Buried in the recently‐enacted and controversial North Carolina Voter ID law is an additional restriction on political activity by lobbyists. North Carolina already prohibited lobbyists from making personal political contributions at any time, and from collecting and transferring contributions from multiple donors (known as bundling). Starting October 1, lobbyists will be prohibited from collecting and
political contributions
Will Qualcomm Settlement Set New Standard for Disclosure of Corporate Political Spending?
Last week Qualcomm and New York State’s Comptroller, Thomas DiNapoli, announced that Qualcomm will begin posting its political spending on its website. In exchange, the NY Comptroller has agreed to drop the lawsuit it filed against the company.
As described here, last month the NY Comptroller sued Qualcomm on behalf of the state’s pension…
Government Contractors Face Growing Risks from Laws Regulating Political Contributions
The landmark Supreme Court ruling in the Citizens United case paved the way for explosive growth in political spending during the 2012 election cycle. However, for government contractors and their principals, a growing number of “pay-to-play” laws restrict political contributions and fundraising, and can result in severe penalties, including the loss of contracts. Venable has…
New Wine Into Old Bottles: Adapting Text Messaging Proposal to 1970’s Era Rules Gains FEC Approval
The Federal Election Commission approved a proposal earlier this week to allow contributions via text messaging in federal elections. With the lawmaking process ill-equipped to keep pace with developing technologies, the success of this proposal – a year-and-a-half after the FEC rejected another text-messaging proposal – suggests that the path to approval for tech entrepreneurs…