Good morning, here are today’s political law links, 4/29/13

CONTRIBUTION DETAIL ORDERED. Story here. “A federal judge has ordered two plaintiffs’ law firms to provide details of their political contributions following ‘pay to play’ allegations put forth by a defendant in a securities class action.”

NEY ON C-SPAN. Bob Ney discussed his book yesterday. More here.

WONKBLOG ON CFR. The Post. “What sets the Wyden-Murkowski bill apart? A number of features look familiar to DISCLOSE.”

DONATIONS AND NOMINATION. Story here. “As U.S. Sen. Harry Reid was considering Las Vegas attorney Jennifer Dorsey for a federal judgeship in May, two senior partners at her law firm made $150,000 in contributions to a political action committee associated with the Nevada senator, records show.”

CA: CANDIDATE FINED. Story here. “The California Fair Political Practices Commission on Thursday, April 25, fined Mendocino County 5th District Supervisor Dan Hamburg $9,500 for incorrectly reporting his campaign finances during the Nov. 2, 2010 election in which he won his seat, including a charge that he didn’t report more than $5,000 of contributions.”

NC: INVESTIGATION SUPPORTED. Story here. “A majority of members on the North Carolina Board of Elections say they support opening a campaign-finance investigation into 2012 political donations from the operators of sweepstakes games.”

VA: CANDIDATE AMENDS FORMS. The Post. “Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II announced Friday that he had received more gifts from Star Scientific chief executive Jonnie R. Williams Sr. than he had previously reported and that he had asked the Richmond commonwealth’s attorney to review his disclosure filings.”

VA: SPOTLIGHT ON ETHICS RULES. The Post. “Virginia requires only that officials disclose any gifts worth more than $50.”

VT: PROFESSOR URGES CAUTION. Here. “Constitutional law scholar Cheryl Hanna urged the House Government Operations committee on Friday to be cautious about instituting new campaign finance reforms.”

HAVE A GREAT DAY.

Good morning, here are today’s political law links, 4/26

OPINION ON SAME SEX CONTRIBUTION ISSUE. LAT. “Married same-sex couples cannot make joint contributions to federal candidates as opposite-sex couples are permitted to do, the Federal Election Commission said Thursday, a decision that gay rights advocates said reinforced their case for overturning the Defense of Marriage Act.”

EQUAL TIME AND COLBERT. Slate. “With the show’s nightly viewership of 1.5 million and the documented ‘Colbert bump’ in a politician’s support after an appearance, is Colbert violating election laws by blending his hosting role with his sister’s campaign?”

LOBBYING UPHEAVAL. The Times. “Lobbyists and their lawyers are capitalizing on arcane gaps in regulatory guidelines. For example, constricted definitions of lobbying contained in Congressional regulations have been construed to exempt from disclosure money spent on grass roots mobilization; on television, digital and social media campaigns; and on public relations efforts to build support among voters and key elites.”

UNUSED FUNDS. Story here. “Baucus has several options for what he can do with all that cash, according to Federal Election Commission regulations. The only real restriction is that he can’t keep it for himself.”

SEC RUMBLING. The Times. “S.E.C. officials have indicated that they could propose a new disclosure rule by the end of April, setting up a major battle with business groups that oppose the proposal and are preparing for a fierce counterattack if the agency’s staff moves ahead.”

IL: PLEA TO EMANUEL. Story here. “A group of self-styled reform aldermen said Thursday they want to help Mayor Rahm Emanuel live up to his campaign pledge to give the city’s top corruption buster unfettered access to city documents, though it’s unclear whether the push will gain traction.”

NJ: CFR UPDATE. Here. “A major campaign finance overhaul to be introduced today by state Senate Democrats would override the confusing patchwork of local pay-to-play laws that critics say allow many companies to make large donations to politicians who award them public contracts, The Star-Ledger has learned.”

SC: DEBATE DELAYED. Story here. “Leaders of the South Carolina House said Thursday that a re-written ethics package addresses critics’ concerns, but with a deadline looming, the chamber postponed a vote.”

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND.

Thursday’s political law links, 4/25/13

LOBBYISTS TRAINING TEAM WEBINAR.  Lobbyists.info.  Dave Levinthal’s on the training team for Lobbyists.info’s “Going on the Offensive: Developing an Engaged Media Strategy.  In this 90-minute webinar, two media relations experts and a political reporter show you how to develop your media strategy, engage with the press and manage potential controversy.”

AL:  PERSONAL USE CHARGES.  Story here.  “Former state senator Lowell Ray Barron, for years a legislative powerhouse in Montgomery, has been indicted on charges of violating the state’s ethics and campaign finance laws,  the attorney general’s office announced.”

FL:  BILL TO GOVERNOR.  News here.  “Florida lawmakers on Wednesday sent to the governor two compromise proposals that rewrite the state’s campaign finance laws and impose new ethics rules on elected officials.”

IL:  CAMPAIGN MONEY TO CHARITY.  Story here.  “Daley could have put the money in his pocket and paid taxes on it. State law bans that practice, but Daley is part of an increasingly smaller group of veteran politicians allowed to take what was in their campaign funds as of the end of June 1998. The former mayor chose another route.”

NV:  CFR BILL MOVES.  Story here.  “A debate over whether buying suits and work attire is proper use of campaign funds threatened to derail a campaign reform bill before it was finally passed by the Nevada Senate.”

NY:  CFR FEAR.  Story here.  “Senate Republicans say a newly proposed public campaign finance system will cost taxpayers $221.5 million in an election cycle for statewide and legislative races – a number far higher than the amount estimated last week by Assembly Democrats.”

NY:  CROOKS, IDIOTS, AND CFR.  Here.  “Senate Republican Leader Dean Skelos again spoke out against a public campaign-finance system on Tuesday, telling reporters that it wouldn’t stop the ‘crooks and idiots’ who break the law.”

NC:  CAMPAIGN MONEY SWEEPSTAKES.  Story here.  “State elections officials are calling for an investigation of $235,000 in political donations to dozens of North Carolina candidates from an Oklahoma sweepstakes operator, contributions that they say may have violated state campaign finance laws.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.