Tues. political law links

POST HITS KOCHS ON ANONYMITY. WP. “What do they fear from disclosure of their political investments?”

CAMPAIGN FINANCE SOLUTIONS. Bloomberg. “The goal of keeping big money out of elections (whatever its merits) is basically impossible to achieve under current constitutional doctrine.”

ARREST IN ALLEGED SCHEME. NBCNewYork.com. “Diana Durand was arrested by the FBI Monday, accused of using straw donors to allegedly funnel more than $10,000 into the Grimm campaign. She also allegedly lied to federal agents when questioned about the scheme and her alleged violations of the $4,800 campaign limits, officials said.”

STRANGE CU OP-ED TITLE. Asbury Park Press: “Curb the freedoms of Citizens United”.

FRANKEN SEEKS AMENDMENT. B&C. “Franken wants to amend the Constitution to overturn the Citizens United decision.”

DC: PROSECUTORS REVIEWING. WP. “The District’s top attorney said Monday that he has allowed federal investigators to review city government documents concerning a multimillion-dollar settlement with the alleged financier of a ‘shadow campaign’ for Mayor Vincent C. Gray.”

VT: CFR LATEST. NPR. “A new campaign finance bill that would regulate contributions for state and local officials seems likely to pass after a conference committee merged differing legislation from the House of Representatives and the Senate.”

WA: GMA FILES SUIT. Fox. “The GMA claims Ferguson is unconstitutionally enforcing Washington’s laws and challenges the constitutionality of requiring the GMA to register a political committee before requesting and receiving contributions to oppose Initiative 522.”

HAVE A GREAT DAY.

Good morning, here are Monday’s political law links

TELEFORUM ON IRS PROPOSALS.  Fed-Soc.  It doesn’t look like the audio is online, yet, for last week’s teleforum on the (c)(4) proposal.

TRAVEL RULES FOCUS. National Journal. “Big corporations bankroll some nonprofits, whose trips, in turn, can feature stops at the businesses of their corporate funders. As a bonus, the growing use of 501(c)(3) nonprofits, which occupy the same charitable rung of the tax code as soup kitchens and the American Red Cross, means that the wealthy and corporate donors underwriting congressional travel can do so in secret and get a tax write-off along the way.”

LOBBYING #’S. WP. “Tough restrictions imposed by President Obama that effectively put administration jobs off-limits to lobbyists appeared to prompt many K Streeters to remove themselves from the lobbying rolls.”

AR:  DARR RESIGNS.  News here.  “Lt. Gov. Mark Darr announced his resignation from office Friday night, effective Feb. 1, following pressure from political leaders after he admitted to campaign spending missteps.”

DC: APOLOGY FOR 10. WP. “The apology, delivered at a Southeast Washington community center, was an acknowledgment that the Democratic primary may well be decided by the electorate’s willingness to look past the campaign scandals and ongoing federal investigation that have defined much of his term.”

CT:  NEW RULES, GOT IT?  Here.  “Under a new campaign finance law passed earlier this year the state party’s can now give gubernatorial candidates an unlimited amount of money even if they’re participating in the public finance system.”

MA:  RULES SCOTCH PARTY.  Newburyportnews.com.  “Several city employees were organizing the event, but because Kezer is an elected official, campaign finance law prohibits public employees from soliciting money for any event honoring a candidate.”

TN:  BREAKFAST OK.  News here.  “Campaign finance officials have dismissed a complaint lodged over a pancake breakfast hosted by state Sen. Jim Tracy 11 days before he launched his bid for Congress.”

VA:  INAUGURAL FUNDRAISING.  WP.  “Virginia Gov.-elect Terry McAuliffe has raised nearly $1.3 million for his inaugural festivities, with cash coming from a wide range of donors both inside and outside the state.”

VA: NEW EO LIMITS. WP. “McAuliffe’s order imposes a strict $100 gift cap on himself and the executive branch. It establishes an ethics commission, including $100,000 in start-up funds, with the authority to monitor compliance and recommend discipline for violators.”

WI: QUASHED. WSAW.com. “A Wisconsin judge quashed subpoenas and ordered the return of property to the targets of a secret campaign-finance investigation involving Governor Scott Walker.” More at Althouse.

HAVE A GREAT DAY.

Thurs., 1-9-14 political law links

FACEBOOK CORRECTS.  AllFacebook.com.  “Facebook’s political-action committee, fbPAC, adjusted its contributions to three senators following an inquiry by the Federal Election Commission, Roll Call’s Political MoneyLine blog reported.”

HILLARY $UPER PAC.  Fox.  “Ready for Hillary, the super PAC trying to build a groundswell of support for a potential Hillary Rodham Clinton presidential campaign, says it raised more than $4 million in 2013.”

SUPER PAC REPORTS.  USAT.  “A super PAC backing Sen. David Vitter, R-La., raised more than $750,000 during the second half of 2013, the group’s treasurer Charles Spies said Wednesday.”

CO:  INDEPENDENT PARTY UNIT SEEKS OPINION.  WP.  “In a petition filed with Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler (R), the party asks permission to create an independent expenditure unit to raise and spend money on political campaigns. The party is asking Gessler to allow them to accept unlimited contributions, just as super PACs and other outside groups are allowed to do.”

CT:  ANOTHER SENTENCE.  CT Mirror.  “Paul Rogers, 41, of Middlebury, one of the smoke shop owners caught up in a conspiracy to bribe a state legislator to keep the roll-your-own business tax free, was sentenced to six months in prison Wednesday, a reward for his cooperation wilth federal authorities.”

ID:  SESSION SOLICITATION QUESTIONED.  Idaho Statesman.  “Rep. Phylis King emailed lobbyists Sunday suggesting that Friday’s $25 event ‘is a great opportunity to help Ada County Democrats,’ despite a tradition that discourages fundraising by lawmakers during the legislative session.”

MD:  SESSION PROMISE SOUGHT.  WP.  “On the eve of Maryland’s legislative session, gubernatorial hopeful Douglas F. Gansler took the unusual step Tuesday of asking the running mate of his chief Democratic rival, Anthony G. Brown, to refrain from raising money in the coming 90 days.”

NE:  TWEAKS TO CFR.  JournalStar.com.  “Chambers introduced a bill (LB676) on Wednesday that would require campaigns to file bank statements with the Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission. It also would make it illegal to take personal loans from a candidate’s campaign account and increase the fine limit for abuses related to campaign funds from $2,000 to $5,000.”

NJ:  TOUGHER PAY TO PLAY SUPPORTED.  NorthJersey.com.  “While no law in itself can guarantee integrity, a tough limit on pay-to-play donations is at least an attempt to rid the county of untoward political influence.”

VT:  VPIRG OPPOSES NEW LIMITS.  Here.  “Under current law, the limit on party donations is now $2,000. The cap would be $10,000 from a single source or a political action committee under the new proposal. In addition, a national political party can contribute up to $60,000 to a state party.”

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