Yesterday, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals issued an order reactivating the appeal in Ognibene v. Parkes, which challenges NYC’s  doing business contribution limits and the extension of the City’s corporate contributions ban to LLCs and partnerships.  We’ve previously described the case here.
The order allows Appellants to file a supplemental brief specifically addressing [...]

Yesterday, the New Jersey Assembly Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the impact of the Citizens United decision on New Jersey’s campaign finance and pay-to-play laws.  Among the expert witnesses was Angelo J. Genova, founding partner of Genova Burns.
The general consensus was that New Jersey’s existing campaign finance laws are not directly affected by the [...]

Today,  Senator Charles Schumer and Representative Chris Van Hollen issued a legislative proposal in response to the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United.  Proposals include banning expenditures by corporations with a more than 20 percent foreign interest, TARP recipients, and federal contractors, and  increased disclosure to the public and to shareholders.

Today, in a 5-4 ruling, the United States Supreme Court changed the Constitutional landscape for campaign finance reform.  In Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission, the Court lifted the long-standing ban on corporate and union independent expenditures in federal elections, but upheld Federal Election Commission disclosure and disclaimer requirements on those ads.

We’ve reached our final installment on our series on gift-giving.  This post will cover gift-giving to federal officials and employees.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (”SEC“) plans to reconsider a rule it last considered in 1999 to curb political contributions by investment advisers seeking to manage the investment of state pension funds. The new proposal comes in the wake of continuing investigations by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo (“NYAG”) concerning investments by New [...]

In recent years, the U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly addressed the constitutional boundaries of campaign finance regulation. If confirmed, Judge Sonia Sotomayor would bring to the Court real world experience as a campaign finance regulator – likely a first for the Court. Because it is an experience she and I shared, I wanted [...]

Federal campaign finance limits and lobbying registration thresholds have increased due to changes in the Consumer Price Index.
See here for a chart on the 2009-2010 contribution limits applicable to federal contributions.
Additionally, the House and Senate recently posted revised guidance announcing adjustments to the federal lobbying registration thresholds, which are now as follows:
•    $3,000 (previously $2500) in [...]

The incoming Obama administration and members of Congress are reportedly close to an agreement on the principles of an economic stimulus package.  The costs of the plan have been reported to be anywhere from $800 billion to $1.2 trillion.  So what does this have to do with pay-to-play?
A major part of the plan includes making [...]

The Republican and Democratic parties hold their national presidential nominating conventions this year. The Democrats meet in Denver in August. The Republicans gather in Minneapolis in September.
Many of the convention delegates also serve as elected officials at the federal, state and local level. Thus, many are subject to limitations and prohibitions on [...]