[Political Activity Law]

WHAT A YEAR!  Thanks for making this another great year for the site and I hope your year was filled with personal and professional success!  As we look to 2017 and what’s next, I think it’s fair to say the year will be filled with a number of political law issues and new reforms and controversies.  I hope to continue to chronicle all of the breaking developments in political law right here.  All my best to you and yours for a safe and wonderful holiday season.

THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE AND CAMPAIGN FINANCE.  CCP. “Campaign finance laws have become so complex, it is almost impossible to explain even the basics in an hour-long lecture. And one threat of this complexity is that clever political types can almost always look at the law and discover new and unprecedented ways to harass their political opponents. This is bad in any case. But it also illustrates the importance of an approach that the Republican Commissioners on the FEC have long taken, of insisting upon reasonable notice before finding ‘reason to believe’ that an offense has been committed in cases of first impression.”

CRIMINAL INTENT AND CAMPAIGN FINANCE.  NRO.  “Bribery can be very difficult to prove or to police. Historically, we have finessed that in part by placing limits on how much money people can donate to political campaigns per se — which is to say, to political operations under the direct control of the candidates themselves — as well as by prohibiting campaign donations from corporations, whether for-profit or nonprofit.”

SUPER PAC CENSORSHIP.   IJ.  “While we appreciate that almost all stations that reviewed the ads validated their accuracy and kept them on the air, the actions of CBS in changing their process and censoring political advertising without giving the sponsor a chance to argue our case is totally unacceptable and bears scrutiny.”

LOBBYIST REFLECTS.  NYT.  “After more than 30 years in the Beaux-Arts-style chamber headquarters across Lafayette Square from the White House, Mr. Josten is now in his own transition, retiring after helping turn the chamber into a political powerhouse and watching his specialty — sophisticated legislative give-and-take — become less prized in a polarized capital.”

AK:  MEMBERS USE LAW.  ADN.  “The 1996 law clearly didn’t intend to allow lawmakers to raise money from lobbyists using political groups separate from their campaigns, said David Finkelstein, one of the original proponents of the reforms — which he said were designed to reduce the amount of influence lobbyists could exercise over the legislative process.”

MO:  GUNN TO PUSH REFORM.  CL.  “House Speaker Philip Gunn says a top priority for the legislative session starting in two weeks is passing campaign finance reform, a measure that late last session died an ignoble death in the House he leads.”

NY:  CARD QUESTIONS.  NYO.  “Tens of thousands of residents of Bay Ridge got a holiday message last week from a politician who has never represented them—but who is likely to seek their City Council seat next year, and may have already violated the city’s strict campaign finance rules.”

WA:  AG FILES COMPLAINT.  TDW.  “State Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed a complaint Monday against 19th District House candidate Teresa Purcell after receiving a tip she and her committee failed to follow campaign finance laws during her campaign.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY. 

TACKLING CAMPAIGN FINANCE.  AP.  “Issue One has united 165 former members of Congress, governors and administration officials behind a plan to rewrite campaign finance laws to give small donors more power in the political process.”

TOP 10 LOBBYING WINS.  Hill. “The whirlwind presidential campaign that ended in the election of Donald Trump contributed to the dearth of activity in Congress, making lobbyists hustle during periods where policymakers were in town.”

LEVINTHAL ON THE FEC.  CPI.  “The developments together are evidence that the FEC — once a reasonably robust and bipartisan judge of political misdeeds — heads into 2017 even more marginalized than ever before by the very politicians it’s supposed to advise and police.”

AZ:  COURT REVIEW.  KTAR. “The Arizona Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to review a finding that former Attorney General Tom Horne violated campaign finance laws during his 2010 campaign.”

FL:  NEW ROPES FOR NEW RULES.  TL.  “Advocates for local governments, big business and all other manner of interests touched by Tallahassee crammed into a room Tuesday for the first of two training meetings to prepare for the 2017 legislative session.”

GA:  LAWMAKERS JUMP.  AJC.  “In Georgia, the ban is one year for elected state officials and some appointees. But it doesn’t stop big firms with deep pockets who want to snap up retiring politicians while they still have plenty of friends under the Gold Dome.”

ME:  LEADING NATION.  IN.  “State-level initiatives will be an important path to progressive reform in the coming years, particularly in the area of campaign finance, and Maine is at the forefront of democratizing elections at the local level.”

NY:  FACING FINE.   NYP.  “Mayor de Blasio will be socked with a large fine Thursday for violations of campaign-finance regulations during his 2013 run for City Hall, sources told The Post.”

NY:  CAMPAIGN FINANCE RUSH.  GG.  “The City Council is rushing through a package of bills to reform the city’s campaign finance system. About a dozen bills driven by Council members’ frustrations with the Campaign Finance Board and its rigorous reporting system are being moved through the Council at an almost unseen pace, raising eyebrows.”

OR:  REVIVING FINANCING.  OL.  “Taxpayers will once again help fund Portland political campaigns, after a divided City Council on Wednesday approved a new system for public financing.”

WA:  PORT CLEARED.  DP.  “A judge has ruled in favor of the Port of Tacoma and two other groups, finding that they didn’t violate campaign finance laws.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.  I’ll send around the next set of links early next week.

BRACING FOR FIGHT.  RC.  “The potential action on campaign finance law comes against the backdrop of deep dissatisfaction in both parties with the current system.”

FATTAH SENTENCED.  Politico.  “Former Democratic Rep. Chaka Fattah (Pa.) was sentenced to 10 years in prison Monday by a federal judge in Philadelphia.”

NOT GUILTY PLEA.  CCB.  “Former Congressman Aaron Schock has pleaded not guilty in federal court to misusing government and campaign money for personal use.”

COURTING CENSORSHIP.  NM.   “Recently the Federal Election Commission (FEC) rejected a proposal to add language exempting books, movies, and streaming videos from its regulations.”

LIST BIZ.  WP.  “List brokers typically pass along a share of the money they are paid to other companies for access to their lists, pocketing a commission in the process, according to people familiar with the industry.”

SUPER PAC SPEND.  HP.  “Bolton launched the John Bolton Super PAC in 2013, which some speculated was a way to promote himself ahead of a potential 2016 president

MA:  RULING EXPECTED.  SE.  “A state judge could soon decide whether Massachusetts corporations should be free to make contributions to political candidates or administer their own political action committees after oral arguments were made in court Wednesday as part of a lawsuit brought by two local business owners.”

WI:  COMMISSIONER RESIGNS.  JT.  “A Democratic appointee to the state Ethics Commission announced Monday he was resigning from the fledgling watchdog agency, criticizing what he described as improper secrecy and a failure to enforce ethics requirements for lobbyists and public officials.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.