The dominoes are tumbling. Last week the Federal Election Commission issued two advisory opinions, AO 2010-9 and AO 2010-11, exempting the funding of PACs making independent expenditures (i.e., not making direct contributions) from federal contribution limits. In an editorial criticizing these FEC opinions, the New York Times noted, “the sluice gates are open on both [...]

Citing to increasingly significant pay-to-play problems in the management of public funds by investment advisors, the Securities and Exchange Commission passed new rules today that prohibit pay-to-play practices.  As we previously reported here, the SEC first considered these rules, modeled after MSRB G-37 and G-38 rules, in 1999.   The rules passed today:

Prohibit investment advisers [...]

Expanded public disclosure is the goal of A-2595: this bill would require “issue advocacy organizations” to disclose contribution and expenditure information and to include disclaimers on public communications comparable to the current obligations of political committees.
The bill aims to reach “stealth PACs” which seek to influence the outcome of elections but do not fit within [...]

At its June 30 meeting the Securities and Exchange Commission will consider for final adoption proposed pay-to-play restrictions for investment advisers.   The proposal was initially published for public comment last summer.  As we discussed here, a prior version was considered, but not adopted, by the SEC in 1999.

The reform proposals swirling in reaction to the Citizens United decision have now coalesced into Senate and House bills, introduced by Senator Schumer (D-NY) and Representative Van Hollen (D-Md). Emphasizing that “Democracy is Strengthened by Casting Light on Spending in Elections,” The DISCLOSE proposals include:

Prohibiting campaign-related expenditures (independent expenditures and electioneering communications) by government [...]

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 & Giantomasi.
The general consensus was that New Jersey’s existing campaign finance laws are not directly affected by [...]

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.