Here are today’s political law links, 1/24/13

ETHICS COMMITTEE APPOINTMENT. News here. “Bay State Representative Mike Capuano was named to the House Ethics Committee today, according to a press release from House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s office.”

ETHICS ADVISES ON FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE. Roll Call. “The House Ethics Committee on Wednesday said members and senior staffers must disclose the underlying assets in certain investment funds and accounts, regardless of whether the person has any role in selecting the investments.”

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. Registrants and each of their lobbyists who were active for all or part of the semi-annual reporting period must file separate reports detailing their contributions, including FECA, honorary, Presidential Inaugural Committee, Presidential Library and certain payments for event costs. The Year-End contribution report is due Wednesday, January 30, 2013, covering July 1, 2012 through December 31, 2012.”

DEBT EXTINGUISHED. Story here. “More than four years after suspending her 2008 presidential bid, now-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has finally paid off her campaign debt.”

CA: FINE FOR EXCESSIVE CONTRIBUTION. Here. “‘I didn’t know there was a limit of $3,900 unfortunately,’ he said. ‘I’m surprised. How does any individual know about such laws?'”

CT: GUILTY PLEA IN CASE. Story here. “A smoke-shop owner Wednesday became the third defendant to plead guilty in the campaign finance case that helped derail the congressional campaign of former House Speaker Christopher Donovan, D-Meriden, last year.”

IA: COMPLAINT PROCESS CHANGES. Story here. “The executive director of Iowa’s Ethics and Campaign Finance Disclosure Board on Wednesday proposed a change to streamline the agency’s complaint process.”

NYC:  AMENDMENTS FOR COMMUNICATIONS.  Story here.  “As part of a long meeting yesterday, the New York City Council voted overwhelmingly, 47-1, to pass Int. 978, a bill that would exempt member organizations and corporations from disclosing member-to-member communications in relation to candidates or issues that they support during an election year.”

HAVE A GREAT DAY.

Good morning, here are today’s political law links (1/23/13)

REFORM BILL IN TOP 10. Roll Call. “In an effort to lay down a marker for the first phase of their agenda, Senate Democrats have announced the first 10 measures of the new Congress, including anti-school violence proposals and immigration reform legislation.” The Clean and Fair Elections Act made the list.

BATTLE OVER TECH. The Verge. “At issue is the code created during the Obama for America (OFA) 2012 campaign: the digital architecture behind the campaign’s website, its system for collecting donations, its email operation, and its mobile app. When the campaign ended, these programmers wanted to put their work back into the coding community for other developers to study and improve upon. Politicians in the Democratic party felt otherwise, arguing that sharing the tech would give away a key advantage to the Republicans.”

WHEN ONE AMENDMENT JUST WON’T DO. Press Release. “U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) today introduced two Constitutional amendments to overturn the Supreme Court’s decision in the Citizens United case, which unleashed a flood of corporate and special interest money into the American political system.” Rep. McGovern’s proposal made its way to Reddit and some of the comments are truly priceless, including express advocacy for Voltron in 2016.

OFA/DNC NEWS. The Hill. “Several members of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) expressed fear Tuesday that the new outside group Organizing for Action — a retooled version of President Obama’s campaign machine — could hurt the national party’s fundraising and drain its resources.”

K ST. YEAR IN REVIEW. The Hill. “Few K Street firms were able to escape the downward pull.”

WHAT SITES ARE YOU READING?  Julie Germany shares some of her favorite sites discussing politics and tech here.

DC: MANDATORY CAMPAIGN FINANCE EDUCATION? Examiner. “In the District’s latest bid to curb campaign finance violations, a D.C. councilman wants to send local candidates and their campaign treasurers back to the classroom.”

FL: DONOR INDICTED. Story here and DOJ press release here.

NJ:  PANEL DISCUSSION TITLE CAUGHT MY EYE.  “Politically minded locals listened to Professor Roger Berkowitz, Director of the Hannah Arendt Center at Bard College presents ‘Why Free Speech is Corrupting Politics: Paradoxes and Problems in Campaign Finance Reform.'”  Paramus Patch.

WA: LOBBYIST FEE UPDATE. Story here. “State Rep. Jim Moeller is reviving his yearly quest to raise money so that the state Public Disclosure Commission can retool its online finance disclosure system. The Vancouver Democrat says his House Bill 1005 would raise up to $1.2 million per biennium by levying a registration fee on lobbyists and politicians that file reports at the campaign-finance agency.”

