Wed., 3-12 political law links

IS THE PARTY OVER?  The Hill.  “The legislation, which is now headed to President Obama’s desk, would take the $126 million that is used to fund the annual convention parties and instead designate it for pediatric medical research.”

MYSTERY REDACTIONS.  NJ.  “What’s in this report? Why have Republicans pushed to publish it? How did it get redacted over the objections of presidentially appointed commissioners?”

LERNER ROLE TOPIC OF REPORT.  House Oversight.  “The report details Ms. Lerner’s role in the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)’s targeting of conservative groups in her position as the IRS Director of Exempt Organizations, the division that led the targeting effort.”

CLINTON AIDE IN SCHEME.  CBS.  “A campaign adviser to Hillary Rodham Clinton was involved in an off-the-books operation to help the former first lady’s 2008 presidential campaign in four states and Puerto Rico, according to federal court documents.”

CA:  MORE POWER FOR THE FPPC.  LAT.  “The Assembly gave final legislative approval Monday to a bill that aims to crack down on anonymous campaign money by giving California’s ethics and tax agencies more authority to conduct investigations.”

CO:  COMPLAINT REHASH.  Denver Post.  “The Hickenlooper complaint centers on the Democratic Governors Association meeting in Aspen last year, which Hickenlooper hosted. Compass Colorado, the conservative group that filed the complaint, alleges the governor violated the state’s gift ban by allowing the group to pick up expenses for him and his staff, and questioned staff time in planning the outing.”

FL:  HOW’S CFR WORKING?  Orlando Sentinel.  “As we predicted last year, Florida’s campaign-finance ‘reform’ passed last session left a glaring loophole: not requiring the state parties to file reports on which companies and causes were filling their coffers as frequently as for candidates.”

NY:  LIU TO CHALLENGE BOARD.  Politicker.  “The former comptroller, who is still exploring a return to elected office and maintaining an extensive public schedule, will hold a press conference tomorrow in Manhattan to announce a ‘federal challenge’ to the Campaign Finance Board after he was denied public matching funds during last year’s mayoral race.”

PA:  SUPER PA(C) RULING.  Pennlive.com.  “A federal judge is temporarily barring Pennsylvania from enforcing a political financing law that a Washington D.C.-based Democratic ‘super PAC’ claims violates its right to seek corporate and union donors.”

UT:  NO LIMITS.  SLT.  “Utah will remain one of only four states that have no campaign-donation limits. The House killed the latest attempt to create them on Monday.”

WI:  BACKING CFR.  The Cap Times.  “Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, the state business lobby, and the Wisconsin Realtors Association have both registered in support of SB655, which, among other things, would repeal a law that previously prohibited lobbyists from making contributions before June of an election year.”

HAVE A GREAT DAY.

Here are today’s political law links

BACKER PROFILE.  USAT.  “Government watchdogs view McCutcheon, argued before the justices last October, as the biggest threat to campaign-finance regulations since the high court’s 2010 Citizens United ruling allowed the use of unlimited corporate and union money to influence candidate races.”

PROSECUTORS:  GRAY KNEW.  Fox News.  “D.C. Democratic Mayor Vincent Gray knew about an illicit ‘shadow campaign’ that boosted his 2010 election run, federal prosecutors said Monday, a startling revelation in the years-long federal investigation into the off-the-books campaign activity. Gray has steadfastly denied such knowledge.”

NOT GUILTY PLEA.  Local10.com.  “An associate of former U.S. Rep. David Rivera, R-Fla., has pleaded not guilty to four campaign finance violations involving alleged illegal contributions to a previously unknown candidate.”

MEET TOM STEYER.  NJ.  “Steyer isn’t campaigning for any office, but in little more than a year, the environmental advocate has catapulted from a member of the national Democratic donor community to one of the party’s biggest political spenders.”

FL:  $500K MISTAKE.  Naples News.  “There’s a bit of a $500,000 mystery associated with the re-election campaign of Gov. Rick Scott.”

