Today’s political law links

SUPER PAC UPDATE.  MT Standard.  “Democrat John Lewis is heating up Montana’s U.S. House race by proposing a ‘cooling off’ period for political groups before they spend money to support the campaigns of their former leaders.”

ANTI-BROWN SITE.  Concord Monitor.  “A pro-Jim Rubens political action committee, called the New Hampshire PAC to Save America, is kicking off a new strategy aimed at bringing down Scott Brown.”

SENDING AN ENFORCEMENT MESSAGE.  Pensions & Investments.  “The first enforcement case brought under the SEC’s pay-to-play rules has increased awareness of the extent of the regulations, and their impact on managers and investors.”

REGISTRATION ISSUE.  Clarion-Ledger.  “The Federal Elections Commission says All Citizens for Mississippi, which paid for an ad featuring Bishop Ronnie Crudup urging black voters to oppose Chris McDaniel in the GOP primary runoff for U.S. Senate, officially registered as a political action committee on June 6.”

AZ:  HORNE SUES.  KFYI.com.  “The suit contends the Citizens Clean Elections Commission lacks the authority to investigate candidates not participating in Arizona’s public campaign funding system.”

CA:  FIESTA FINE.  Bizjournals.com.  “Arizona lobbyist Gary Husk is slated to pay a $5,000 fine in California over an alleged illegal campaign contribution in the 2005 San Diego mayor’s race.”

ME:  LAWSUIT ON LIMITS AND MORE.  Seacoastonline.com.  “The suit seeks a ruling that Maine’s campaign finance laws are unconstitutional because they violate the rights to free speech, equal protection and political expression and association.”

RI:  LOAN DISCLOSED.  Chron.com.  “A Statehouse lobbyist who failed to disclose that he loaned money to former House Speaker Gordon Fox has now said the loan was for $10,000.”

VA:  DECEPTION ALLEGED.  RTD.  “The former governor’s lawyers are trying to bar Maureen McDonnell’s interview statements from the McDonnells’ joint corruption trial that starts July 28.”

VA:  MCAULIFFE FUNDRAISING.  RTD.  “Gov. Terry McAuliffe raised significantly less money from large donors than his predecessor during his first six months in office, according to fundraising figures released Monday.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.

Political law links

PAY TO PLAY COMPLIANCE MEASURES.  Aristotle (David Mason):  “What is surprising, given Keith’s very active history of contributions to politicians in positions to influence investment decisions, is that apparently no one in a compliance role at the firm set up a pre-contribution screening system to prevent violations of SEC Rule 206(4)-5 which prohibits certain campaign contributions by pension fund advisors and their covered associates.”

LOBBYING BILL.  Roll Call.  “A bill recently introduced in Congress would require lobbyists to identify relatives who are senior government officials, and prohibit candidates and their committees from employing relatives.”

COURT CASE INVOLVING IRS.  The Hill.  “Two conservative organizations – Judicial Watch and True the Vote – won hearings over the missing emails of Lois Lerner, shifting the center of action on the IRS investigation this week from the Capitol to a federal district courthouse.”

DARK MONEY BEHIND REFORM EFFORT.   WFB.  “A liberal campaign finance reformer with ties to one of the left’s leading dark money outfits succeeded last week in raising $5 million to elect politicians who will pledge to reduce the influence of money in the American political process.”

CLINTON AND COORDINATION.  MJ.  “In the Wild West of post-Citizens United campaign finance law, there is a major loophole that would allow Clinton to work as closely as she likes with any of the super-PACs that are working to boost her 2016 chances. The same goes for any candidate who, like Clinton, does not hold political office and is not a declared candidate.”

CROWDPAC SEEKS OPINION.  Legal Newsline.  “Instead of going to a candidate’s individual website to donate, Crowdpac wants to offer web surfers the opportunity to browse an array of candidates and donate on site.”

CO:  GESSLER TRIP PAYMENT.  Denver Post.  “The Colorado Independent Ethics Commission seems to have averted what could have been a partisan political showdown over travel for elected officials Monday by giving tacit approval for Scott Gessler to go to Las Vegas.”

LA:  SUPER PAC SCOPE.  Nola.com.  “Despite being the new kid on the block, and in spite of the prohibition against coordinating with candidates and campaigns, super PACS are quickly becoming the most versatile tools campaigns have at their disposal.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.

Mon. political law links

REVERSAL OF FORTUNE.  House Ethics.  “In light of feedback we have received from our fellow Members and after further consideration, we have determined that the Committee will return to its previous guidance regarding disclosure of privately sponsored travel on financial disclosure reports, effective immediately.”

LESSIG PAC GOAL.  TechCrunch.  “Lawrence Lessig’s Mayday.us just raised a lot of money…to help get the money out of politics by campaigning to elect five politicians who will enact campaign finance reform.”

GRANNY D IN THE NEWS.  WT.  “Some 400 members of a non-partisan group pushing for campaign finance overhaul are on a 16-mile march along the seacoast to bring attention to the cause.”

LAFOLLETTE AND CFR.  JSOnline.com.  “As Wisconsin’s governor from 1901 to 1906, La Follette led a team that, despite stout opposition, made significant progress on the Progressive agenda.”

PLEDGES IN THE NEWS.  WWLP.  “It’s since been proposed by candidates — Republican and Democrat — in Senate races this year in Alaska, Kentucky and New Hampshire. Candidates running in Rhode Island’s Democratic primary for governor have already signed a pledge, and it’s been proposed in gubernatorial and attorney general races in Massachusetts.”

STEYER BIGGEST DONOR.  SFGate.  “Now, while 21 Americans have already kicked in $1 million to super PACs in this election cycle, according to NBC and the Center for Responsive Politics, [Tom] Steyer remains officially the biggest individual political donor to super PACs.”

IL:  SUPER PAC BUYING TOWN?  Chicago Tribune.  “But say a Super PAC was to come along and buy a small South Dakota town, name it Chicago West (no relation to Kanye) and then allow Emanuel to use the town to discreetly store certain elements of Chicago that people would like to see, shall we say, disappear?”

WV:  LABOR SUPER PAC LAUNCH.   Daily Mail.  “West Virginia organized labor created a new independent fundraising arm in an attempt to fight the flow of outside money affecting federal elections in the state.”

HAVE A GREAT DAY.