Wed. political law links

OCE REFERS. Roll Call. “The Office of Congressional Ethics referred seven of its nine pending cases to the House Ethics Committee for further review, according to its quarterly report released Tuesday.”

IRS ALLEGATIONS. The Hill. “The Internal Revenue Service inappropriately authorized or disclosed confidential tax records of political candidates or donors four times in the last seven years — at least once on purpose, according to a Treasury inspector general.”

SEC PETITION ANNIVERSARY. August will mark two years since a rulemaking petition (scroll down to File No. 4-637) was filed with the SEC regarding corporate disclosure of political activity.

BUSINESS AND CFR PANEL. CED. “The Committee for Economic Development and the Conference Board Governance Center will host a luncheon policy event featuring a new report from CED and a national business leader survey on the role of money in politics on Wednesday, July 24th.”

AZ: ALLEGED FAILURE TO DISCLOSE. Story here. “State elections officials have determined there is ‘reasonable cause’ to suspect that a left-leaning advocacy group behind a series of attack ads directed at Phoenix Councilman Sal DiCiccio is violating campaign-finance laws.”

ID: LOBBYIST RETAINED. Story here. “The way city officials see it, paying a lobbyist pays for itself.”

PA: VOTER ID LAW DEFENSE. Story here. “Supporters contend that voter I.D. will prevent voter fraud and ensure the integrity of the electoral process. But opponents charge that it will disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of people, especially minorities, who do not have a photo I.D., and that the measure was a Republican-led effort that was enacted for political reasons.”

TN: GOVERNOR DEFENDS. Story here. “Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam told NewsChannel 5 that he does not believe his private payments to lobbyist Tom Ingram violated state campaign finance laws.”

HAVE A GREAT DAY.

Good morning, here are Tues. political law links

SENATORS FILE ON PAPER. Story here. “Candidates for the House and the presidency have been required for years to file their reports electronically, but in the Senate, e-filing is only voluntary.”

CAMPAIGN DEBT. Politico. “Obama’s primary campaign committee Obama for America remains significantly in debt to vendors, consultants and other service providers more than six months after election day.”

LD-203 REMINDER. Here. “The Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007 requires active lobbying registrants and individual lobbyists to file a semi-annual report of certain contributions along with certification that the filer understands the gift and travel rules of both the House and the Senate.”

DC: CFR UPDATE. Story here. “D.C. Council member David Grosso wants to see a makeover of the city’s campaign finance system, WAMU reported.”

IL: EMANUEL FUNDRAISING. Story here. “A relentless stream of contributions is flowing into the Chicago for Rahm Emanuel fund — hundreds of 5,000 donations from individuals, dozens of 10,000 donations from companies, 10 donations from labor unions of roughly 50,000 apiece. Nearly 770 donations and 3.2 million so far, based on public records that will be updated this week with a quarterly report to the state.”

MD: REPORT AT ISSUE. The Post. “A committee that helped finance Prince George’s County Executive Rushern L. Baker’s 2010 bid for office did not report a $206,000 contribution to his campaign, according to state election records.”

PA: POLICE BAN DEFENDED. I hadn’t heard about this before: “The city of Philadelphia urged the Third Circuit on Thursday to reject a constitutional challenge to a provision of the Philadelphia Home Rule Charter banning members of the Philadelphia Police Department from making political contributions, saying the ban justifiably protects public interests.”

VT: SHUMLIN BANKS. Story here. “Gov. Peter Shumlin pulled in $87,620 in donations in 2013, padding a war chest that now stands at $706,692.”

HAVE A GREAT DAY.

Good morning, today’s political law links, 7-15

FEC STRUGGLE. The Post. “Long-standing dysfunction at the Federal Election Commission reached a new level of personal acrimony in recent weeks, fueled by a power struggle between Republican commissioners and the agency’s top lawyer, who abruptly resigned.”

NOMINATIONS MOVE. Levinthal. “The Senate Rules and Administration Committee will on July 24 conduct a confirmation hearing on President Barack Obama’s two new nominees to the Federal Election Commission, three government officials familiar with the proceedings tell the Center for Public Integrity.”

RETURN TO OFA. Politico. “President Barack Obama’s most loyal donors returned with big contributions to the nonprofit formed to boost his second term agenda.”

CT: CHANGES DECRIED. Story here. “League member Jara Burnett called the law ‘a disaster’ and wanted to know what could be done to fight it.”

DC: ROLE OF STRAW DONORS. Colbert King. “If your boss or a close friend asked you to use his money to make a campaign contribution in your own name, would you do it?”

DC: SHADOW CAMPAIGN FIGURE. The Post. “He was also a champion political fundraiser who over two decades used his wealth to extend his influence, in and out of politics. He described himself as ‘the Governor’ of the District, even though he had never been elected to public office and few outside government knew his name.”

DC: CENSURE AND FINE. Story here. “The District’s ethics board censured and fined D.C. Council member Marion Barry on Thursday for failing to disclose gifts he received from city contractors.”

GA: WHO’S EXEMPT FROM GIFT LIMITS? Here. “Of the 120,000 employees in the executive branch, about 50,000 fall outside the governor’s jurisdiction, according to Brian Robinson, a spokesman for Deal.”

MT: DISCLOSURE ISSUES. Here. “The new state commissioner of political practices issued a tough and detailed decision Wednesday as he starts handling complaints over the way outside groups avoid disclosure of political spending.”

NYC: QUINN DRAWS COMPLAINT. Story here. “A complaint filed with the New York City Campaign Finance Board is seeking an investigation into mayoral candidate Christine Quinn’s decision to accept travel-expense reimbursements from a national political-action committee for a series of fundraising trips.”

OH: CUYAHOGA UPDATE. Story here. “A majority of Cuyahoga County Council members voted Wednesday to reject a proposal to restrict campaign donations in countywide races, including their own.”

OR: CONTRIBUTION CREDIT CHANGES. Here. “Beginning the 2014 tax year, that credit goes away for singles with adjusted gross incomes above $100,000 and joint filers above $200,000.”

UT: NEW DATABASE. Story here. “A new database launched by a grass-roots organization has made it easier than ever to access Utah political campaign finance information.”

TN: HASLAM ALLEGATIONS. Story here. “State e-mails, obtained by NewsChannel 5 Investigates, raise new questions about whether Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam broke campaign finance laws by paying lobbyist Tom Ingram out of his own pocket.”

VA: FIRST LADY ROLE. The Post. “[Maureen McDonnell’s] retreat from the spotlight has coincided with her emergence at the center of a growing investigation into gifts to her and her family from a wealthy businessman named Jonnie R. Williams Sr.

VA: WORST WEEK. The Post. “Oh, Bob. Bob, Bob, Bob.”

VA: CALLS FOR REFORM. Story here. “State Sen. Ralph Northam, the Democrat running for lieutenant governor, is calling for new ethics rules in Virginia, including the creation of an ethics board and a $100 cap on gifts to lawmakers and their immediate families.”

HAVE A GREAT DAY.