HI:  SUPER ALOHA.  Civilbeat.com.  “The two Hawaii residents, both deeply experienced in local politics, recently filed paperwork with the state Office of Elections to set up a political action committee called Hawaii’s Future.”

IA:  ANONYMOUS GIVING.  Globe Gazette.  “The unlimited, anonymous money that shook the 2012 elections may be poised to make its way down the ballot.”

MI:  UNION FINE.  MLive.com.  “The Service Employees International Union will pay almost $200,000 to settle alleged campaign finance violations from a failed 2012 ballot proposal seeking collective bargaining rights for home health workers.”

NJ:  TRENTON PAY TO PLAY NEWS.  The Trentonian.  “Mayor George Muschal released a statement Friday night in response to a possible illegal donation to Eric Jackson’s campaign after city officials waffled this week as to which department would investigate the matter.”

NY:  QUESTIONS FOR CUOMO.  NYDN.  “National liberal groups are questioning Gov. Cuomo’s commitment to creating a state campaign public financing system similar to the city’s.”

PA:  SUPER PAC HELP.  The Sentinel.  “A Washington-based political action committee that spent millions on behalf of Democratic candidates for the New Jersey Legislature last year plans to provide similar aid in 2014 to Democrats running for Pennsylvania’s Republican-controlled Legislature.”

AUSTRALIA:  KEY “NOT” MISSING.  Yahoo News.  The country’s electoral commission apparently adjudicates the truth of campaign posters:  “The Electoral Commission has clarified Labor election posters targeting independent Senator Nick Xenophon’s X-Team candidates are not misleading after mistakenly stating they were.”

HAVE A GREAT DAY.

Mon. 3-10-14 political law links

XBOX LIVE POLITICAL ADS.  WP.  “Microsoft is trying to persuade politicians to take out targeted ads on Xbox Live, Skype, MSN and other company platforms as midterm elections begin heating up around the country.”

SUPER PAC READY.  TIME.  “This weekend is a big one for the juggernaut Hillary Clinton for President shadow campaign.”

ALLEGED REIMBURSEMENT.   Local10.com.  “According to the indictment, [Russell] Adler was reimbursed about $200,000 in campaign contributions made to Republican presidential candidate John McCain in 2008 and another $5,000 made to former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist.”

ARREST IN NICARAGUA.  NBCMiami.com.  “A woman under investigation for a campaign finance scheme tied to former congressman David Rivera was brought back to South Florida from Nicaragua Friday to face election violation charges, sources and authorities said.”

KY:  DUAL CANDIDACY BILL PUSH.  UPI.  “A proposed Kentucky bill lets a candidate run for multiple offices, allowing Sen. Rand Paul to run for president and his current seat, a state legislator said.”

LA:  BILLS FILED.  Times-Picayune.  No fewer than 11 bills have been filed related to campaign finance and ethics subjects.

MT:  NEW PAC.  MTPR.org.  “PACs have been the source of so-called dark money over the last few elections cycles, and a lot of that spending in Montana has been aimed at helping more conservative Republicans win primary campaigns.”

UT:  BILLS ADVANCE.  Salt Lake Tribune.  “Legislators are advancing a long list of ethics reforms growing out of the scandals that toppled Attorney General John Swallow, but one key reform long sought by good-government groups has quietly faded away.”

UT:  CFR MOVES.  Deseret News.  “Candidates for public office who fail to report campaign contributions on time might have to pay fines.”

VA:  ETHICS DEAL.  RTD.  “The new measure places an annual limit of $250 on so-called ‘tangible’ gifts that lawmakers may receive from a single individual or entity.”  Here’s S.B. 649.

WI:  MJS OPPOSES.  Here.  “One of the bills that was being pushed by Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) would have allowed lobbyists to hand checks to legislators and other elected officials during the legislative session, a practice that is currently barred — and for good reason.”

WI:  COMPLAINT ON FUNDS.  Townhall.com.  “The Republican Party of Wisconsin has filed a complaint with the state’s campaign and elections agency against the AFL-CIO, alleging the labor union failed to disclose its activity in attempting to influence a state Assembly election.”

HAVE A GREAT DAY.