Thursday’s political law links, 6/27/13

SCOTUS AND CAMPAIGN FINANCE. HuffPo. “Ethics laws requiring disclosure of spousal income, banning gifts to spouses from certain sources and banning nepotism will now apply to elected, executive and federal agency officials in same-sex marriages and unions. Also, married same-sex couples will now be able to give joint contributions from a single bank account to political campaigns.”

DONOR AND DOMA. Politico. ”Paul Singer, the GOP mega-bundler who formed a super PAC, aimed at increasing the ranks of pro-gay marriage candidates, hailed the twin Supreme Court rulings today as ‘a victory for gay couples, for their families and for freedom.'”

DC: SCANDAL DRIP. Story here. “Like an unrepaired leaky faucet, the federal probe into illegal campaigning and D.C. government corruption is turning into a stream of convictions and court actions — a stream that should make the guilty still out there nervous and send them searching for life preservers.”

ME: LEPAGE CFR VETO. Story here. “LePage also vetoed two bills that would change campaign finance laws. LD 1023 would require that governors-elect form committees to oversee donations that fund transitional activities or inaugural events, and require record-keeping of donations of more than $10. LD 1271 would increase fines for candidates and political committees that violate campaign finance reporting requirements within 28 days of the end of the campaign. That bill passed unanimously through both chambers of the Legislature earlier this month.”

MO: FINE FOR FAILING TO REGISTER. Story here. “Ed Watkins, the founder and owner of WE News, LLC, and Graduate America Priority 1 (GAP-1) a key player in early negotiations to bring Ranken Tech to Wentzville, has been cited by the Missouri Ethics Commission for failure to register as a lobbyist.”

TX MAP LAW. Roll Call. “Texas Gov. Rick Perry has signed the Lone Star State’s new congressional map into law, ending the state’s long and twisted redistricting saga of the 2012 cycle.”

WV: LEGAL FEES FOR COMPLAINTS CONSIDERED. Story here. “The state Ethics Commission can order people who file ‘bad faith’ complaints to pay legal fees. But agency staff members could not recall a single time that has happened in the commission’s history.”

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

Wednesday’s political law links, 6.26.13

VRA DECISION IMPACT. Roll Call. “The Supreme Court’s landmark ruling to gut the 1965 Voting Rights Act will change the country’s politics. And in some cases, the change could come as soon as 2014.”

FREE SPEECH OPINION. Here.

DID LERNER WAIVE? The Hill. “The House Oversight Committee will vote Friday on whether an Internal Revenue Service official central to the agency’s targeting of conservative groups waived her Fifth Amendment rights before the committee last month.”

COFFEE AND PASTRY HIT. ABC News. “The Sunlight Foundation, a watchdog group advocating for government transparency, crunched the numbers for ABC News and found that the House of Representatives spent nearly $2 million on coffee and food in 2012 for events in and around the Capitol.”

POLITICAL INTELLIGENCE: GRASSLEY QUESTIONS GAP. Story here. “Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) is demanding that the Obama administration explain a four-hour gap in emails that he requested as part of his investigation into the political intelligence industry.”

KLOBUCHAR COSPONSORS.  News here.  “U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar cosponsored a constitutional amendment to allow Congress to override the Citizens United Supreme Court ruling and move forward with campaign finance reform.”

FEC MEETING. The agenda for tomorrow’s FEC meeting is online here.

MO:  CFR PROSPECTS.  Story here.  “Legislation carried this year by Rep. Kevin McManus, D-Kansas City, would make sweeping changes to Missouri’s election and campaign finance laws. House Bill 139 is almost identical to legislation sponsored in 2012 by then-Rep. Kander. The bill was referred to committee and never received a hearing or a vote.”

NJ: ENGINEERING FIRM AND CONTRIBUTIONS. Story here. “After a newspaper report Sunday exposed the company’s list of contributions, some of the Central Jersey officials who benefited from the tainted donations now say that they, too, were unaware of the shady dealings.”

NY: PROVISION PULLED. Story here. “In the Governor`s initial casino proposal, the bill given to the legislature, had a stipulation that read ‘prohibition of political contributions from gaming licensees and applicants’. However, in the final bill that was voted on and passed last week, article 1347 was removed.”

VA:  ROLEX ISSUE.  The Post.  “A prominent political donor purchased a Rolex watch for Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell, according to two people with knowledge of the gift, and the governor did not disclose it in his annual financial filings.”

HAVE A GREAT DAY.

Good morning, here are today’s political law links, 6.25.13

IRS UPDATE. The Hill. “The IRS was improperly screening groups seeking tax-exempt status when its acting chief took over in May — close to two weeks after the nation first learned that the agency had targeted conservative groups.”

STILL INAPPROPRIATE? Politico. “The IRS continued to use “inappropriate and questionable criteria” to flag groups seeking a tax exemption even after the tea party-targeting scandal came to light, the agency’s new leader said Monday.”

(C)(4) STREAMLINING. IRS. “Following a review of internal procedures to reduce the backlog of tax-exempt applications, the IRS is offering certain organizations that have applied for 501(c)(4) status a faster, optional method to gain tax-exempt status.”

BOOKER LAUNCH. Story here. “Newark mayor and Senate hopeful Cory Booker is poised to launch an ad campaign this week in his effort to succeed the late Frank Lautenberg, two media-tracking sources told POLITICO.”

PROBLEM VACANCIES. Story here. “Partisan divides and procedural delays in the Senate could leave the Federal Communications Commission stranded at three members and stall the confirmation of its new chairman for months — a threat to the agency’s work on spectrum policy and other high-profile initiatives.”

QUAYLE TO FIRM. Story here. “Ex-Rep. Ben Quayle (R-Ariz.) is making his return to Washington at the K Street firm Clark Hill, the firm is set to announce this week, and will not run for Congress in 2014.”

CA: FPPC MEETING VIDEO. Via FPPC_Chair. The video is for a recent FPPC meeting held in San Jose. At about 19m25s is a public comment from a gentleman who claims he and others were harassed by the FPPC apparently for being involved with groups that spent a few hundred dollars for political calls related to taxes. He claims “inspectors” were set loose on the “little guy” on the basis of a complaint crafted by lawyers. “Your people are being used to shut the little guy up,” he concludes.

CT: BILL NOW LAW. Story here. “Gov. Dannel P. Malloy says a campaign finance bill he has signed into law will make Connecticut a leader in requiring disclosure and transparency of campaign contributions.”

DC: GUILTY PLEA. WTOP. “A Philadelphia businessman has admitted that he was reimbursed for $132,000 in political contributions as part of a widening campaign finance scandal.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.