HAVE A GREAT DAY.

Good morning, here are Tuesday’s political law links (1/22/13)

NELSON: SENIOR ADVISER.  Politico.  “Former Sen. Ben Nelson, who retired from the upper chamber just weeks ago, will be joining public affairs firm Agenda as a senior adviser, POLITICO has learned.”

ORGANIZING FOR ACTION I. Politico. “When Obama for America relaunches next week as a tax-exempt organization, it will become exactly what Democrats have reviled over the last two years: a massive, powerful force in politics that doesn’t have to reveal anything about the donors behind it.”

ORGANIZING FOR ACTION II. LAT. “Underscoring its potential to become a political heavyweight, a new advocacy group launched Friday to push President Obama’s second-term agenda will be guided by his most-trusted strategists and have access to his reelection campaign’s most-prized assets, including its intricately detailed voter databases.”

OFA III. TPM. “As a 501(c)4, Organizing for Action will be organized under the same section of the tax code as the so called ‘dark money’ organizations which raised and spent millions of anonymous dollars mostly supporting Republicans in the 2012 election, and which have been vilified by Democrats, progressives, and campaign finance reform advocates.”

OFA IV. Politico. “‘This particular organization, the way it’s organized, legally, we can’t participate in elections,’ Cutter said of Organizing for Action, a new advocacy group that builds on the Obama campaign’s Organizing for America. ‘That doesn’t mean that the issues we’re organizing around won’t mobilize the American people to vote for things. To vote for that economy we’ve been working toward, to vote for immigration reform… I think we can affect elections even if legally we can’t be involved with them for this particular organization.'”

OFA V.  Story here.  “In a new email sent after taking the oath of office, President Obama thanked his longtime supporters — and encouraged them to get involved in his new nonprofit group Organizing for Action.”

INAUGURAL ACTIVITY. The Post. “Administration officials have said the loosened donation rules were designed to reach out to businesses whose executives felt spurned in the first term and to ease pressure on Democratic donors who feel squeezed dry after the campaign. After the inaugural celebration’s expenses are paid, the remaining money could be used for an Obama foundation that would support his presidential library and other projects after he leaves office.”

DONOR APPOINTMENTS. The Times. “As Mr. Obama begins his second term in the White House, the donors and bundlers who raised more than a billion dollars to get him there are pressing hard for appointments.”

LOOK WHO’S TWEETING. Twitter. “While buzz about the Inauguration builds on Twitter, the legislative branch has some news of their own: as of today, all 100 members of the Senate as well as 90% (398 members) of the House of Representatives are on Twitter.”

ETHICS AGENDA STATUS. Roll Call. “Four years after President Barack Obama promised to change the culture of Washington, it’s hard to imagine how his ethics, transparency and campaign finance pledges could have backfired more thoroughly.”

SAMPLES AND CO. ON CU. Tomorrow’s event can be viewed online.

FREE AIR TOTAL. Story here. “Belo Corp.’s television stations provided free airtime to 135 congressional and gubernatorial candidates across the U.S. during the 2012 election season through the company’s ‘It’s Your Time’ program.”

CA:  EDITORIAL SUPPORTS REFORM.  Here.  “At a minimum, the commission should increase the relevant information provided and the frequency of reports to the public. Currently, only quarterly reports are required, and they show how much lobbyist employers spend and what bills they and their lobbyists seek to influence.”

FL: SWEEPING REFORMS PROPOSED. Story here. “Senate leaders filed a sweeping ethics reform package late Friday in an attempt to close dozens of loopholes in state laws.”

FL: CCE REFORM URGED. Story here. “Committees of Continuous Existence should be outlawed as one of several state campaign-finance reforms.”

ID: ETHICS COMMITTEE REFORM. Story here. “A five-person Ethics Committee which would be chosen by the majority and minority caucuses was proposed on behalf of House Speaker Scott Bedke Monday.”

NY:  CFR.  The Times.  “If New Yorkers need another good reason to support a major cleanup of their state’s scandalously lax campaign finance laws, they need only look at the latest filing from Gov. Andrew Cuomo.”

HAVE A GREAT DAY.