE.   OMA.  “An Omaha man has launched a petition drive with the goal of letting voters decide whether to place limits on campaign contributions in Nebraska.”

NY:  AD FINGERPRINTS.   NYT.  “To government watchdogs, the connections are evidence that Mr. Cuomo is once again skirting campaign finance rules by using a secretive nonprofit to advance his agenda.”

NY:  INVESTIGATION DENIED.  DC.  “Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren on Wednesday said she is not under investigation for financial contributions to her campaign that have been criticized by political opponents.”

PA:  CHARGES IN CORRUPTION CASE.   MC.   “In both cities, prosecutors allege, consultants and engineering firm principals eager to land contracts for public projects made political contributions with the understanding their companies would receive a leg up in the bidding process.”

SD:  FIGHT ON CORRUPTION.   IVN.   “The South Dakota State Legislature fully repealed a major anti-corruption law earlier this year that voters approved in November 2016. But voters in the state may get a second chance at reform.”

TX:  COMPLAINT FILED.   KIII.  “A complaint has been filed against former Councilman Mark Scott with the Texas Ethics Commission regarding how he used his campaign funds during the special election in May.”

WA:  IMAGINING A NEW SYSTEM.   NATION.  “At the beginning of each election year, every eligible resident in Seattle receives four $25 democracy vouchers in the mail. They can donate these vouchers to any combination of candidates they choose. Legal voters, as well as green-card holders, can all participate in the program, which is funded by an increase in local property taxes that will bring in $30 million over 10 years.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.