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Blog
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Welcome to the Holtzman Vogel Law Blog. We aim to keep you
up to date on important legal developments and other items of interest. On this
blog, we'll track developments in the news and changes to the rules and regulations
affecting political committees, corporate PACs, trade associations, non-profit groups
and advocacy organizations. We'll also keep you updated on the lobbying and ethics
arena. The Law Blog is designed to supplement our regular newsletter.
On behalf of the Holtzman Vogel team, I hope you find this site helpful and interesting.
And we hope you'll become a regular visitor. (If you'd like to receive our newsletter,
please click here to sign up.)
Jill Holtzman Vogel
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Wednesday, August 18, 2010
NYT: Blagojevich, Guilty on 1 of 24 Counts, Faces Retrial
The New York Times reports "After deliberating for 14 days, the jury found Mr. Blagojevich guilty of a single criminal count — making false statements to the F.B.I., which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison, one of the least severe penalties in the charges against him. The jurors also said they could not reach a unanimous verdict on 23 of the 24 counts against him, including an accusation that he had tried to sell an appointment to fill the Senate seat once held by President Obama. On that count, one juror said, the group was split 11 to 1 in favor of convicting him. Prosecutors immediately announced plans for a retrial...."
Tuesday, February 02, 2010
Illinois Primaries Today
Illinois voters go to the polls today. The highest profile race involves President Obama's old Senate seat. CQ Politics has more details.
Click here to read the entire post.
Friday, January 01, 2010
Chicago Sun-Times: Former Blago aides fined
The Chicago Sun-Times reports "Three aides to former Gov. Rod Blagojevich have been fined by a state ethics panel for campaigning for Barack Obama on the taxpayers' dime. Sheila Nix, Abigail Ottenhoff and Rebecca Rausch broke the law in 2007 when they issued a press release supporting Obama on behalf of Blagojevich, the Illinois Executive Ethics Commission ruled. The release, issued on the day Obama announced his candidacy in Springfield, quoted Blagojevich saying that he was 'proud to support Senator Obama in his bid for the presidency.'"
Click here to read the entire post.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Illinois Adopts Contribution Limits . . . Effective In 2011
The New York Times reports "Gov. Patrick J. Quinn on Wednesday signed a law placing limits on campaign contributions in Illinois, a change that grew out of the arrest of Rod R. Blagojevich, the former governor, on corruption charges one year ago. Critics had long complained that Illinois, one of only about five states in the nation to set almost no restrictions on what donors may give in state races, had allowed an environment that amounted to a free-for-all when it came to political fund-raising. . . . Under the law, candidates will be limited during each election cycle to contributions of $5,000 from individuals, $10,000 from businesses and labor unions, and $50,000 from political action committees. . . . The campaign finance law will not affect next year’s elections. The contribution limits do not start until 2011."
Click here to read the entire post.
Friday, October 09, 2009
WSJ: Campaign-Finance Overhaul Falters in Illinois
The Wall Street Journal reports "Nearly a year after former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was arrested and accused of running state government as a criminal enterprise, legislators have reached a stalemate with a powerful reform-advocacy group regarding limits on political-campaign contributions.
With an Oct. 14 deadline looming, Change Illinois, which represents a coalition of about 50 business and labor groups, is urging residents to contact lawmakers and pressure them to accept the group's terms or face political consequences. . . . The standoff shows how difficult it can be to pass political overhauls even in the wake of scandals. As with previous federal efforts, limiting campaign contributions in Illinois has run into challenges over constitutionality and the reluctance of incumbents to cede the advantages of their office."
Click here to read the entire post.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Governor Vetoes Illinois Campaign Finance Bill
The Chicago Tribune reports "Gov. Pat Quinn today vetoed the high-profile campaign finance bill that he hailed as landmark just a few months ago when lawmakers approved it, choosing to side with critics who say it is riddled with loopholes."
Click here to read the entire post.
Monday, July 06, 2009
Chicago Tribune: How reform failed in Illinois; Quinn, legislative leaders and activists all played role in passing weak campaign finance bill
The Chicago Tribune has this report on how Illinois' recently passed campaign finance "reform" bill came to be: "The story of how campaign money reform got to the governor's desk lies in the repeated missteps of zealous-but-naive reform advocates, a rookie governor whose pride in his reformer image was tested by the tug of self-interest and the desire of legislative leaders to preserve much of the status quo while providing cover for lawmakers on a critical issue."
Click here to read the entire post.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Washington Times: Conyers' wife focus of bribery probe
From the Washington Times: "Detroit City Councilwoman Monica Conyers, the wife of House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers Jr., has been ensnared in a federal bribery investigation and is discussing a possible plea deal, The Washington Times has learned. . . . Court papers say the council member accepted bribes from a consultant in connection with a City Council vote to approve a $1.2 billion sludge hauling contract. The consultant, Rayford W. Jackson, has pleaded guilty to conspiring to bribe a city official in connection with the contract to Houston-based Synagro Technologies Inc."
Click here to read the entire post.
Monday, June 01, 2009
Chicago Tribune: House sends governor 'flawed' campaign cash bill
The Tribune reports "With the strong backing of Speaker Michael Madigan, House lawmakers tonight passed legislation to put limits on political donations despite the opposition of good-government advocates who called it a sham. The measure goes to Gov. Pat Quinn. He supports the bill, even though members of his own Illinois Reform Commission recommended stronger restrictions following the arrest and ouster of ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich for a pay-to-play scandal. . . . The annual limits on campaign contributions -- $5,000 for individuals and $10,000 for groups -- are significantly higher than what Quinn's own Reform Commission suggested. And reform advocates were quick to point out a major loophole that would allow powerful legislative leaders to transfer $90,000 a year to House and Senate candidates. The reform panel wanted to limit it to $30,000 per election."
Click here to read the entire post.
Saturday, May 02, 2009
WSJ op-ed: From the Good Folks Who Brought You Rod Blagojevich; A raft of campaign finance restrictions only incumbents would love.
Collin Levy has this op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, about proposed campaign finance "reforms" in Illinois: "Now, the new governor, Democrat Patrick Quinn, wants to cleanse the state's reputation by passing new campaign-finance restrictions that would, conveniently, give him a leg up in next year's election campaign. They won't change the tone or substance of Illinois politics, but they would ensnare candidates for state office in the same kind of regulatory morass now in effect at the federal level. . . . The real problem, however, isn't the flow of money to promote political causes and candidates, which no system of rules can inhibit. Rather, it's the state's tradition of backroom dealings, inadequate disclosure of campaign contributions, and the lack of opportunities for public watchdogs to know what's going down."
Click here to read the entire post.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Chicago Tribune on Efforts to Reform Illinois' Campaign Finance Laws
The Chicago Tribune has this report/analysis, "Campaign finance: Money's influence not easily curbed; To clean up Illinois, some want to change campaign finance laws. But will it work?"
Click here to read the entire post.
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