Mon. pol. law links

COOL TO REFORM.  Concord Monitor.  “Campaign finance reform advocates calling themselves the New Hampshire Rebellion were first snubbed then outright booted from the Republican summit in Nashua this weekend.”

CFR AN ISSUE?  WP.  “Turning disgust with billionaire super PAC benefactors into a platform that moves voters has been an elusive goal for activists seeking to curb the massive sums sloshing through campaigns.”

NEW FRONTIER.  WBUR.  “Last May the Federal Elections Commission ruled that a super PAC could accept Bitcoins as donations, with a ‘voluntary’ limit of $100 (the same limits placed on cash contributions to individual candidates in federal elections). But the campaigns must rely on the donors themselves to offer identifying information and affirm, for example, that they are not foreign nationals, whose contributions in any amount would be illegal.”

AR:  LAW VEXES.  Ark. Online.  “Act 1280, passed by the Arkansas Legislature this year and signed into law by Gov. Asa Hutchinson, gives a grace period to any lawmaker or other state elected official who unintentionally accepts a prohibited gift from a lobbyist and returns it within 30 days of learning that it is barred by law.”

FL:  TRAVEL ISSUE.  TBO.  “Without any debate, members of the state ethics commission on Friday agreed that former U.S. Rep. David Rivera should pay $57,821.96 for improperly accepting state money for travel when he served as a state representative.”

KS:  FACING SENTENCING.  WT.  “A former Kansas legislator is due to be sentenced for defrauding a bank to help fund his political activities in a federal case that highlights the state’s lax state campaign finance laws.

NJ:  CANDIDATES RAISING.  Press of AC.  “If you’re running in the 2nd Legislative District, which represents most of Atlantic County and has Democrat and Republican incumbents, you’ll need a lot of money. In 2013, the Democrats, who won an Assembly race and a Senate race, spent more than $2.2 million. The Republicans, who won the other Assembly seat, spent just less than $1 million.”

NY:  SPLIT ON LLCS.  BN.  “The ‘LLC loophole’ easily escaped another threat this week. As a result, huge campaign donations may continue to flow freely from limited liability companies to New York politicians.”

VA:  ETHICS BILL PASSES. RTD.  “State lawmakers returned to Richmond on Friday and put the finishing touches on a new ethics reform package that includes an aggregate $100 annual cap on gifts.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.  

Friday’s political law links

HRC IDEAS.   Slate.  Hasen says “a constitutional amendment is a terrible way to try to fix the problem.”

HRC DONATION POLICY.   HuffPo.  “Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign will accept donations from lobbyists and political action committees, a difference in policy from the man she’s hoping to replace, President Barack Obama.”

PARTY POWER DECLINE.  NYT.  “The uneventful passing of April 15 is only the most subtle indication of the way super PACs are transforming the presidential nominating process.”

NEW SUPER PAC.  Politico.  “Two of Scott Walker’s top political hands from Wisconsin will forgo roles on his likely presidential campaign to instead run a super PAC supporting the Republican governor.”

MENENDEZ LEGAL EXPENSES.  Spectator.org.  “When a politician raises funds for an election campaign, those dollars should be used only in furtherance of that campaign for that office.”

CA:  OC ENFORCEMENT.  VoiceofOC.  “Amid widespread frustration over what many say is lax enforcement of local campaign finance limits by District Attorney Tony Rackauckas, Orange County officials and residents gathered Wednesday to talk about how to better police the county’s political scofflaws.”

MD:  CONTRACTOR DISCLOSURE.   NLR (J. Kahl).  ”On April 10, the Maryland General Assembly made significant changes to the state’s public contractor political contribution disclosure law.”

OR:  ETHICS IMPRINT.  PT.  “Democratic Gov. Kate Brown and Republican legislative minorities are competing to put their imprints on changes in government ethics and public records laws.”

VA:  VOTE PUT OFF.   13NewsNow.  “Governor Terry McAuliffe signed off on amendments to ethics legislation passed in the closing minutes of the General Assembly session this winter that would cap the total amount of annual gifts allowed from lobbyists at $100, instead of a $100 cap on each individual gift.”

WI:  GOALS CLASH.   HNG.  “As the process wends its way from informational hearing to bill to law, which side is more likely to see its dream come true?”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.

4-16 political law links

LAND$CAPE.  NYT.  “For some political committees, the first quarter is a good time to look back at the last two years (or more) and make sure that the money is accounted for and properly reported.”

HRC CFR FIX.  WSJ.  “Her staff declined to elaborate on her call for overhauling campaign-fundraising practices.”

POLITICAL FILE COMPLAINTS.  Broadcasting & Cable.  “Campaign finance reform groups have told the FCC it should not require complaints about political ad broadcasts to be filed by local residents.”

SUPER PAC SPECIFIC.  Bloomberg.  “In all, there were more than 1,300 grassroots and small-dollar donor events where participants filled out detailed information sheets to be logged by the group.”

BANNED FOR LIFE.  The Hill.  “Rep. Rod Blum (R-Iowa) introduced legislation on Tuesday to prevent members of Congress from ever becoming lobbyists after they leave office.”

GA:  THE FINALISTS ARE…  Chron.com.  “Four finalists remain to lead the state agency charged with enforcing campaign-finance and ethics laws.”

GA:  MEALS MAKE NEWS.  WMAZ.  “Two Macon Democrats beat their Republican counterparts to the free food table during this year legislative session.”

MT:  BILL MOVES.  GF Tribune.  ” A measure requiring more disclosure surrounding campaign donations has passed the Legislature and is headed to the governor for his signature.”

MT:  HEARING SET.  HelenaIR.  “A confirmation hearing has been scheduled for Monday on the confirmation of Political Practices Commissioner Jonathan Motl.”

TX:  NO RUSH TO DISCLOSE. Myhighplains.com.  “Two bills aimed at requiring disclosure of such lobbyist entertainment are on the verge of being snuffed out in the Senate State Affairs Committee, according to the sponsor of the measures, despite Gov. Greg Abbott’s vow a few weeks ago to ‘dedicate this session to ethics reform.'”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.