Tag Archives: lobbying

Donald Trump (r): adding to the swamp on the way out the door

20 Wednesday Jan 2021

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“…I will not, within 5 years after the termination of my employment as an appointee in any executive agency in which I am appointed to serve, engage in lobbying activities with respect to that agency…”

Lobbying. Taking care of the one true base.

Last night:

Executive Order on the Revocation of Executive Order 13770
Issued on: January 20, 2021

By the authority vested in me as President of the United States by the Constitution and laws of the United States of America, including section 301 of title 3, United States Code, and sections 3301 and 7301 of title 5, United States Code, it is hereby ordered as follows:

Section 1. Revocation. Executive Order 13770 of January 28, 2017, “Ethics Commitments by Executive Branch Appointees,” is hereby revoked, effective at noon January 20, 2021. Employees and former employees subject to the commitments in Executive Order 13770 will not be subject to those commitments after noon January 20, 2021.

Sec. 2. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:

(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or

(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.

(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

DONALD J. TRUMP

THE WHITE HOUSE,
January 19, 2021.

Executive Order 13770 [pdf], at the National Archives:

Executive Order 13770 of January 28, 2017
Ethics Commitments by Executive Branch Appointees

By the authority vested in me as President of the United States by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including section 301 of title 3, United States Code, and sections 3301 and 7301 of title 5, United States Code, it is hereby ordered as follows:

Section 1. Ethics Pledge. Every appointee in every executive agency appointed on or after January 20, 2017, shall sign, and upon signing shall be contractually committed to, the following pledge upon becoming an appointee:

‘‘As a condition, and in consideration, of my employment in the United States Government in an appointee position invested with the public trust, I commit myself to the following obligations, which I understand are binding on me and are enforceable under law:

‘‘1. I will not, within 5 years after the termination of my employment as an appointee in any executive agency in which I am appointed to serve, engage in lobbying activities with respect to that agency.

‘‘2. If, upon my departure from the Government, I am covered by the post-employment restrictions on communicating with employees of my former executive agency set forth in section 207(c) of title 18, United States Code, I agree that I will abide by those restrictions.

‘‘3. In addition to abiding by the limitations of paragraphs 1 and 2, I also agree, upon leaving Government service, not to engage in lobbying activities with respect to any covered executive branch official or noncareer Senior Executive Service appointee for the remainder of the Administration.

‘‘4. I will not, at any time after the termination of my employment in the United States Government, engage in any activity on behalf of any foreign government or foreign political party which, were it undertaken on January 20, 2017, would require me to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as amended.

‘‘5. I will not accept gifts from registered lobbyists or lobbying organizations for the duration of my service as an appointee.

‘‘6. I will not for a period of 2 years from the date of my appointment participate in any particular matter involving specific parties that is directly and substantially related to my former employer or former clients, including regulations and contracts.
[….]

Is anyone really surprised?

Bad combover. Check. Too long red tie. Check. Orange spray tan. Check. Tiny hands. Check. Cluelessness. Check…

SB 132: I’ve got secrets I want to keep

10 Monday Dec 2018

Posted by in Missouri General Assembly, Missouri Senate

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Because lobbyists shrivel up when exposed to sunlight?

A bill, prefiled in the Missouri Senate by Ed Emery (r), which would broaden disclosure exemptions in the Missouri Sunshine Law for members of the General Assembly:

FIRST REGULAR SESSION
SENATE BILL NO. 132 [pdf]
100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

INTRODUCED BY SENATOR EMERY. Pre-filed December 1, 2018, and ordered printed.
ADRIANE D. CROUSE, Secretary.
0625S.02I

AN ACT

To repeal section 610.021, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof one new section relating to the closure of certain records.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as follows:

Section A. Section 610.021, RSMo, is repealed and one new section enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as section 610.021, to read as follows:

610.021. Except to the extent disclosure is otherwise required by law, a public governmental body is authorized to close meetings, records and votes, to the extent they relate to the following:

[….]

(25) Any record maintained in the office of a member of the general assembly that is related to a constituent of the member; and
(26) Any record maintained in the office of a member of the general assembly, an employee of either house of the general assembly, or an employee of a caucus of either the majority or minority party of either house that contains information regarding proposed legislation or the legislative process, however, nothing in this subdivision shall allow the closure of a record that has been offered in a public meeting of a house of the general assembly, or any committee thereof.

[emphasis in original]

We wouldn’t want anyone to figure out who’s been pushing those ALEC cut and paste bills on the Missouri General Assembly now, would we?

