By Stefan Passantino The Election of 2012 demonstrated in the starkest possible terms how formerly unheralded nuances of federal election and tax law have the capacity to affect the fundamental underpinnings of our democracy in the most direct way possible. Never before have the nation’s editorial pages and cable news airways been more active with… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Political Law
Subscribe to Political Law RSS FeedCampaign Finance Update: Disclosure by Ad-Running Political Groups Continues to be Hotly Debated
Posted in Campaign Finance, Political LawBy Stefan Passantino As the 2012 election season heats up, outside advocacy groups are experiencing considerable influence over federal, state, and local elections. Some say that the collective influence of advocacy by Super PACs and other tax-exempt entities in favor of and against candidates is equal to, or exceeds, that of the candidates and the parties… Continue Reading
FEC Approves Use of Text-Messaging in Campaign Fundraising
Posted in 2012 Elections, Campaign Finance, Political LawBy David Fine and Mason Smith In a recent advisory opinion, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) unanimously voted to approve the use of text messaging to facilitate political donations by any American with a cell phone. The Commission held that a plan proposed by two political and media consulting firms and m-Qube, a corporate aggregator of… Continue Reading
Campaign Finance Update: FEC Defends Ban on Contributions from Government Contractors
Posted in Campaign Finance, Political LawBy Mason Smith and David Fine On Monday, Judge James Boasberg of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia denied a motion for preliminary injunction challenging a 70-year old federal ban on campaign contributions from government contractors in Wagner v. FEC, No. 11-cv-1841. Key to the 26-page opinion was the judge’s finding that the three… Continue Reading
501(c)(4) Social Welfare Organizations Facing Increased Scrutiny
Posted in Political LawBy David Fine Super PACs have garnered most of the attention this campaign season, given the massive spending of such organizations. According to The Daily Beast, a total of 363 Super PACs had spent $373 million this election cycle as of March 12, 2012. We know a lot about Super PAC contributors and expenditures because… Continue Reading
Campaign Finance Update: Court Defines “Express Advocacy”
Posted in Government Ethics, Political LawBy David Fine On Monday, the Colorado Supreme Court issued a major campaign finance opinion in Colorado Ethics Watch v. Senate Majority Fund, LLC. The Court held that “express advocacy” for purposes of Colorado campaign finance law, covers only those communications that explicitly advocate for the election or defeat of a candidate in an upcoming… Continue Reading
The Stock Act: Congress Acts Against ‘Insider Political Trading’…on Capitol Hill
Posted in Government Ethics, Political LawBy Stefan Passantino Proponents of ethics reform and increased political transparency in Washington don’t often see reform proposals pass through Congress by overwhelming margins, and rarely does anyone bemoan an excess of “political intelligence” in Washington. But with Congressional passage of the so-called ‘STOCK Act’ last week, that is exactly what happened. The impetus to act… Continue Reading
State Legislature Reapportionment: Colorado Case Study
Posted in 2012 Elections, Legislatures (State), Political LawBy David Fine The State of Colorado’s recently completed legislative reapportionment is a case study in a difficult political and legal process that gets relatively little attention, but is critical to representation around the country. Just as at the federal level, state reapportionment happens once per decade following the census. Often, as in Colorado, state… Continue Reading
Save Yourself A Lot Of Pain: Double Check Your LD-203 Filing Procedures
Posted in 2012 Elections, Lobbying Compliance, Political LawBy Randy Nuckolls One of the biggest areas of noncompliance with the Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA) is in the area of failure to file proper LD-203 semiannual contribution reports. Often failure to submit reports is a simple oversight. Nonetheless, such failures to report will lead to notices of noncompliance from the House and Senate or even… Continue Reading
Campaign Finance: States Propose Rule Rewrites
Posted in 2012 Elections, Government Ethics, Political LawBy David Fine The Colorado Secretary of State has proposed a significant rewrite of Colorado’s campaign finance rules. The Secretary has received public comment and my guess is that final rules will be promulgated in the near future. The rules may generate litigation and will require careful study to ensure compliance going into the 2012 elections. Once… Continue Reading
Supreme Court Upholds Law Banning Foreign Nationals from Spending to Influence U.S. Elections
Posted in Political LawBy David Fine Earlier this year, the United States Supreme Court upheld a federal law that bans foreign nationals from spending to influence U.S. elections. See Bluman v. Federal Election Commission. The Court upheld the decision of a three-judge panel without comment. Congress had strengthened the law in question in 2002 in response to contributions by foreign… Continue Reading
Are You in Compliance? It’s LDA Reporting Time Again
Posted in 2012 Elections, Lobbying Compliance, Political LawBy Randy Nuckolls January is a big month for filing Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA) reports. Shake off those post holiday blues, get back to the gym to get in shape, and get ready to file your various reports. In January, Registrants under the Federal LDA must file quarterly reports for the 4th quarter of 2011… Continue Reading
The Inaugural Post: Welcome to the Politics, Law and Policy Blog
Posted in 2012 Elections, Cybersecurity, Energy Policy, Government Ethics, Health Policy, Infrastructure, Political Law, Tax Policy, TransportationBy Eric Tanenblatt Happy New Year and welcome to the new Politics, Law and Policy Blog: Bipartisan policy insights and political intelligence. This blog is a forum led by members of the Public Policy and Regulatory Affairs practice at McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP, an international law and public policy firm with offices in nine… Continue Reading