Good morning, here are today’s political law links, 5/2/13

STETSON ON COMPLIANCE. Scott Stetson discusses the importance of a vigorous political activity compliance program here.

EDITORIAL URGES SEC ACTION. Seattle Times. “If the owners of a company want to know what political causes it supports, it ought to tell them, because it is their company. People want to know. They want to know what their company is saying, and what other companies are saying to them. The SEC has been compelling corporate disclosure for almost 80 years. It has the power to do this, and it should do it.”

DATA OP UPDATE. The Hill. “The Republican National Committee is planning to spend up to $20 million to build a data-sharing platform that aims to cut the Democratic Party’s data-mining advantage in time for the upcoming election cycles.”

SOROS SON CFR PUSH. USAT. “The super PAC that Soros co-founded in April last year, Friends of Democracy, plans to double the number of House races — from eight in 2012 to 16 in 2014 — in which it will spend money backing candidates who support stricter campaign-finance laws.”

INDICTMENT IN FCPA MATTER. Story here. “A former executive of the U.S. subsidiary of a French power and transportation company was charged in a superseding indictment for his alleged participation in a scheme to pay bribes to foreign government officials, Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut David B. Fein and Assistant Director in Charge Valerie Parlave of the FBI’s Washington Field Office announced today.”

CT: TRIP QUESTIONS. News here. “A weekend trip by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy to Washington, D.C. for a White House correspondents’ dinner Saturday night is raising legal questions and drawing political criticism because his expenses for travel, hotel accommodations and food — more than $1,000 — were paid by People Magazine.”

DE: COMMON CAUSE ERROR. Story here. “An advocacy group withdrew a report today that it distributed criticizing state political donations from Delaware companies and interest groups after discovering that it grossly overstated campaign spending by the organizations.”

FL: SCOTT SIGNS BILL. Story here. “The campaign finance bill (HB 569) imposes more frequent reporting deadlines for political candidates and raises the maximum contribution limits for the first time since 1991.”

IA: BACHMANN DEVELOPMENT. Story here. “The Iowa Senate Ethics Committee has asked the state Supreme Court to appoint an investigator to look into allegations that Michele Bachmann’s presidential campaign improperly paid former staffer Kent Sorenson.”

ME: CFR RESOLUTION PASSES. Story here. “The resolution supports a proposed constitutional amendment introduced in March by independent U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch, D-Fla., that would ‘expressly exclude for-profit corporations from the rights given to natural persons by the Constitution of the United States, prohibit corporate spending in all elections, and affirm the authority of Congress and the states to regulate corporations and to regulate and set limits on all election contributions and expenditures.'”

NYC: WHAT LIU KNEW. Story here. “Mayoral candidate John Liu knew his campaign was drumming up large donations by breaking campaign finance laws, federal prosecutors suggested in closing arguments Tuesday.”

VA: ETHICS COMMISSION PROPOSED. Story here. “Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe on Tuesday proposed forming an independent ethics commission to oversee elected officials and their staff.”

HAVE A GREAT DAY.

Good morning, here are today’s political law links, 5/1/13

ETHICS ALARM. Story here. “A growing trend in the state capital is raising alarms for ethics watchdogs: political consultants who work to elect lawmakers, then turn around and lobby them on behalf of private clients.”

YAHOO: DISCLOSURE RESOLUTION NEWS. Here. “Another proposal would require Yahoo to disclose its political contributions. That would ‘bring our Company in line with a growing number of leading companies, including Exelon, Merck, and Microsoft, that support political disclosure and accountability,’ the proposal says. The board also opposes the plan saying that it ‘contains ambiguities that would be difficult in practice to implement.'” Which reminds me to mention Proxyfacts.org, a new CCP site devoted to corporate political disclosure issues.

MORE MORESOFTMONEYHARDLAW.COM. Perkins Coie’s site is back online with new posts here.

CA: DOWNLOAD RESISTANCE. LA Times. “California Secretary of State Debra Bowen is resisting a push by activists and journalists for better disclosure of campaign finance data, arguing in essence that it would cost too much to comply.”

NY: LOBBYIST BOARD PROPOSALS. News here. “Proposed changes to ethics rules unveiled Tuesday would make it easier for lobbyists to conceal their donors and clients and funders from public view and would broaden a ban on gifts to politicians in Albany, where numerous corruption cases have ensnared state lawmakers.”

SC: ETHICS UPDATE. Story here. “The S.C. House passed a bill Tuesday that would end the practice of lawmakers policing themselves without public oversight.”

UT: LOBBYIST REPORTING ISSUE. Story here. “Of 435 registered lobbyists in Utah, only 15 reported spending any money on disclosure forms to dine lawmakers during the first quarter this year. And the relatively little they reported was spread among only 51 of the state’s 104 legislators.”

VA: ETHICS DOMINATES RACE. Story here. “The controversy involving Star Scientific could end up making significant waves, though, in the race this year to succeed McDonnell as governor of Virginia, a position that can serve as a launching pad for further political ambitions.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.

Good morning, here are Tuesday’s political law links, 4/30

CHINESE TIES NOTED. Story here. “Besides APCO, Huawei has also built an in-housing lobbying shop stocked with former members of Congress and top congressional staff, at a cost of $1.2 million. The Chinese firm also retained the Chicago-based law firm Sidley Austin whose most famous alumnus is First Lady Michelle Obama.”

OBAMA AND CFR.   The Post.  “The vacancy issue came up at last Thursday’s regular FEC meeting, which featured nearly two dozen schoolchildren in the audience for Take Our Children to Work Day. The scene prompted FEC Chairman Ellen Weintraub — whose term officially expired in 2009 — to pose a question.’Anyone want to be commissioner?’ she asked. A few kids raised their hands. ‘Write the president and tell him you want to be a commissioner, because we need somebody.'”

TECH AND (C)(4)’S. Politico. “Google, Microsoft, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and other digital heavyweights increasingly are borrowing a favorite technique from the world of politics: secret money.”

CREW TERMINATION. Roll Call. “The Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) has filed a first quarter lobbying report and stated it was a termination report, effective April 19th. The report indicated the committee had spent less than $5,000 on lobbying during the first quarter.”

AZ: WHAT’S NEXT FOR LOBBYIST REGULATION? Here. “But any agreement on solutions, not to mention the political will to enact them, still eludes lawmakers two years after the Fiesta Bowl lobbying scandal roped in dozens of politicians, top bowl officials and a handful of lobbyists.”

AR: BALLOT MEASURE NEEDS CLARITY. Story here. “Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel rejected a proposed ethics reform ballot title Monday on grounds of ambiguous language.”

NJ: PAY TO PLAY MOVE URGED. Here. “The confusion of laws now on the books is no excuse for manipulating them or ignoring them completely. But simpler, all-inclusive regulations spelling out what is wrong and what is right will put all candidates and public officials on the same page.”

NY: PUBLIC FUNDING UPDATE. Story here. “Using public money to help fund political campaigns is either a bona fide way to bolster the influence of small donors or a serious waste of taxpayer dollars, depending on whom you speak to at the state Capitol and which party they belong to.”

NY: GIRLFRIEND AND ETHICS. Story here. “A conservative group wants a ruling on whether Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s girlfriend, Food Network TV star Sandra Lee, should disclose financial information as if she’s the governor’s wife.”

VA:  FBI AND GOV.  The Post.  “FBI agents are conducting interviews about the relationship between Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell, his wife, Maureen, and a major campaign donor who paid for the food at the wedding of the governor’s daughter, according to four people familiar with the questioning.”

HAVE A GREAT DAY.