Good morning, here are political law links for Thurs., 1/3/13

OCE UPDATE. USAT. “An independent office that polices congressional ethics would remain on the beat in the new Congress under proposed rules the House will consider this week.”

ETHICS TALLY. Roll Call. “A biennial report on the committee’s activities filed earlier this week shows that the panel fielded at least 40,000 informal requests for guidance, issued more than 900 advisory opinions on House ethics rules, received more than 6,000 financial disclosure filings, interviewed 106 witnesses and reviewed nearly 500,000 pages of documents in its investigatory matters.”

EARMARKS UPDATE. Roll Call. “The House Republican Conference was set to vote on whether to restore earmarks on Thursday as part of considering the House Rules for the 113th Congress, but it was spared from having to do so when the proposal’s champion pulled his plan.”

WYDEN-MURKOWSKI REACTION. A letter to the editor in response to a proposal of Senators Wyden and Murkowski supports higher contribution limits to candidates.

BENNETT REGISTERING. Capital Eye Opener. “Former Sen. Bob Bennett (R-Utah) will officially register as a lobbyist tomorrow and he’s coming out swinging — at limits on former lawmakers becoming lobbyists.”

MO: BOND HIRED. Story here. “During his 24-year career in Congress, Kit Bond helped Kansas City time and again. Now as Kansas City’s new federal lobbyist, it’s Mayor Sly James hope that the retired U.S. senator still has the pull to steer federal money toward projects like the downtown streetcar.”

TX: FINE FOR COMMITTEE. Story here. “State ethics officials fined Dallas billionaire Harold Simmons’ political action committee $6,450 over campaign contributions to Texas lawmakers that were illegal because the prominent Republican donor was the sole donor to the PAC.” The Order and Agreed Resolution is online here via the Texas Ethics Commission.

UT: ALLEGED FAILURE TO DISCLOSE. Story here. “Salt Lake County Councilman Randy Horiuchi lists himself on the state’s website as a lobbyist for R&R Partners, which for years has done work for UTA. The state requires lobbyists to register every two years and disclose their clients.”

CANADA: $100 LIMIT AND PUBLIC FUNDS. Story here. “Bill 2, passed by the National Assembly on Dec. 6, puts a $100 lid on private donations while increasing direct government funding to parties.”

UK: LOBBYISTS’ REGISTER. Story here. “Lobbyists have defended themselves against fresh allegations that MPs and peers received corporate sponsorship worth more than £1m over the past year, accusing ministers of dragging their feet over plans to establish an official lobbyists’ register.”

HAVE A GREAT DAY. Many thanks to Rick Hasen for the mention on the Election Law Listserv yesterday. Not only does Rick run the preeminent and invaluable Election Law Blog, he’s shown great generosity over the years by linking to PoliticalActivityLaw.com. It’s sincerely appreciated.

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Have a great day and I’ll send around the next set of links on Monday.

Good morning, here are today’s political law links (1/2/13)

GOOD MORNING AND HAPPY NEW YEAR! I hope you had a great holiday season and got to enjoy a little break from the daily routine. Today’s set of links includes a number of developments from mid-December.

POLITICALACTIVITYLAW.COM AND 2013. This month marks the five year anniversary of the site. That’s 5,652 posts in 79 categories with who knows how may links. I switched to a weekday digest format last year, so the number of items I’ve linked to over the years would be tough to calculate. I’ve made a few tweaks over the years and some features didn’t pan out, but my main goal has always been to provide value for the political law pracittioner. No reminder is needed, but by linking to an item I’m not endorsing the views expressed. My main interest is sharing items relevant to the practice of political law. At times it may seem that the site is akin to a police blotter for alleged campaign finance and lobbying law issues. I’m most interested, however, in the linked items’ relevance to providing guidance to individuals and organizations engaged in political activity.

TRANSITION FOIA. Thanks to Time we got an interesting look at some of the details behind a presidential transition effort. “One of the less scintillating milestones of the 2012 election was marked by the General Services Administration, when Mitt Romney became the first candidate to take advantage of the Presidential Transition Act of 2010.”

TOP DOJ ITEMS FROM 12. MainJustice. Of note to me are items related to FCPA prosecutions and the Stevens case.

OCE UPDATE. CNN. “The ethics office — which gets its mandate and funding from Congress — must be reauthorized by this Congress, which soon adjourns, or early on by the new Congress.”

NEW HOUSE TRAVEL RULES PINK SHEET. Here. For travel on or after April 13, 2013, the House Ethics Committee approved new guidance. Roll Call’s coverage is here: “The deadline for submitting pre-travel authorization forms to the committee will now be 30 days prior to departure instead of two weeks. New certification forms will require additional information about trip sponsors for increased transparency. Sponsors will be responsible for filling out the post-travel disclosure forms that will be filed by traveling members and staffers. There are also more explicit definitions of travel-related terms in the new guidance issued by the committee.”

