Wed. political law links, 3-4

TOMORROW AT THE FEC.  The agenda for tomorrow’s Federal Election Commission is online here.

POLITICAL LAW BRIEFING UPDATES.  Venable’s political law site has a number of interesting updates available here.

“DARK MONEY” EXECUTIVE ORDER PUSH.   HuffPo.  “But the first step, one that requires agreement only from the president, is an executive order on contractor disclosure. Today more than 50 organizations called on the president to take action.”

NC: ETHICS ALLEGATIONS.   WSOC. “The latest allegations involve three trips McCrory took in 2013 to New Orleans in May, Charleston, South Carolina, in September, and Scottsdale, Arizona, in November.”

RI:  ROUTINE AUDITS SOUGHT.   WPRO. “A good government group is calling for changes to the state’s campaign finance system and Ethics Commission in the wake of the Gordon Fox case.”

JAPAN:  TAINTED BY SCANDAL.   Bloomberg. “Just a week after the resignation of his farm minister, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has become the latest Japanese politician to be tainted by allegations of financial impropriety.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.

Tues. 3-3 political law links

FECA AND RETIREMENTS. WP.  “Since the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA), the median senator has announced her retirement 509 days before the general election and 321.5 days before the filing deadline. What changed?”

SUPER PAC MOONLIGHTER.  Firstlook.org. “According to a disclosure document obtained by The Intercept, Susan McCue — Sen. Harry Reid’s chief of staff from 1999–2006 and now co-founder and president of Senate Majority PAC, which claims to ‘fight to elect Democratic senators who will put working Americans ahead of the Kochs and their corporate interests’ — has also consulted for numerous corporate clients.”

PRO-PERRY PAC.   Clarion Ledger. “Austin Barbour is heading up the super PAC that will support Rick Perry’s presidential campaign.”

COST CENTERS AND THE COST OF NON-COMPLIANCE.  Paytoplaylawblog.com. “We have seen in the past (especially in New Jersey) that pay-to-play violations can result in significant criminal consequences as well as major fines.  Some, like the authors of this blog, have shouted warnings into the wind; largely to no avail.  Hits to bottom line revenues should be enough to get the C Suite to take pay-to-play compliance seriously.”

IL:  DATE CHANGE.   WIFR.  “The Illinois electoral system would see changes under proposals in the state legislature, including ones on primaries and campaign finance.”

MA:  SUPPORT FOR SUIT.  Southcoasttoday.com. “There’s no logical justification for outlawing corporate campaign contributions but not union contributions.”

MT:  POTENTIAL VIOLATION.   GF Tribune. “A state senator’s aide has been asked to quit after his registration as a lobbyist was revealed as a potential ethics violation.”

NM:  SUPPORT FOR CFR.  KRWG.  “  A new poll of New Mexico business leaders released today shows serious concern about the lack of transparency in New Mexico’s government and campaign finance system.”

WV:  COMPROMISE BILL.   WV Metro News. “A compromise bill raising the contribution limits for political candidates in West Virginia and making changes to campaign finance disclosure requirements is going back to the Senate Judiciary Committee in the final weeks of the 2015 Regular Legislative Session.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.

Mon. 3-2-15 political law links

NEW SCRUTINY.  WP.  “The Justice Department is stepping up scrutiny of the increasingly cozy ties between candidates and their outside allies, a move that could jolt the freewheeling campaign-finance atmosphere ahead of the 2016 elections.”

TESTING, TESTING.  Miami Herald.  “As Jeb Bush continues a torrid fundraising schedule across the country, he is pushing new boundaries of campaign finance law, exploiting his status as a noncandidate to avoid contribution limits and amass a cash pile already in the tens of millions. . . .  ‘At the moment, it looks like a brilliant strategic move,’ said Dan Tokaji, an election law expert at Ohio State University.”

DONOR SEARCH.  NYT.  “Long before the season of baby-kissing and caucus-going begins in early primary states, a no less decisive series of contests is playing out among the potential 2016 contenders along a trail that traces the cold-weather destinations of the wealthy and private-jet-equipped.”

CU AND CORPORATE LAW.  HLS Forum on Corp. Governance.  “To the contrary, the strong weight of the historical evidence supports the constitutional validity of Congress’s right to regulate the corporation’s involvement in the political process through the means set forth in McCain-Feingold. As such, the decision in Citizens United to overturn a bipartisan statute appears to us more original than originalist.”

PA: NEW REQUIREMENTS.  JDsupra.com.  “Business entities that have been awarded any no-bid contract by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or any of its political subdivisions must file Form DSEB-504 with the Pennsylvania’s Department of State by February 15, 2015.”

VA:  ETHICS DRAMA.  RTD.  “House GOP leaders gave a blunt ultimatum to their Senate counterparts — pass ethics legislation, or delegates would adopt a resolution binding themselves to the reforms and then go home.”

WI:  CFR PROSPECTS.  JSonline.com.  “Vos and Barca agreed new laws are needed on campaign finance, including raising the money limits individuals can contribute to parties and races. But they quibbled over many details.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.