September 2012

Based on reports from around town here in D.C., the Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) has begun a new wave of audits of firms that are registered under the federal Lobbying Disclosure Act (“LDA”).  These periodic audits are required under legislation enacted in 2007, the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act…
Continue Reading GAO Opens a New Wave of Lobbying Disclosure Act Compliance Audits

On March 30, 2012, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued a decision in Van Hollen v. FEC striking down the Federal Election Commission (“FEC”) regulation that limited disclosure of donors to those who gave specifically for the purpose of funding “electioneering communications.”  Electioneering communications are broadcast…
Continue Reading “Electioneering Communications” Virtually Vanish in Wake of Van Hollen Decision

Yesterday,  the Federal Communications Commission’s Enforcement Bureau issued a timely advisory on the statutes and rules restricting political telephone calls.  In the high season for election activity, the FCC hopes that the Advisory will lead to greater compliance with the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (TCPA) and Commission rules…
Continue Reading FCC Issues “Enforcement Advisory” on Political Telephone Calls

Yesterday, the Seventh Circuit added another chapter to the long-running debate over whether, at a general level, state campaign finance laws imposing registration and disclosure requirements can be applied to entities that do not have, as their “major purpose,” influencing elections.  This test primarily affects 501(c)(4) organizations, which must limit…
Continue Reading Courts Disagree on Major Purpose Requirement for Political Committees

As we’ve discussed, last week the en banc U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit preliminarily struck down the Minnesota campaign finance laws imposing constitutionally burdensome disclosure obligations on associations who only make independent expenditures, such as Super PACs.  But according to recent press reports, the Director…
Continue Reading Minnesota Regulators to Continue Enforcing Campaign Finance Law Against Super PACs

Following up on last week’s post, we wanted to highlight the “pay-to-play” provisions in D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray’s proposal to amend the District’s campaign finance laws.  The legislation is undergoing a public comment period until September 17th, and will then be sent to the D.C. Council. 

In its simplest…
Continue Reading Corporate Contributions in the District of Columbia — The “Pay-to-Play” Provisions

Since the Citizens United decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, courts and some state attorneys general have drawn a rather firm line in the sand: independent expenditure-only entities (so-called “Super PACs”) are not subject to contribution limits, but they must comply with registration and reporting requirements.  Indeed, the Supreme Court’s…
Continue Reading Eighth Circuit Decision Strikes Down Minnesota Super PAC Restrictions

In the wake of several highly-publicized corruption scandals, last week D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray released a draft campaign finance reform proposal.  The proposed legislation, which is currently undergoing a public comment period before it is sent to the D.C. Council in a few weeks’ time, can be found here…
Continue Reading Is the Tide Turning on Corporate Contributions in the District?

In June, the FEC approved a process for making text message political contributions limited to $50 per month.  In August, the FEC clarified the compliance responsibilities related to these small, anonymous text message contributions.  Now, just three weeks later, the FEC has approved a process for making text message contributions…
Continue Reading FEC Approves a Less Expensive Path to Larger Text Message Contributions

In an unusual development, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations has issued a “National Examination Risk Alert” summarizing its findings after pay-to-play compliance examinations conducted by the SEC staff.  The examinations focused on municipal securities dealers that are subject to the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s…
Continue Reading SEC “Risk Alert” Issued Regarding Pay-to-Play Compliance