COUNTRYWIDE PROBE ENDED. Story here. “A House panel has ended a probe of alleged preferential lending by Countrywide Financial Corp. to lawmakers and aides without taking action, saying the ‘serious matters’ submitted for review fall outside its jurisdiction.” A statement and new pink sheet on the ban on using one’s position for personal gain is online here.

INAUGURAL ADVISORY. The House Ethics Committee summarized rules on inaugural and swearing-in activities in an updated pink sheet. House Ethics.

HLOGA LOBBYING RULES IN THE NEWS. The Post. Restrictions on lobbying by family members of officeholders is the topic of a Post report. “In 2007, in the wake of the biggest lobbying scandal in decades, Congress limited the ability of family members to lobby their relatives in the House or Senate. But it declined to ban the practice entirely.”

PAC REQUEST FOR U.S. SUB NOT APPROVED. Employees of a U.S. subsidiary seeking to register and report as a political committee got a lump of coal just before Christmas. The FEC considered and failed to provide an affirmative response to a U.S. subsidiary’s request to establish a separate segregated fund. AOR 2012-37 (Yamaha Marine). The request also asked a second question related to who would be eligible to be solicited for the committee. If dealer and service center personnel couldn’t be solicited, the political committee’s sources of support would be constrained. The answer to that question distinguished the two drafts put out for comment. The Commission, without providing the requestor with a draft indicating that their request to form a PAC might be declined, couldn’t approve a response, notwithstanding well-settled FEC precedent on the first question.

MT MONEY IMPACT. MJ. “In the waning days of Montana’s hotly contested Senate race, a small outfit called Montana Hunters and Anglers, launched by liberal activists, tried something drastic.”

WYDEN-MURKOWSKI CFR APPROACH. The Post. “We propose combining the best elements of the Alaska and Oregon laws to create a federal campaign-finance structure that is transparent and holds everyone immediately accountable.”

CAMPAIGN MANAGER ALLEGATIONS. Story here. “Prosecutors confirmed an investigation Friday into allegations of massive fraud and theft by Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst’s campaign manager as associates of Kenneth ‘Buddy’ Barfield pointed to his penchant for big property deals and moneymaking ventures as possible causes for his downfall.”

CONVICTION AND PLEA IN CASE. DOJ Release. “A defendant who tried to escape fraud charges against him by exerting pressure on a U.S. Attorney’s spouse and candidate for office pleaded guilty today to obstruction of justice for perpetrating the scheme, Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division announced today.”

CA: DISCLOSURE PROPOSALS. LAT. “State lawmakers are moving to curb anonymous political donations in California after a national election in which nonprofit groups secretly poured hundreds of millions of dollars into campaigns.”

DC: NEW GENERAL COUNSEL. The Post. “The D.C. Board of Ethics and Government Accountability, the body created earlier this year as part of new ethics laws adopted in the wake of investigations of misconduct by city officials, has named Stacie Pittell to be its lead attorney.”

HAVE A GREAT DAY.

Happy holidays, friends

Happy Holidays!HAPPY HOLIDAYS! Please accept my sincerest thanks for your interest in my political law links. I hope this holiday season brings great joy to you and yours and I look forward to sharing next year’s exciting political law developments with you! I’ll prepare the next set of links in early January, so see you then.

INAUGURAL PREP.   Story here.  “This time, there will only be three days of festivities instead of the four days of parties held for his first inauguration.”

EMAIL IN THE NEWS.  Story here.  “Combine your family dog’s name with the name of your old home town and what do you get? In the case of Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa P. Jackson, you get in trouble with some lawmakers for having a less-than-obvious e-mail handle.”

K ST. TICK TOCK.  Story here.  “Lawmakers and lobbyists are losing hope for several major bills as the clock runs out on the lame-duck session of Congress.”

LEE STAFF MOVE. Story here. “Sen. Mike Lee’s chief of staff, Spencer Stokes, is returning to the lobbying world after serving two years as the Utah Republican’s right-hand man in Washington.”

DC: REFORM IN 13. Story here. “Despite months of rhetoric and proposals, D.C. lawmakers failed to pass sweeping campaign finance reforms by the end of a legislative period that was historic for all the wrong reasons.”

DE: STATE CHARGES. Story here. “A former liquor industry executive serving a two-year federal sentence in a campaign finance scheme pleaded not guilty Tuesday to related state felony charges.”

NJ:  CHRISTIE GOAL.  Politico.  “Top donors to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s reelection campaign are telling supporters they hope to raise $2 million by the end of the year, POLITICO has learned — a glaringly large figure in the few short weeks since he announced he’s seeking reelection.”

NYC: RESIGNING FOR RUN? The Times. “Joseph J. Lhota, the chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, has informed the Cuomo administration that he is stepping down from his position, according to four people with direct knowledge of his plans. He is expected to resign on Friday and pursue a candidacy for New York City mayor as a Republican.”

TN: LIFT CAPS, MORE DISCLOSURE. Here. “Repealing the campaign contribution caps would have to be accompanied by a mandate for more timely and accurate disclosure of who is giving what to whom.”