Campaign Finance: it all adds up

30 Thursday Aug 2018

Posted by in campaign finance

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Today at the Missouri Ethics Commission in support of a PAC in Missouri formed to oppose ethics reform (including redistricting reform) petitions which became the CLEAN Missouri initiative (Proposition 1) on the November ballot:

C180099 08/30/2018 Advance Missouri Missouri Republican Party 514 E High Street Suite 31 Jefferson City MO 65101 8/30/2018 $12,000.00

[emphasis added]

Why are we not surprised?

In the past:

C180099 04/30/2018 Advance Missouri Liberty Alliance 7509 NW Tiffany Spring Parkway Ste 300 Kansas City MO 64153 4/30/2018 $12,201.09

C180099 06/01/2018 Advance Missouri Fair Lines America Inc. 2308 Mount Vernon Ave Ste 716 Alexandria VA 22301 6/1/2018 $50,000.00

[emphasis added]

Fair Lines America? What’s that:

[….]On the surface, not much is known about Fair Lines America. The group hosted a workshop on redistricting at the December 2017 conference of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a conservative, corporate lobbying group with a history advocating anti-voter legislation and strong ties to industrialists Charles and David Koch and their political network. Fair Lines America’s connection to ALEC gives it credentials within the conservative movement, but ALEC’s description of the workshop did not give any details on who they are.

A bit more digging reveals that the Alexandria, VA mailing address Fair Lines America listed on Citizens Protecting Michigan’s Constitution’s campaign finance report, P.O. BOX 26141, matches the address used by several super PACs that paid for attack ads directed at Donald Trump in the early stages of the 2016 presidential campaign. The PO Box and the ads were an issue in the 2016 Republican presidential primary and the super PACs were found to be affiliated with Trump foes Ted Cruz and Carly Fiorina.

The PO Box also is connected to Christopher Marston, a Republican attorney, and his campaign finance compliance firm, Election CFO. Among the firm’s listed clients are several Republican members of Congress and political committees.

Fair Lines America also has Twitter account (@FairLinesUSA), although it has never tweeted. At this writing, the Twitter account has exactly one follower: the National Republican Redistricting Trust. This is a group set up by Republican officials to help the GOP in the 2021 redistricting process. According to a Politico article that announced the groups’ formation, the organization “will focus on data and legal efforts” to challenge Democrat-drawn districts. To completely conceal its donors, the National Republican Redistricting Trust is registered as a legal trust instead of a nonprofit or political action committee.[….]

The twitter account:

Fair Lines America @FairLinesUSA A non-partisan, non-profit supporting fair and legal redistricting through education, demography, data analysis, litigation, and reform.
Joined April 2018

You think they wrote that description with a straight face? Just asking.

Some of the (present) seventeen followers of that Twitter account:

Chris Young @ChrisYoungNV ‏ Secure Nevada’s Future | @GOP National Field Director ’16 | @GOP LA State Director ’14 | Team Nevada ’12 | @BobbyJindal ’07 & ’11 | Organizer |

Bobby Jindal, eh? That inspires great confidence.

Stephanie Bell @stephaniesbell ‏ Wife. Mom. Community Builder. Advocate. Lawyer. Conservative. ISTJ. #SoBoCo

Fair Districts La @fairdistrictsla ‏ Fair Districts Louisiana is a grass-roots, non-partisan alliance of citizens advocating for redistricting reform.

Riiiiight.

Trey Trainor @txelectionlaw ‏ Husband, father of six, Catholic, conservative. Advise elected officials, political organizations, and candidates on state and federal election regulations.

StLCountyRepublicans @StLCountyRepub ‏St. Louis County Republicans. Happenings and More. Retweet if you like. Grassroots. News and information. You decide.

Alrighty then.

NRRT @TheNRRT ‏ The National Republican Redistricting Trust

They could form a right wingnut infinite feedback loop. Oh, wait, the Faux New Channel already exists.

Campaign Finance: getting schooled

28 Tuesday Aug 2018

Posted by in campaign finance

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Today at the Missouri Ethics Commission in support of the initiative (Amendment 1) for campaign finance, lobbying, legislative open records, and redistricting reform:

C161298 08/28/2018 CLEAN Missouri National Education Association 1201 16th St, NW Washington DC 20036 8/27/2018 $250,000.00

[emphasis added]

Teachers have long memories. Really long.

Previously:

Campaign Finance: teaching your children well (August 20, 2018)

Campaign Finance: the same fight (August27, 2018)

Campaign Finance: the same fight

27 Monday Aug 2018

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Today at the Missouri Ethics Commission in support of the initiative (Amendment 1) for campaign finance, lobbying, legislative open records, and redistricting reform:

C161298 08/27/2018 CLEAN Missouri Planned Parenthood Great Plains Votes 4401 W. 109th St Suite 200 Overland Park KS 66211 8/27/2018 $50,000.00

[emphasis added]

“Which side are you on? Which side are you on?”

