Fri. pol. law links

PARTY PROVISION ALERT. KLGates.com. The alert covers three significant campaign finance changes contained in this year’s omnibus budget bill.

TEA PARTY REVOLT. Politico. “Tea party activists are attacking a campaign finance rider in the $1.1 trillion spending bill that they view as a sneaky power grab by establishment Republicans designed to undermine outside conservative groups.”

WHAT WALL STREET SPENT. Thestreet.com. “Financial services companies have spent $1.2 billion on campaign contributions and lobbying Congress in the most recent election cycle, according to a new report.”

READY FOR COMPLAINT. Free Beacon. “An anti-Hillary Clinton PAC filed a lawsuit on Thursday to compel the Federal Election Commission to determine whether the pro-Clinton Super PAC Ready for Hillary is violating campaign finance laws.”

AZ: FULL REBOOT. AZcentral.com. “Senior U.S. District Court Judge James Teilborg certainly got everyone’s attention when he finalized his decision that Arizona’s definition of ‘political committee’ was unconstitutionally vague last week.”

MA: WELD REGISTERS. NECN.com. “So some eyebrows were raised when it was reported that Weld, who works in government relations for the Boston Law firm Mintz Levin, just registered as a lobbyist – the first governor in state history to do so.”

MT: PLANNED PARENTHOOD ISSUES. Ravallirepublic.com. “State law requires that candidates receive notice of attacks launched during the election cycle’s last 10 days so they can respond.”

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND.

Thurs. political law links

CFROMNIBUS UPDATE. WP. “Under the language in the bill, a couple could give as much as $3.1 million to a party’s various national committees in one election cycle.”

WATCHDOGS YELP. NYT. “Depending on how the new law is interpreted by election officials, the provision could expand the amount that any one person can give to national party committees to more than $777,000 each year from what is now a maximum of $97,200.”

CHANGE AT ETHICS. RC. “Come January, Rep. K. Michael Conaway won’t have to worry about scaring away his friends on Capitol Hill.”

14 DEBT. Politico. “The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is stuck with $20.4 million in post-election debt, more than twice the debt owed by its Republican counterpart and a challenge for the party as it heads into the next cycle.”

16 CHASE. WP. “By the time of the 2016 election, the two major party nominees will have raised more than $1 billion.”

CO: APPEAL DENIED. CO Ind. “The Colorado Supreme Court yesterday ended a multi-year battle over campaign finance rules that pitted Secretary of State Scott Gessler against nonprofits Colorado Ethics Watch and Common Cause when the justices declined to accept Gessler’s appeal. The denial means Gessler’s 2012 rules reducing disclosure requirements for political committees and organizations have been overturned.”

MN: BAUERLY MOVE. Star Tribune. “Revenue Commissioner Myron Frans will take over Minnesota Management and Budget from longtime finance staffer and commissioner Jim Schowalter, according to documents obtained by the Star Tribune and confirmed by Dayton’s office. Frans’ deputy [and former FEC Chair] Cynthia Bauerly will take over the Revenue commissioner spot.”

NY: GROUP SETTLES. NYDN. ”The anti-horse carriage group NYCLASS will make a ‘substantial payment’ to settle accusations that it violated campaign finance rules in last year’s municipal elections, a lawyer for the group said Wednesday.”
VA: ETHICS DUEL. WP. ”The anything-goes gift culture that once dominated Virginia’s Capitol is giving way to a game of legislative limbo, with state lawmakers and the governor competing to take the value of acceptable handouts ever lower.”

AZ: JUDGE STRIKES LAW. KNAU. “A federal district court judge has struck down part of an Arizona campaign finance law. As Arizona Public Radio’s Justin Regan reports, if the ruling stands, some political donors will not have to identify themselves for the time being.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.

today’s political law links

CFROMNIBUS. WP. “The language – inserted on page 1,599 of the 1,603-page bill – would allow individuals to give three times the annual cap on national party donations to three additional party committees set up for the purposes of the presidential conventions, building expenses and election recounts.”

REFORMERS OPPOSED RIDERS.  D21.  They “sent a letter to members of Congress strongly urging Senators and Representatives to oppose any riders to the Omnibus Appropriations bill that increase the opportunity to corrupt members of Congress.”

HEADED TO KEY WEST?  PAC.  “For more than 30 years, the Council’s National Grassroots Conference has been the place to learn about state of the art practices.”

ORMAN FUNDERS.  Examiner.  “The key day was Oct. 16. Election law stipulates that any contribution received before Oct. 16 had to be publicly disclosed to the Federal Elections Commission before election day. But anything received on Oct. 16 or later would not be disclosed until after voters went to the polls.”

DEMAIO SUPER PAC LAUNCH.  KPBS.  “The erstwhile Republican challenger to recently re-elected Democratic Congressman Scott Peters of San Diego has filed documents to start a super PAC.”

TOMORROW’S FEC MEETING.  The agenda for tomorrow’s Federal Election Commission meeting is online here.

MD:  DEVELOPER AND RULES.  City Paper.  “This year’s campaign-finance conduct by St. John provides an insightful glimpse into how money works in Maryland politics.”

TX:  LOBBYING COMPLAINT.  Statesman.com.  “A group trying to persuade Austin to create two PGA-quality golf courses on city land violated the city’s lobbying rules, according to a complaint filed Thursday.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.