[Political Activity Law]

USE OF FUNDS.   CNN.  “The Federal Election Commission prohibits individuals from using campaign funds for personal use, but legal services sparked by an officeholder’s official work could be deemed appropriate, according to FEC regulations.”

CT:  TRAVEL COSTS EXAMINED.   Cour.  “It’s an intriguing little PAC, pretty much unknown outside the little world of Connecticut political insiders.”

GA:  GROUP FINED.   AJC.  “A group that fought the effort to create a city of LaVista Hills in DeKalb County is being fined $125 by the state agency that oversees campaign finance laws.”

GA:  FINE FOR CONTRIBUTIONS.  TFP.  “Former Walker County, Ga., Commissioner Bebe Heiskell agreed to pay a fine this month for taking excess campaign contributions.”

MA:  ETHICS REVIEW.   WCVB.  “A half-year-long effort to improve ethics in Massachusetts state and local government has ended with lackluster results amounting to little more than a report with some recommendations including ‘continued study’ by legislative committees.”

NY:  LOANS NOTED.   ND.  “Democratic Nassau County executive candidate George Maragos has loaned his past three campaigns a combined $3.1 million — a tactic that candidates use often to boost the legitimacy of their campaigns to attract outside donors.”

TX:  FINE ON ACCOUNTING.   TT.  “Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller has been sanctioned for sloppily reporting campaign finances during his 2014 run for office.”

WI:  PUSH FOR REFORM.  WIG.  “Democratic state senators have joined with clean-government advocates in rolling out a package of eight bills to strengthen Wisconsin campaign finance laws.”

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ETHICS RULES QUESTION.   BI.  “In late May, the White House released the ethics waivers it provided to at least 16 White House staffers to allow them to work with subjects they had in the private sector before joining the government.”

CA:  DA QUITS.  MCC.  “Contra Costa County’s district attorney has resigned and pleaded no contest to corruption charges for using re-election campaign funds for personal expenses.”

CT:  LOBBYING DOMINATION.    CC.  “Businesses, nonprofits and cities and towns spent more than $25 million this legislative session trying to win favor with lawmakers and the Malloy administration, according to the most recent lobbyist filings with the Office of State Ethics.”

FL:  COMPLAINTS DISMISED.  SHT.  “he Florida Commission on Ethics announced Wednesday that it dismissed two complaints filed against Manatee County Commissioner Carol Whitmore for ‘lack of legal sufficiency.'”

KY:  ETHICS RULING OPPOSED.  SJ.  “Kentucky’s largest and most influential lobbyist organization says it opposes a judge’s ruling allowing lobbyists to give money to political candidates.”

OR:  ETHICS INVESTIGATION.   DH.  “Complaints against the trio allege that they obtained prohibited financial benefits and failed to declare conflicts of interest regarding a controversial annexation during council votes.”

PA:  MONEY IN LOCAL POLITICS.  STT.  “In an illustration how far afield election regulations have wandered, an association that conducted recent partisan campaign activity in Scranton obtained anonymity because of its classification as a social welfare organization.”

RI:  NOT GUILTY PLEA.   PRI.  “Former state Rep. Peter Palumbo pleaded not guilty in Providence County Superior Court Wednesday to charges he allegedly used campaign funds for personal use, according to Amy Kempe, a spokeswoman for the attorney general’s office.”

VT:  ETHICS BILL LAW.   USN.  “Vermont Gov. Phil Scott has signed into law a bill establishing a state ethics commission.”

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POLITICAL CONTRIBUTIONS AND FUNDS OF FUNDS.   Forbes.  “In connection with forensic investigations of public pensions I have undertaken in the past, underlying managers to FOFs or multi-manager funds have confided to me that they have been instructed to make contributions to certain politicians to assist in the marketing of the FOF.”

MOST EXPENSIVE HOUSE RACE.   AJC.  “How exactly does a political candidate spend $16 million in two months?”

IL:  LOBBYING VIOLATIONS ALLEGED.   CT.  “Two individuals who contacted Mayor Rahm Emanuel through his personal email broke the city’s lobbying laws, the Chicago Board of Ethics determined Tuesday.”

NM:  NEW PROPOSAL.   SFNM.  “Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver on Tuesday released a proposed rule that clarifies campaign finance reporting requirements and calls for disclosure of large contributions to ‘independent expenditure’ groups that aren’t formally connected to candidates or campaigns but buy political advertising.”

MS:  REFORM PRAISED.   DJ.  “[Rep.] Zuber said this slog began more than a decade ago when he began to file bills seeking to tighten up Mississippi’s lax regulation of campaign cash. Those efforts finally saw fruition this most recent legislative session with the enactment of a bill that bars politicians from using campaign funds for personal use.”

TN:  PAY HALF OK.  TN.  “The Tennessee attorney general’s office is set to agree to let a former political candidate from Williamson County who owes $40,000 to the state pay just half his fine.”

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CAN:  PERSPECTIVE ON FOREIGN FUNDS.  WP.  “Regulating political activity has traditionally been a left-wing obsession in Canada — indeed, former Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper, in his previous career, once went all the way to the Supreme Court arguing ‘third party’ regulations passed by the Liberal Party were unconstitutional.”

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