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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, July 07, 2010
Holiday Weekend Roundup
Politico: More union disclosure woes ("A Center for Public Integrity inquiry shows that for the past five years, disclosure forms filed by the 300,000-member National Association of Letter Carriers have failed to detail the group’s specific lobbying activities, as required by law. In May, the Center revealed that the American Maritime Officers union had violated disclosure laws for nearly a decade without detection by the two congressional offices tasked with oversight.")
Chicago Tribune: Lawsuit attacks Mich. limit on some political cash ("A Republican political strategist has asked a federal judge to strike down some of Michigan's limits on campaign donations, saying First Amendment rights are being violated by the restrictions....The $500 limit on contributions by individuals to House candidates hasn't changed in more than 30 years, making it worth about $132 when adjusted for inflation, according to the lawsuit filed this week in federal court in Grand Rapids.")
Boston Globe: Ruling widens the meaning of ‘media’ ("A little-noticed Federal Election Commission ruling that expands the definition of “media’’ to include a partisan film production group is the latest in a series of actions eroding legislative limits on the influence of money in politics.") This "little-noticed" Advisory Opinion was widely reported, and we noted it here on June 11. The first half of the Globe's article is essentially an editorial, parroting the "reform" community's comments focusing on the partisan nature of Citizens United (which is irrelevant under long-standing "media exemption" precedent at the FEC), and ignoring the limited nature of the FEC's decision. The second half of the article actually explains the FEC's opinion, and makes clear that the FEC did not decide that all political organizations are now the "media." ("The latest FEC ruling left it unclear precisely what a political group has to do to qualify as a media organization.")
Click here to read the entire post.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Politico: Party legal teams at the ready in Massachusetts
Politico reports "As the battle for the Massachusetts Senate race comes down to the wire, both sides are racing to put legal teams in place in case of a too-close-to-call finish — or a Republican victory that doesn’t result in a quick seating of the new senator."
Click here to read the entire post.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Politico: Brown win could spark legal battle
From Politico: "A victory by Republican Scott Brown Tuesday in Massachusetts could quickly turn into a legal battle over the man he would replace – Sen. Paul Kirk – with the future of health reform in the Senate hanging in the balance. Conservative commentator Fred Barnes is arguing that Kirk will lose his vote in the Senate after Tuesday's special election, no matter who wins, signaling a possible GOP line of attack against health reform if it passes with Kirk’s vote."
Click here to read the entire post.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
CNN: Campaign commercials flood Massachusetts TV
With the Democrats' 60-seat supermajority hanging in the balance, CNN reports "With less than a week to go until a special Senate election in Massachusetts, the state's airwaves are packed with campaign ads as Democrat Martha Coakley and Republican Scott Brown battle to fill the last three years of the late Sen. Ted Kennedy's term. Coakley, the Massachusetts attorney general, has spent $605,000 to air campaign television ads since Friday, according to Evan Tracey, president of Campaign Media Analysis Group and CNN's consultant on political advertising. Brown, a state senator, has spent $550,000 since Christmas. And those figures don't include ad money spent by national and state political party organizations and independent groups in the past few weeks."
Click here to read the entire post.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Boston Globe: Massachusetts Candidates Not Doing Enough to Report Campaign Donor Occupation and Employer Information
The Boston Globe has this story on the alleged failure of Massachusetts candidates to adequately report their donors' occupations and employers. "Typically, the Globe analysis found, campaign reports for most major officeholders omit the identifying information for 20 percent or more of their major contributors." It is unclear from the Globe's story, however, whether any of these candidates are actually in violation of the law. As the Globe explains, "The 1994 disclosure provision provides little incentive for compliance. If, for instance, a donor sends a candidate a $500 check with a name and address, but provides no occupation or employer, all the law requires is a standard letter asking for the missing information. If the donor tosses out the letter, the candidate need do nothing more and is in compliance with the law." However, "since the disclosure provision became law in 1994, no candidate has ever been sanctioned for violating it."
Click here to read the entire post.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Boston Globe: Earmarks’ cash flow lifts firms, lobbyists, lawmakers; Companies often bolster campaigns
The Boston Globe has this report on earmark recipients in Massachusetts. According to the Globe, "kSARIA [Corp.] is one of 16 defense-related firms in Massachusetts that have secured nearly $30 million in federal funding in next year’s defense appropriations bill pending in Congress. The tally offers a lesson in the practice known as congressional earmarking, in which lawmakers direct federal money to specific projects, usually in their districts. The phenomenon carries clear rewards for local companies as well as lobbyists and politicians: In Massachusetts, nearly 40 percent of the defense earmarks are slated to go to companies whose top executives contributed to the sponsor’s campaigns, hired former lawmakers or congressional aides to lobby on their behalf, or both."
Click here to read the entire post.
Friday, September 25, 2009
The Hill: Court denies Massachusetts GOP effort to halt Paul Kirk's Senate appointment
The Hill reports "A Massachusetts court has rejected a request from the state Republican Party to put a temporary hold on Sen.-designate Paul Kirk’s (D-Mass.) swearing-in Friday, clearing the way for Democrats to have a 60th seat in the Senate." The lawsuit was filed yesterday, more details here.