Previously:

Campaign Finance: teaching your children well (August 20, 2018)

Campaign Finance: teaching your children well

20 Monday Aug 2018

Posted by in campaign finance, Missouri General Assembly

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Today at the Missouri Ethics Commission from educators in support of the initiative (Amendment 1) for campaign finance, lobbying, legislative open records, and redistricting reform:

C161298 08/20/2018 CLEAN Missouri Missouri National Education Association Ballot Issue Crisis Fund 1810 E. Elm st Jefferson city MO 65107 8/18/2018 $250,000.00

[emphasis added]

If teachers are for it you can bet a lot of money that right wingnut republicans are against it.

Boom!

08 Sunday Jan 2017

Posted by in Missouri General Assembly, Missouri House, social media

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Representative Tracy McCreery (D) [2017 file photo].

Representative Tracy McCreery (D) [2017 file photo].

It’s a little more difficult for the majority party to stifle legislative debate on social media.

Earlier this week from Governor-elect Eric Greitens (r), via Twitter:

greitens010517

Eric Greitens ‏@EricGreitens
I look forward to signing a complete ban on gifts from lobbyists. Time to end politics as usual.
[….]
5:02 PM – 4 Jan 2017

Then, retweeted by Representative Justn Alferman (r):

alferman010517

Justin Alferman ‏@Justinalf
So excited to have a Governor who will engage with the Legislature!
[….]
8:27 PM – 5 Jan 2017

And, today, from Representative Tracy McCreery (D):

mccreery010817

Tracy McCreery ‏@TracyMcCreery
.@Justinalf Isn’t it going to be awkward when the Greitens administration does not support your bill since it is not a complete ban?
4:06 PM – 8 Jan 2017

Boom!

They’re counting on no one paying attention.

HB 2059: If you show me your ethics, I’ll show you mine.

07 Thursday Jan 2016

Posted by in Missouri General Assembly, Missouri House

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A bill, filed yesterday by Representative Bart Korman (r):

HB 2059
Specifies that sexual relations between lobbyists and members of the General Assembly or their staff shall be considered gifts subject to reporting with certain exceptions

Sponsor: Korman, Bart (042)
Proposed Effective Date: 8/28/2016
LR Number: 5684H.01I
Last Action: 01/06/2016 – Introduced and Read First Time (H)
Bill String: HB 2059
Next Hearing: Hearing not scheduled
Calendar: HOUSE BILLS FOR SECOND READING

The bill text:

SECOND REGULAR SESSION
HOUSE BILL NO. 2059 [pdf]
98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVE KORMAN.

5684H.01I D. ADAM CRUMBLISS, Chief Clerk

AN ACT

To repeal section 105.473 as enacted by house bill no. 1900, ninety-third general assembly, second regular session, and to enact in lieu thereof one new section relating to lobbyist expenditures.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:

[….]

….(3) For purposes of subdivision (2) of this subsection, the term “gift” shall include sexual relations between a registered lobbyist and a member of the general assembly or his or her staff. Relations between married persons or between persons who entered into a relationship prior to the registration of the lobbyist, the election of the member to the general assembly, or the employment of the staff person shall not be reportable under this subdivision. The reporting of sexual relations for purposes of this subdivision shall not require a dollar valuation…

[….]

[emphasis in original]

“…The reporting of sexual relations for purposes of this subdivision shall not require a dollar valuation…”

Think of the costs.

It’s going to be an epic legislative session.

HB 744: no soup for you

30 Friday Jan 2015

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Previously:

HB 732: steak and sea bass (January 28, 2015)

HR 380, HR 476, HR 923: once more, into the abyss (April 30, 2014)

Impeaching Nixon? (November 17, 2013)

We see what you did there.

The social media frenzy over that House committee hearing dinner with lobbyists in a country club must have been upsetting.

Representative Nick Marshall (r) in Jefferson City on the floor of the House. [file photo]

A bill, introduced today by Representative Nick Marshall (r):

FIRST REGULAR SESSION

HOUSE BILL NO. 744 [pdf]

98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVE MARSHALL.

