Tougher penalties, lobbyist disclosure, and other political law links

SUPER PAC SEASON. Story here. “A Washington fundraising heavyweight is helping to set up federal and state super PACs to support U.S. Sen. David Vitter, a move that heightens speculation that Vitter is eyeing a bid to run for governor.”

SUPER PAC SEASON II. The Hill. “A group of Hillary Clinton supporters is launching a campaign to draft her to run for president — the first major push from an outside group for her to run.”

AZ: TOUGHER PENALTIES PROPOSED. Story here. “Political candidates who knowingly violate certain campaign-finance laws would face tougher penalties under a proposal by a state lawmaker to make such offenses felony crimes instead of civil offenses.”

GA: LOBBYIST DISCLOSURE OVERVIEW. Here. “The disclosures suggest legislators became more sensitive to the appearance of impropriety accepting all those meals and other goodies presented. The decline was especially evident after the party primaries last July.”

PA: PHILLY FINE. Story here. “Philadelphia’s Board of Ethics has slapped a longtime member of City Council with more than $20,000 in fines, for campaign finance and ethics violations.”

SC: ETHICS OVERHAUL. Story here. “The South Carolina Commission on Ethics Reform, an independent eleven-member panel co-chaired by former South Carolina Attorneys General Henry McMaster, a republican, and Travis Medlock, a democrat, delivered its final report and recommendations for strengthening state ethics, election, campaign finance and public records laws.”

UT: ETHICS LAW UPDATE. Story here. “Amid yet more calls for ethics reform amid a scandal involving new Attorney General John Swallow, lawmakers took some first steps Monday to advance bills designed to prevent election shenanigans.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.

Ring conviction affirmed and other political law links

RING CONVICTION AFFIRMED. Opinion. “On appeal, Ring argues that the district court’s instructions on the honest-services counts misstated the law, that the jury lacked sufficient evidence to find that an ‘official act’ underlay the illegal-gratuity charge, and that the district court ran afoul of Federal Rule of Evidence 403 and the First Amendment when it admitted evidence of his lawful campaign contributions. Although each of these arguments is weighty, we ultimately affirm Ring’s conviction.” MainJustice has more here. BLT has an item on this development here.

HAGEL ADS UP. Boston Globe. “The media campaign to scuttle Hagel’s appointment, unmatched in the annals of modern presidential Cabinet appointments, reflects the continuing effects of the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision, which loosened campaign finance restrictions and was a major reason for the record spending by outside groups in the 2012 election.”

POST ON OFA. Here. “The president and his team may be wizards at social media and grass-roots organizing, but from an influence-peddling standpoint this organization looks to be fraught with hazard.”

CO: EMAIL DANGER. Story here. “The e-mail that went out Thursday to every lawmaker from the lobbying firm of Colorado Legislative Services LLC wasn’t supposed to be about Senate Majority Leader Morgan Carroll.”

MA: QUESTIONS ABOUT CONTRIBUTIONS. Story here. “Lt. Gov. Tim Murray vowed Friday to take responsibility for any campaign finance law violations he may have committed by accepting contributions raised by disgraced former Chelsea Housing Authority director Michael McLaughlin.”

NE: CFR PROPOSED. Story here. “Nebraska voters could learn more about the money behind candidates and ballot issues under a bill heard by a legislative committee Friday.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.

Here are today’s political law links – Fri., 1/25/13

GIFFORDS AND LOBBYING.  Politico.  “She hasn’t decided whether she’ll actually register as a lobbyist yet — a move she can make now that the one-year ‘cooling off’ period is expiring — but she will represent her new outfit, Americans for Responsible Solutions, in pushing Congress to enact new gun-control laws.”

AIG HIRES.  Story here.  “AIG is back in the lobbying game after a four-year self-imposed ban from lobbying while the company was owned by U.S. taxpayers.”

PRO-TIP.  New federal contribution limits are coming soon:  “Some of the contribution limits set forth in the federal campaign finance laws are adjusted every election cycle to account for changes in the consumer price index (CPI). In odd-numbered years, the FEC publishes the adjusted limits immediately after it receives the CPI figures from the Department of Labor — typically in late January or early February.”  FEC.

MD:  LEOPOLD TRIAL.  The Post.  It’s been quite lurid, but the trial of Anne Arundel County Exec. John Leopold has also involved allegations of political use of government resources.  The Post called for his resignation yesterday.

NY:  CFR HELP ENLISTED.  The Times.  “Advocates of overhauling New York’s campaign fund-raising laws met with 40 philanthropists in Manhattan on Thursday in an effort to enlist additional supporters as they ramp up their lobbying efforts.”

UT:  HERBERT BACKS REFORM.  Story here.  “Gov. Gary Herbert endorsed significant ethics changes for executive branch officials — including the attorney general’s office — in the aftermath of a scandal that is dogging Attorney General John Swallow.”

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND.