1-13 political law links

SUPREMES REJECT CASE. The Republic. “The high court’s decision not to take the case ‘means that a political action committee must do more than create a separate bank account for independent expenditures to be exempt from the limits on contributions,’ said a statement from Sorrell’s office on Monday.”

ETHICS AFTER OFFICE. Gainesvilletimes.com. “House members are prohibited from using their congressional office funds for political purposes or to hire outside consultants.”

CT: STATE RESTS. CTNow. “Prosecutors rested their campaign finance fraud case against former Bridgeport state Sen. Ernest Newton Monday after hearing from two more witnesses who said they did not contribute to Newton’s 2012 campaign, but signed cards saying they did.”

MN: TOUGHENING DISCLOSURE. Twincities.com. “Voters whose mailboxes were swamped last fall with political ads from mysterious organizations would be able to find out who paid for the mailings under a bill introduced by three DFL legislators this week.”

MO: MCCASKILL PLEDGE. Stlpublicradio.com. “McCaskill is pledging to lead an effort to put on the 2016 ballot an initiative to reinstate campaign donation limits in the state and to curb lobbyists’ gifts to legislators.”

MO: ETHICS FINE. Missourian. “A former Missouri Democratic lawmaker faces a $100,000 fine from the Missouri Ethics Commission for violating campaign finance disclosure laws.”

NE: BILL DROPPED. Netnebraska.org. “Crawford’s bill, LB166, would require campaign committees to file year-end bank statements which auditors could check against what the committees say they have in campaign reports. It would also prohibit campaign committees from making loans. And it would allow the Accountability and Disclosure Commission to require committees to make restitution for funds that were used improperly.”

UT: LIMITS PROPOSED. UT Political Capitol. “If passed, HB 60 would limit contributions from political action committees, corporations, and other individuals. A maximum of $5,000 could be donated to a legislative, judicial, or school board candidate. Donations to a current state office-holder would be limited to $10,000.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.

The morning’s political law links

TTW, L PACS, IEOPCS, WTH. WP. “Why don’t they just end the pretense and admit it — just say, ‘I am running for president’ and be done with it? Two reasons. First, there are distinct legal and practical reasons not to do so. And second, many actually haven’t decided whether to run.”

PAC AND THE FUTURE. Courier Journal. “Kentuckians for Strong Leadership – the potent super PAC formed two years ago for the purpose of re-electing U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell – is not closing shop now that it has achieved its initial goal.”

CT: INDEPENDENT MONEY. Courant.com. “Supporters of the taxpayer-financed program — which spent a record $32 million on all state races in 2014 — insist it’s not too late to correct at least some of the problems.”

CT: FOLEY SENTENCE. Middletownpress.com. “Brian Foley, a nursing home owner who illegally bankrolled former Gov. John G. Rowland’s consultant work on his wife’s congressional campaign, will not see the inside of a prison cell, a federal court judge said Friday.”

IL: SELF-FINANCING DISLIKE. Sun Times. “Outgoing Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn says Bruce Rauner ‘obliterated’ an ethics law that Quinn signed and that Rauner’s recent decision to deposit $20 million into his campaign fund was ‘thumbing his nose’ at campaign finance reforms in Illinois.”

ME: REFORM REVIVAL. Seacoastonline.com. “Maine could be a clean election bellwether for the nation, if a citizens’ initiative measure is successful this fall.”

MN: PAINTER ON REFORM. Minnpost.com. “University of Minnesota law professor Richard Painter believes that Republicans should be afraid — very afraid — of the campaign finance system. And, as a Republican himself, he intends to do something about it.”

VT: NEW SYSTEM. Montpelierbridge.com. “Secretary of State Jim Condos today announced the launch of the new Vermont Lobbying Information System. The new system allows lobbyists, lobbyist firms, and lobbyist employers to register, manage their information, and make payments online.”

VA: ADVICE FOR MCDONNELL. Daily Press. “He contends that he did nothing wrong and argues that he was the victim of an overzealous Justice Department bent on criminalizing politics.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.

the 1-9 political law links

EYE ON WEBB. Townhall.com. PAC payments were apparently made to his family, according to reports.

BUSH GROUP COVERAGE. WSJ. “It is unclear what role each PAC will play in laying the basis for a Bush presidential bid. But Mr. Bush would be legally allowed to raise money for and strategize with the super PAC, allowing the group to make plans for the 2016 cycle with his blessing.”

Q4 DEADLINE. Senate.gov. The reminder I received explains: “The Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995, as amended by the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007, requires all active registrants to file quarterly activity reports with the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives and Secretary of the U.S. Senate. The fourth quarter report is due January 20, 2015, covering October 1, 2014 through December 31, 2014.”

DC: ALLEGATIONS AGAINST GROUP. DCist.com. “According to documents from the Office of Campaign Finance obtained by DCist, TIE. D.C. was in violation of several campaign finance laws, including failure to officially register as a political committee, failure to file a financial report, and failure to include proper language on its campaign literature.”

MT: ETHICS SCHOOL. Great Falls Tribune. “Ethics courses took up the bulk of the morning.”

OR: SPOUSE ETHICS BILL. Oregonlive.com. “A Republican state representative plans to introduce a bill in the session that starts next month to prevent the spouse of Oregon’s governor from leveraging state resources for personal financial gain.”

SC: COMPLAINTS DISMISSED. Islandpacket.com. “The S.C. Ethics Commission has cleared state Attorney General Alan Wilson of allegations that he accepted improper contributions in his 2010 campaign after the Republican refunded more than $40,000 to donors.”

VA: REFORM PROPOSALS. FFX Times. One “bill would ban members of the General Assembly from accepting intangible gifts worth more than $250 from lobbyists or anyone doing business or seeking to do business with the state, unless the trip is cleared in advance by an ethics advisory panel.”

HAVE A GOOD WEEKEND.