Dinner, debates, and other political law links for Thurs., 2-2-17

DINNER RULES.  WP.  “Federal employees are not allowed to accept gifts, including meals, that are worth more than $20, according to the Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch.”

ETHICS ORDER BRIEFING.   Venable.  “What are the practical effects for individuals going into the Administration, and for their former and future employers?”

DEBATE CASE.  BAN.  “On February 1, U.S. District Court Judge Tanya S. Chutkan issued a 28-page opinion in Level the Playing Field v Federal Election Commission, 1:15cv-1397, D.C. She ruled that the FEC clearly did not look at the evidence presented by the plaintiffs Peter Ackerman, the Libertarian Party, the Green Party, and Level the Playing Field.”

MS:  REFORM POTENTIAL.  CL.  “Campaign money is shielded from tax, ethics, bribery and other laws because it is ostensibly to be used for campaigning and records of it are supposed to be open to the public.”

MT:  COMMISSIONER CAN REMAIN.  GFT.  “The Montana Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that Commissioner of Political Practices Jonathan Motl’s term has expired, but he can remain in office until a successor is found.”

NV:  LOBBYIST GIFT BAN.  RJ.  “Under a bill sponsored in 2015 by Sen. Michael Roberson, legislators can no longer accept anything from a lobbyist. Even a cup of coffee or a bottle of water.”

TX:  ETHICS REFORM MOVING.  MS.  “After receiving a warm reception at a committee hearing Wednesday, state Sen. Van Taylor’s ethics reform proposal could be the first bill approved by the Texas Senate this year.”

AUSTRALIA:  UNTRACEABLE.  SMH.  “More than $70 million that flowed to the Liberal and Labor parties ahead of last year’s federal election – at least half of all the money they collected – is considered untraceable dark money.”

INDIA:  CONSIDERING BONDS.  Bloomberg.  “Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has proposed the creation of new ‘electoral bonds’ to clean up election financing in the world’s most populous democracy. ”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.

Applause for Gorsuch, more on the lobbying EO, and political law links

APPLAUDING GORSUCH.  CCP.  “The Center for Competitive Politics (CCP), America’s largest nonprofit defending First Amendment political speech rights, applauds President Trump’s selection of Tenth Circuit Judge Neil Gorsuch as a nominee for the Supreme Court.”

MORE ON LOBBYING EO FROM COVINGTON.  Here.  “While some in the media are claiming that the order is a significant weakening of a similar Obama-era Executive Order, the new Trump order is, in several subtle but key respects, much more restri ctive than the Obama order.”

PAY TO PLAY CHALLENGE UPDATE.  L360.  “Three state Republican parties told the Sixth Circuit on Thursday that the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s rules increasing pay-to-play restrictions on muni advisers aren’t shielded from review just because the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission failed to affirmatively act on them.”

MN:  BOARD RULES.  ST.  “Jacob Frey’s bid to use the money he raised as a council member to run for mayor of Minneapolis survived Tuesday in front of the state’s Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board, setting him up for a wide mayoral fundraising lead on the day that 2016 campaign finance reports are due in Hennepin County.”

MO:  REPORTS TRICKLE.  CL.  “Mississippi politicians faced a 5 p.m. deadline Tuesday for filing campaign finance reports covering Jan. 1 through Dec. 31 of 2016.”

MT:  COMMISSIONER APPLICANTS.  BDC.  “Only two people filed applications by Friday’s deadline to indicate their desire to replace the state’s commissioner of political practices, Jon Motl.”

NJ:  PAY TO PLAY IMPACT.  NW.  “Two reasons for the precipitous drop, according to ELEC, are state pay-to-play laws passed in 2005 and the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission decision in 2010, which produced a deluge of independent political groups called Super PACs.”

NJ:  PAY TO PLAY AND CONTRACTS.  NJ.  “Irving’s 2016 fundraising efforts previously became a target of criticism when he accepted a $1,125 contribution from an education consultant, Joseph Fulmore, who soon afterward received a $20,000 contract from the school district.”

TX:  ETHICS REFORM.  DN.  “A lawmaker convicted of certain crimes would lose his pension, and one convicted of a felony would have to vacate office once appeals are exhausted.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.

More on that lobbying EO and today’s political law links

NEW EO ALERT.  PerkinsCoie.  “On January 28, 2017, President Trump signed an executive order setting new ethics commitments for incoming executive branch appointees (Ethics Executive Order or the Executive Order). Pursuant to the Executive Order, incoming appointees must sign a pledge through which they become contractually obligated to abide by certain ethics standards. These new standards have significant consequences for appointees and government relations professionals.  A summary follows.”

PAINTER PROFILE.  ST.  “Painter is a top ethics scholar who worked as Republican President George W. Bush’s chief ethics lawyer from 2005 to 2007. But he has picked a fight with the GOP’s latest White House resident for refusing to sell off some assets and place the rest into a blind trust, as every president has done for the past four decades.”

NEW GROUP LAUNCH.  USAT.  “Several key political operatives from President Trump’s campaign announced plans Monday to launch an outside group they say will promote the new president’s policies and provide a ‘counter balance’ to ‘the agenda of the liberal and biased media.'”

GROUP LAUNCH ][.  Politico.  “Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani will co-chair a newly-formed outside group that is devoted to promoting President Donald Trump’s agenda.”

ROGUE TWITTER ACCOUNTS.  NPR.  “‘Rogue’ accounts that have the look of those by real federal agencies are spreading like wildfire on Twitter.”  “Real” or not, an account describing itself as the “unofficial #Resistance team of the U.S. Federal Election Commission” has been tweeting for a few days and now has more followers than the FEC’s verified Twitter account.

AL:  PERSONAL LOAN NEWS.  YH.  “A new report has shown that the Alabama governor waited more than two months to report a $50,000 loan he made on November 15. Though law requires him to disclose the amount within two days of its deposit, the records weren’t submitted until last week.”

AK:  LOBBYIST TAX.  ADN.  ” It would require lobbyists to pay a 2.5 percent tax on their contracts.”

NM:  HITTING PROPOSAL.  AJ.  “For years, the Journal has advocated for ethics reform grounded in accountability and transparency.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.