1601L.01I D. ADAM CRUMBLISS, Chief Clerk

AN ACT

To amend chapter 37, RSMo, by adding thereto one new section relating to entrances to certain state offices, with penalty provisions.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:

Section A. Chapter 37, RSMo, is amended by adding thereto one new section, to be known as section 37.860, to read as follows:

37.860. 1. The commissioner of the office of administration shall install, operate,

and maintain an audio and visual recording of the main entrance to the official offices in the capitol building of the governor, lieutenant governor, speaker of the house of representatives, and president pro tempore of the senate. The recording shall be broadcast live on the internet and shall be archived for no less than seventy-five years. The method of archiving the recording shall allow for reproduction of specific time frames of video upon request.

2. The commissioner shall develop a request form to reproduce video, which shall be made available online and in print form. The actual cost of reproduction may be charged to the person requesting the video, but in no case shall such charge exceed ten dollars per hour of recording or parts of thereof. The cost of installing, oerating, and maintaining the audio and visual recordings required under this section shall be borne by and paid out of any funds appropriated to the office of administration.

3. Upon taking office, the governor, lieutenant governor, speaker of the house, and president pro tem shall inform the commissioner of the location of the main entrance to their respective offices, which shall only be changed during each term in office upon application and approval of the commissioner.

4. No registered lobbyist as defined in section 105.470 shall enter or exit the office of governor, lieutenant governor, speaker of the house, or president pro tem except by the main entrance specified to the commissioner.

5. No registered lobbyist as defined in section 105.470 shall discuss any bill, law, contract, or bid for contract with the governor, lieutenant governor, speaker of the house, or president pro tem unless such discussion takes place in such elected official’s official office in the capitol building.

6. Any willful violation of this section by a registered lobbyist as defined in section 105.470 shall be a class A misdemeanor. Any willful violation of this section by the governor, lieutenant governor, speaker of the house, or president pro tem shall be cause for removal from office.

[emphasis in original]

Gee, the penalty is kind of impeachy.

Interestingly, there’s nothing in this about legislative committee hearings being recorded and streamed on the Internets (live!).

Did our good friends at Progress Missouri lobby Representative Marshall (r) for an exception to protect their current primacy in live streaming off campus legislative standing committee hearings? Inquiring minds want to know.

“….No registered lobbyist as defined in section 105.470 shall discuss any bill, law, contract, or bid for contract with the governor, lieutenant governor, speaker of the house, or president pro tem unless such discussion takes place in such elected official’s official office in the capitol building…..”

Well, to be fair and consistent then, the same thing should apply to all members of the General Assembly.

No free soup for anyone.

HB 732: steak and sea bass

28 Wednesday Jan 2015

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Last night the House Telecommunications Committee had a scheduled committee hearing at the Jefferson City Country Club. The “refreshments” were reportedly provided by the Missouri Telecomm Industry Association. Our good friends at Progress Missouri attended and streamed the committee meeting dinner provided by lobbyists live from a country club dining room.

Much Twitter hilarity ensued:

Sean Nicholson @ssnich

Telecomm Cmte with country club ‘hearing’ tonight has exactly zero bills assigned to it at this time. #MOLeg 7:02 PM – 27 Jan 2015

Kasia Kovacs @kasiakovacs

Here’s an actual livestream of members our actual state government having an actual meeting at a country club [….] 8:01 PM – 27 Jan 2015

Michael Bersin @MBersin

Heh. “The sacrifices we make” You know, like dinners at a country club with lobbyists. Irony challenged. @ProgressMO #MOLeg 8:03 PM – 27 Jan 2015

tmservo433 ‏@tmservo433

“It’s like you lose track of watching your kids grow up.. hey.. so, what about this food?” @MBersin @ProgressMO #moleg 8:05 PM – 27 Jan 2015

And on and on.

A bill, introduced today by Representative Jeremy LaFaver (D):

HB 732

Prohibits General Assembly standing committees from holding meetings at any location other than the Capitol grounds

Sponsor: LaFaver, Jeremy (025)

Proposed Effective Date: 8/28/2015

LR Number: 1718L.02I

Last Action: 01/28/2015 – Introduced and Read First Time (H)

Bill String: HB 732

Next Hearing: Hearing not scheduled

Calendar: Bill currently not on a House calendar

[….]

[emphasis in original]

Any bets on this coming to the floor for a recorded vote?

Heh:

Missouri Lawmakers Can’t Hold Dinner “Hearings” at Fancy Country Clubs Anymore

By Danny Wicentowski Wed., Jan. 28 2015 at 1:45 PM

….Enjoying a lobbyist-funded meal is hardly excessive for the Missouri legislature, but the stink raised after last night’s hearing got so bad House Speaker John Diehl announced this morning that, effective immediately, all house committee hearings must take place at the capitol, according to PoliticMO….

Was that so difficult?