[Political Activity Law]

SMALL DONOR PROPOSAL. VOX. “As we begin to debate the House Democrats’ landmark “For the People Act” (HR 1), here’s one pushback we might expect to see: The small-donor public matching system in the bill costs too much public money.”

LOGO SIMILARITY. ABC. “[Castro’s campaign sign] has some people drawing comparisons to Bud Light’s newest logo, introduced by designer Jones Knowles Ritchie in 2016.

DONOR DISTURBANCE. FOX. “The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) announced Monday that it will reallocate recent donations from megadonor Ed Buck, saying it was ‘deeply disturbed’ after a second dead man was recently found in his apartment.”

NC: SECRET INVESTIGATIONS. NANDO. “But does the new law make it harder for authorities to ‘prosecute’ people who might have violated campaign finance laws?”

OH: CITY WRESTLES. WOSU. “Columbus City Council is wrestling with something new: campaign finance reform.”

SC:  ADMISSION. CPC. “A Myrtle Beach attorney signed a consent order Tuesday admitting to campaign finance violations, bringing an end to the S.C. Ethics Commission’s oldest outstanding case and closing a chapter on a political scandal that has hung over the Grand Strand for years.”

TX: MOVE AGAINST PAY TO PLAY? ABC. “With a sign on his left that read “Clean up City Hall” and one on his right that read ‘end pay to play’ mayoral candidate and businessman Bill King described conversations he says he had with politicians who wanted a campaign contribution.”

WI: FRESH START. MAD. “Rep. Melissa Sargent, D-Madison, said she will introduce legislation that would undo some changes made to the state’s campaign finance laws by bills passed in 2015.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.

GILLIBRAND IN. HILL. “Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) is expected to announce this week that she is forming an exploratory committee for a 2020 presidential bid, the Associated Press reported Monday, citing sources familiar with Gillibrand’s plans.”

PAUL ON REFORM. OCR. “One very troubling aspect of campaign finance reform laws is forcing organizations involved in “electioneering” to hand over the names of their top donors to the federal government.”

HASEN ON ELECTION REFORM. SLA. “There’s no question that H.R. 1, if it passes the House, will go nowhere in the upper chamber.”

MO: PAY TO PLAY ALLEGED. KC. “Missouri Republicans are taking a standoff between area labor unions and Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker as proof that her role as state Democratic chair creates a conflict of interest.”

MT: SUPREMES DECLINE. HA. “The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear a case challenging Montana’s campaign contribution laws.”

NJ: A MOMENT. NJ. “A strong bill to pry open the books of dark money funds is suddenly on a fast-track for approval in both the Senate and Assembly, after collecting dust for more than two years. Gov. Phil Murphy says he supports the bill as well.”

NY: LOOKING AT REFORM. WSJ. “Democratic leaders of the New York State Assembly and Senate are set to approve a passel of bills to increase voter participation and tighten campaign-finance laws. But there’s still a push to go further on some issues, including the creation of a public-matching system to finance campaigns.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.

BORROWING FROM RUSSIA. HILL. “The Washington Post and The New York Times recently reported on two separate operations — one conducted by social media researchers and another by a group of progressive Democrats — that utilized tactics similar to those used by Russians during the 2016 U.S. presidential election.”

INVESTIGATIONS STAFFING. DB. “With the Democratic-run House gearing up for a marathon of hearings and investigations into the Trump administration, one prominent D.C. public affairs shop is selling current and potential clients on a new service: a team of former Hill staffers, administration officials, and journalists who understand the experience of being in congressional investigators’ crosshairs.”

JACK ACT LAW. CONGRESS.GOV. “To require disclosure by lobbyists of convictions for bribery, extortion, embezzlement, illegal kickbacks, tax evasion, fraud, conflicts of interest, making false statements, perjury, or money laundering.” A prior news report is here.

RUN SIGNAL. NYT. “Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York has hired several senior aides for an expected presidential campaign, a sign that she is all but certain to join the race against President Trump and that her entry may be imminent.”

TULSI OFFICIAL. CNN. “Rep. Tulsi Gabbard said Friday she will run for president in 2020.”

AR:  ETHICS PLAN ANNOUNCED. LHL. “House Speaker Matthew Shepherd and incoming Senate President Jim Hendren say restoring trust in the Legislature is their goal in response to a federal corruption probe that’s led to the conviction of several former lawmakers and lobbyists.”

IL: ETHICS PLAN UNVEILED. CT. “Mayor Rahm Emanuel will use the even-greater-than-usual crisis of faith in Chicago public officials following the attempted extortion charge against Ald. Edward Burke to try to tighten up city rules on what outside jobs aldermen can hold and how they can influence City Council debate on behalf of business clients.”

MI: I’M GUESSING AN ISSUE? LSJ. “Ingham County Sheriff Scott Wriggelsworth announced his 2020 re-election bid using an Ingham County-funded email system, a move that could run afoul of Michigan campaign finance laws.”

HAVE A GOOD DAY.