2.5 political law links

SCHOCK ETHICS. Roll Call. “Rep. Aaron Schock’s, R-Ill., recent flap about his ‘Downton Abbey’-inspired office decor is not his first run-in with ethics watchdogs.”

GINSBURG’S VIEW. Stltrib.com. “Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg says if there is one decision she could overturn from the past 10 years, it would be the 2010 Citizens United case that allowed virtually unlimited corporate spending on political campaigns.”

MD: PUBLIC FINANCING UPDATE. WMDT. “Gov. Larry Hogan wants to replenish the public campaign finance fund that helped him win in November.”

MD: PAY FINE, GET SWORN IN. News Post. “The 78-year-old Republican was initially scheduled to be sworn in at 10 a.m., but the ceremony was delayed for more than an hour so he could deal with outstanding campaign finance issues related to last year’s delegate bid.”

MI: NO VIOLATION. WMUK. “The Michigan Bureau of Elections says Governor Rick Snyder did not break campaign finance laws during his State of the State speech last month.”

MO: LOBBYIST DISCLOSURE BILL. Stltoday.com.com. “Missouri senators unanimously endorsed an ethics reform bill on Wednesday, though some said it didn’t do enough to combat the corrosive effect of money in politics.”

MO: REFORM SOUGHT. Press Now. “Sen. Dr. Rob Schaaf, R-St. Joseph, filed the Missouri Anti-Corruption Act on the floor of the Missouri Senate. Dr. Schaaf offered no explanation to his colleagues as he introduced the idea, with only its title read by a chamber staff member. No one spoke for or against his proposal, either.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.

2.4 political law links

UPDATED SITE FOR CONFERENCE BOARD’S COMMITTEE ON CORPORATE POLITICAL SPENDING.  Here via Wes Bizzell.  The site’s been updated to include more information about the last proxy season and shareholder resolutions.  The site looks to be a great resource for those seeking more information about corporate political activity transparency.

BUNDLING 101.  Roll Call.  “Bundling is a common practice and is, in fact, legal.”

LIMITS RAISED.  Caplin & Drysdale.  The authors of this chart get extra credit for including a “super PAC” column indicating that individuals and corporations may contribute without limit.  For last cycle, even the Federal Election Commission’s chart (visited 2/3/15,8 p.m.) didn’t note super PACs and the chart for this cycle isn’t online yet.

LIMITS RAISED.  WSJ.   “Under new FEC limits, which are adjusted for inflation in odd-numbered years, individuals can give up to $5,400 to candidates—$2,700 for their primary campaigns, and another $2,700 for the general election—and up to $33,400 per year to national party committees in the 2016 cycle.”

NEW LIMITS.  Inside Political Law.  “Effectively, this means that individuals can now give up to $801,600 to a party’s various accounts each year.  And a couple can give up to $3,206,400 to a party in the 2015-2016 election cycle.”

KINGSTON MOVE.  AJC.  “[Jack] Kingston’s listed duties do not, at this point, include lobbying. By law he cannot lobby his former colleagues for a year.”

COMMON SENSE AND CFR.  Fox.  “I’m simply saying that it’s time for a debate about the role of money in politics. And that debate is already happening — but right now it’s happening only on the left, and we need the voices of conservatives and others to take part in this debate. Start thinking about the issue and you might be surprised where you come out — and how many other conservatives will agree with you, starting with Barry Goldwater.”

CA:  FPPC MOVES.  Sacbee.com.  “Gary Winuk, the FPPC’s chief of enforcement for the last five years, said he’s resigning Feb. 27 to pursue other opportunities.”

CA:  FPPC CHAIR PLANS.  CC Times.  “The commission also has prioritized investigating violations and compelling compliance before the elections, providing fairness and transparency when it matters most. It is these policies and practices that advanced our record-breaking numbers.”

PA:  CONTROLLER TO AMEND.  Post Gazette. “Allegheny County Controller Chelsa Wagner plans to file an amended campaign finance report today that will provide more information about individual contributions, her campaign manager said.”

WI:  GAB POSTS.  WUWM.  “Federal Judge Charles Clevert ordered the Government Accountability Board to post links for four years, to emphasize that certain state laws no longer apply.”

FRA:  SCANDAL AND EX-PARTY CHIEF.  Yahoo.  ” The former head of France’s right-wing UMP party was charged Tuesday with ‘abuse of confidence’ over a campaign finance scandal dating back to Nicolas Sarkozy’s run for the presidency in 2012.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.

Tues. 2-3 political law links

FRANKEN SOLICITS $1 MILLION.   I received this eye-catching solicitation (with a subject, “A perfectly reasonable request”) a few days ago from Franken for Senate seeking “$50,000, $100,000, even $1 million” for his senate campaign.  (Don’t worry, I’m signed up for literally dozens of campaigns across the political spectrum for academic reasons.)

AZ:  REFORM DOOM.  AZ Central.  “So why, you ask, wouldn’t the Legislature want voters to see who is trying to influence their vote?”

CA:  NO VIOLATION.  Mercury News.  “There was no violation of city election law last year when Councilwoman Rebecca Kaplan accepted two campaign checks from Oakland A’s co-owner Lew Wolff, an investigation by the city’s Public Ethics Commission has found.”

MA:  TEST FOR STATUTE.  BG.  “In the first test of its constitutionality, a state law that makes it illegal to lie in campaign ads is being challenged by a Republican political action committee whose treasurer is facing criminal charges over a negative mailing in the last election cycle.”

MN:  PROGRAM END SOUGHT.  Twincities.com.  “State Rep. Steve Drazkowski is trying again to kill the unique to Minnesota program that allows residents to contribute to politicians and get their money refunded.”

NY:  DELUSION.  City-Journal.org.  “Extending such a [public financing] system statewide would waste money, overregulate the electoral process, and create new potential for abuse.”

WI:  LINKED REQURIED.  GB Press Gazette.  “A federal judge has ordered state election officials to post links to decisions striking down swaths of Wisconsin’s campaign finance laws on its website.”

AUS: MYSTERY DONOR.  SMH.com.  “The most generous contribution to a major party came from a China-based donor called ‘Zi Chun Wang’, who gave two donations totalling $850,000 to Labor. Google and news archive searches do not produce results for this name, suggesting Wang operates under another name.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.