Click here to read the entire post.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Politico: GOP files suit to block Kirk
Politico reports "After failing in their bid to stop the Massachusetts legislature from giving Democratic Governor Deval Patrick the power to fill a United States Senate vacancy, Republicans are going to court on Friday to try to prevent the governor’s interim pick from taking office. On the same day that Patrick chose Paul Kirk, a long-time friend and associate of Ted Kennedy to temporarily replace the late senator, Republicans filed court papers arguing that Patrick’s use of an emergency declaration paving the way for the nomination was unconstitutional. Because most Massachusetts laws do not go into effect for 90 days, Patrick had to issue the declaration so that the just-passed legislation allowing him to name a replacement senator could take effect immediately. A hearing on the motion for a preliminary injunction against Patrick is scheduled for 8 a.m. on Friday in Suffolk County Superior Court — several hours before Kirk is scheduled to be sworn in to office."
Click here to read the entire post.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Boston Herald: Senate approves Kennedy successor bill
The Boston Herald reports "State senators passed a bill 24-16 today allowing Gov. Deval Patrick to pick a temporary U.S. senator by the end of the week following a final procedural vote tomorrow." As a CQ Politics report noted last week, "Democrats changed the law governing Senate succession just five years ago, in what was interpreted as a move to prevent Republican Gov. Mitt Romney tapping a replacement for Sen. John F. Kerry if Kerry had won the presidential election."
Click here to read the entire post.
Friday, September 18, 2009
CQ Politics: Massachusetts House OKs Senate Succession Change
CQ Politics reports "the state House on Thursday voted 95-58 to pass legislation that would give Gov. Deval Patrick the power to appoint an interim senator to fill the seat of the late Edward M. Kennedy. As it stands now, the seat would remain vacant until the Jan. 19 special election. . . . The small Republican minority in the legislature has balked however, calling the move a partisan ploy. They have pointed to the fact that Democrats changed the law governing Senate succession just five years ago, in what was interpreted as a move to prevent Republican Gov. Mitt Romney tapping a replacement for Sen. John F. Kerry if Kerry had won the presidential election."
Click here to read the entire post.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Democrats May Have The Votes To Change Massachusetts Election Law, Permitting Governor To Appoint Interim U.S. Senator
The Boston Globe reports "Legislative leaders on Beacon Hill believe they have narrow majorities in both chambers to give Governor Deval Patrick the power to appoint an interim US senator, in a sign that the controversial measure may pass. But the bill must still survive Republican attempts to delay or kill it through parliamentary maneuvers. . . . Top Democrats in Washington have been aggressively pushing for Massachusetts to temporarily fill the seat to give them more leeway in approving President Obama’s national health care plan."
Click here to read the entire post.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
A Useful Reminder that Federal PACs Must Track State Campaign Finance Law Too
This article reports "The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union federal political action committee made illegal donations to Gov. Deval L. Patrick, the state Democratic party and Worcester area state Senate candidate Douglas Belanger, between 2006 and 2008, according to the state office of Campaign and Political Finance. The union has agreed to close its Massachusetts PAC and also agreed not to make donations to the Massachusetts Democratic State Committee or to Mr. Belanger during 2009 and to limit 2010 donations to the Democratic Committee to $5,000. . . . [Massachusetts] campaign finance laws do not allow federal PACs to make contributions to state candidates and political party committees."
Click here to read the entire post.
Thursday, July 02, 2009
Massachusetts, Press Release: GOVERNOR PATRICK SIGNS SWEEPING ETHICS, LOBBYING AND CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM
The Governor's Office has issued this press release: "Governor Deval Patrick, joined by House Speaker Robert DeLeo and Senate President Therese Murray, today signed sweeping ethics, lobbying and campaign finance reform legislation that institutes a strong ban on gifts to public officials, increases penalties for civil and criminal violations of ethics laws and expands the investigative and enforcement powers of a number of state authorities."
Click here to read the entire post.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Boston Globe: Leaders approve ethics revamp; House, Senate to vote today; Bill would bar most gifts
From the Boston Globe: "Legislative leaders unveiled the most sweeping ethics overhaul in decades yesterday, as they attempted to move past a series of high-profile scandals on Beacon Hill . . . . The ethics bill - which strengthens enforcement, levies higher penalties for violations, and bans nearly all gifts to public officials - is the final piece of legislation requested by the governor before he said he would consider asking Massachusetts residents to pay more at the register. . . . The ethics legislation, which the House and Senate are likely to approve today, would give the State Ethics Commission enhanced subpoena power and tougher fines for violations; require mayors to file campaign finance reports with the state; and increase penalties for crimes such as bribery, conflict of interest, and campaign finance violations. . . . But there are several provisions that were left out, including one that would have banned lobbyists from making or soliciting campaign donations. The legislation also does not give the attorney general’s office wiretapping authority, as proposed by Patrick in his ethics bill."
Click here to read the entire post.
Wednesday, June 03, 2009
Boston Globe: DiMasi, 3 associates charged with rigging of state contracts; Ex-speaker allegedly got $57,000 payout
The Boston Globe reports "Former Massachusetts House speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi and three friends were indicted yesterday by a federal grand jury for allegedly orchestrating a scheme that allowed DiMasi to pocket tens of thousands of dollars in payments from a software company while he was using his powerful office to make sure the company won state contracts."
Click here to read the entire post.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Boston Globe: Senate hits back at Patrick on ethics; Measure would limit gifts to special account
The Boston Globe reports on an effort to reduce the contribution limit to political party committees, in an apparent attempt to hamstring Gov. Patrick.
Click here to read the entire post.
Wednesday, April 08, 2009
Boston Globe: Wilkerson faces more bribery allegations
The Boston Globe reports that former Massachusetts "state senator Dianne Wilkerson began taking bribes in exchange for political favors in 2002, five years earlier than authorities originally alleged when she was arrested last October in an alleged extortion scheme, according to a new federal indictment announced yesterday."
Click here to read the entire post.
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