Mon. 5-5-14 political law links

THE ASSAULT ON FREE SPEECH.  NRO.  “What is the right amount of speech to give to citizens in politics? Both major parties are debating this question as the 2014 midterm elections approach.”

A WAY FORWARD FOR CFR.  Boston Globe.  “Worried about the corrosive effects of unrestricted political spending, King persuaded the Senate leadership to let him chair a Rules Committee hearing on the matter. That hearing was just a few minutes along when it became clear just how differently the two parties have come to see the issue.”

LESSIG SUPER PAC.  TIME.  “The Mayday PAC, as it’s called, seeks to raise enough money to sway five House elections in 2014 and elect representatives who have committed to pressing for serious reform of the campaign finance system.”

STAND BY YOUR SUPER PAC.  News & Observer.  “The bill would require the leader of a super PAC, corporation or special interest group to appear in an ad and take responsibility for it. Ads also would have to disclose their sponsor’s top five donors.”

EARMARK UPDATE.  Roll Call.  “A Republican appropriator on Friday called for reviving congressional earmarks so lawmakers can use the power of the purse — but wants it to be transparent.”

LATEST FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE INSTRUCTIONS.  House Ethics (PDF).

IL:  SHOW A CONTRIBUTION?  Commdiginews.com.  “Chicago reporters grilled Rahm Emanuel Wednesday in his first press conference since a political firestorm ignited last week over released emails showing collusion between ‘Chicagoland’ producers and the Mayor’s senior advisers.”

IN:  ETHICS ISSUE CONCLUDES.  IBJ.com.  “An ethics panel cleared House Speaker Pro Tem Eric Turner of wrongdoing Wednesday for fighting a measure that would have cost him millions of dollars, but it urged lawmakers to strengthen the disclosure rules for public officials.”

LA:  VICTORY FOR SUPER PAC FREDOM.  Nola.com.  “Charles Spies, the Washington lawyer who founded the Fund for Louisiana’s Future (FFLF), praised the ruling Friday by District Court Judge Martin Feldman as an ‘important win for the right of political participation and First Amendment protections in Louisiana.'”

MO:  ETHICS STRUGGLE.  KY3.com.  “Although legislative leaders remain hopeful something will pass, a familiar pattern of opposition has emerged that suggests legislators are at an impasse.”

MT:  CURRENT COMMISSIONER V. FORMER COMMISSIONER.  Missoulian.com.  “The commissioner of political practices ruled Thursday that one of his predecessors violated Montana campaign-practices laws when he signed a tax form as the treasurer of a political group while still in office.”

RI:  FINE PAID.  WPRI.  “The Rhode Island House deputy whip has paid a more than $1,400 fine for filing his campaign finance reports late.”

VA:  PROF.  MCDONNELL.  WP.  “The part-time position at the Lynchburg university is not likely to bring McDonnell the big bucks he could have counted on absent the scandal.”

INDIA:  HERE’S YOUR DARK MONEY.  WP.  “In the previous two months, authorities had seized $45 million in suspected illegal campaign funds. They had discovered suspicious bundles of rupees in hearses and ambulances, in lunch boxes and in bags stashed on buses.”

HAVE A GREAT DAY.

Thurs. political law links, 5-1-14

JUSTICE STEVENS AND ETHICS.  Volokh.  “Justices and judges of course often speak out on what is broadly called ‘law reform’ — discussions of how the law ought to be improved — and Canon 4 expressly allows this…”

WHAT STEVENS SAID.  ABC.  “Campaign donations pay for more than political ads and should not be protected as free speech, former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens told a Senate panel Wednesday in urging them to rein in the billions of dollars shaping elections.”

VOTE ON AMENDMENT.  Roll Call.  “Senate Democrats plan to vote to amend the Constitution to upend recent Supreme Court decisions tossing federal laws restricting campaign contributions.”

KING LAMENTS.  WT.  “Sen. Angus King, who has introduced legislation requiring campaign donations of more than $1,000 to be reported to the Federal Election Commission within two days, said Wednesday that recent Supreme Court decisions on campaign finance means Congress has to work to strengthen disclosure of money in politics.”

QUESTIONS ON HATCH ACT.  Roll Call.  “Federal Election Commission Vice Chairwoman Ann Ravel went to Capitol Hill on Wednesday to testify about undisclosed political money in California, but she ended up answering questions about an FEC employee’s violation of the Hatch Act.”

VIEW ON HATCH ACT.  Wheeling News Register. “You’ve seen it happen dozens of times: A government official breaks the law. He or she is ‘severely reprimanded’ and forced to resign. And there the episode ends.”

SUPER PAC IN WV.  Roll Call.  “Two weeks before the primary, a super PAC that backs Republican women has entered a competitive House race in West Virginia.”

LIMITS IN THE NEWS.  NYDN.  “Rangel campaign officials said they’ve refunded some of the contributions and shifted others to a general election account to comply with the law.”

ME:  CHANGES SOUGHT.  Bangor Daily News.  “Center for Competitive Politics President David Keating said Maine law limiting the amount individuals can donate to a candidate or campaign are in direct conflict with a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the issue, McCutcheon vs. FEC.”

MA:  SETTLEMENTS REACHED.  Masslive.com.  “The Office of Campaign and Political Finance reached settlements with the election committees of Chicopee Mayor Richard Kos and West Springfield Mayor Edward Sullivan to rectify findings that city employees ran afoul of state laws prohibiting public workers from soliciting political donations.”

MO:  GIFT BAN SLOW.  CBS.  “As the end of the Missouri legislative session nears, how’s the effort to ban lobbyist gifts to lawmakers going?”

WI:  CAPS OFF.  Madison.com.  “A recent U.S. Supreme Court decision could mean the cap for how much money a single donor can give to state and local candidates will increase from $10,000 to $6.8 million, according to an elections watchdog group.”

HAVE A GREAT DAY.  I’ll send around the next set of links on Monday.  Have a great weekend.

Wed. political law links, 4-30-14

OSC ANNOUNCEMENT.  Press Release.  “The FEC referred to OSC evidence that the employee posted dozens of partisan political tweets, including many soliciting campaign contributions to President Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign and other political campaigns, despite Hatch Act restrictions that prohibit FEC and other ‘further restricted’ employees from such activity. The employee also participated in a Huffington Post Live internet broadcast via webcam from an FEC facility, criticizing the Republican Party and then-Presidential candidate Mitt Romney.  Following a joint investigation between OSC and the FEC Office of Inspector General, the employee admitted to violating the Hatch Act and resigned.”

FEC LAWYER INVESTIGATED.  WT.  “An employee at the Federal Election Commission, the nonpartisan agency that oversees campaigns, has resigned after admitting to campaigning for President Obama in 2012, in violation of federal laws.”

VICE CHAIR TO TESTIFY. WFB. “The vice chairwoman of the Federal Election Commission (FEC), who once falsely accused the Koch brothers of campaign finance disclosure violations, will testify on Wednesday before a congressional hearing about anonymous campaign donations.”

SUPPORTING WEHBY.  WS.  “A GOP super PAC is spending more than $75,000 on TV ads supporting Oregon Senate candidate Monica Wehby ahead of the state’s May 20 primary.”

SUPER PAC SPENDS.  Plain Dealer.  “A SuperPAC operated by former Bainbridge Township congressman Steve LaTourette on Tuesday filed Federal Election Commission paperwork that shows it spent $27,850 on a new mailing to oppose Tea Party Republican Matt Lynch’s challenge to LaTourette’s successor in Congress.”

DOLLARS AND SENSE.  The agenda for today’s hearing is online here.

LABOR SUPER PAC UP.  Boston Magazine.  “The recently formed National Association of Government Employees Independent Expenditure Political Action Committee has scheduled an ad attacking Charlie Baker, to run during the sixth inning of today’s Boston Red Sox game airing on NESN…”

READY FOR SUPER PACS.  NBC.  “Ready for Hillary recently submitted its first quarter income and spending to the Federal Election Commission. More than $375,000 went to online advertising, while $228,000 went to direct mail production, $135,000 to printing, and $46,000 for postage fees. In total, the pro-Hillary group spent $1.6 million through March 31.”

20 YEARS OF PAY TO PLAY.  Overby.  “While the Supreme Court this month took another step in freeing up big political donors, another set of federal restrictions on political money is celebrating its 20th anniversary. The so-called pay-to-play rules — enforced by the Securities and Exchange Commission — are a narrow but powerful way to control political cash.”

NONPROFIT DISCLOSURE QUESTIONS.  FoxNews.  “In an era of heightened scrutiny against tax-exempt nonprofits, one left-leaning labor group may be ripe for investigation.”

LA:  LIMIT RAISED.  The Advocate.  “Effective in July, the dollar amount that can be spent per occasion is increasing to $58. The per-event limit had been $57.”

NY:  GROUP SEEKS INQUIRY.  Newsday.  “A watchdog group has asked the state ethics commission to investigate whether lobbying laws were broken when a Suffolk County company hired politically connected developer Gary Melius to help get ignition interlock legislation enacted.”

NY:  CALL FOR PROBE.  NYP.  “Ed Cox says the US Attorney and JCOPE — the Joint Commission on Public Ethics — should look into whether Cuomo improperly meddled in the deliberations of the commission he impaneled to probe political corruption.”

HAVE A GREAT DAY.