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Mar 30, 2007 -- Legal Center Weekly Report: March 30, 2007
Meredith McGehee, Campaign Legal Center Policy Director, marked the five-year anniversary of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act this week by hailing its successes . "After two full election cycles, it is abundantly clear that the nation's political process while still facing challenges, is far better off with the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA) in place," she stated. "The sponsors of BCRA sought to remove the corrupting influence of unlimited soft money contributions solicited by candidates and officeholders and achieved that goal—ending a practice that had spun out of control."
That statement continues, "The intention of BCRA was never to take money out of politics. But the six- and seven-figure soft money donations to the parties used by corporations, unions and individuals to skirt longstanding campaign finance laws and gain access and influence are now just bad memories."
Senate Electronic Disclosure, Statement of Legal Center Policy Director
The Rules Committee took an important first step this week in moving the Senate beyond the era of the typing pool and into modern campaign disclosure practices after years of steadfast refusal. Meredith McGehee, Policy Director stated , "The Rules Committee, under the leadership of Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), reported out S. 223, the Senate Campaign Disclosure Parity Act, as a clean bill without any 'poison pill' amendments. This straightforward bill, sponsored by Senators Russ Feingold (D-WI) and Thad Cochran (R-MS), would require Senate candidates to file their campaign disclosure reports electronically—like all other federal candidates, party committees and federal PACs."
The Legal Center continued to urge the committee to pass the legislation up until shortly before the vote. And last week, the Legal Center along with Common Cause, Democracy 21, the League of Women Voters, Public Citizen, and U.S. PIRG sent a letter to the members of the Senate Rules Committee urging them to support S. 223 and report a clean bill.
This week, the Campaign Legal Center, the Benton Foundation and the Center for American Progress (CAP) called on Congress and the Federal Communications Commission to require more than lip service from broadcasters on their obligations to the public. In a letter delivered to House Commerce and Energy Committee Chairman John Dingell (D-MI) and Telecommunications and the Internet Subcommittee Chairman Edward Markey (D-MA) the organizations detailed the outstanding issues and unfinished business raised in FCC proceedings concerning the transition to digital television.
In their letter, Policy Director Meredith McGehee, Benton Chairman Charles Benton and CAP Senior Fellow Mark Lloyd point out that since 1995, the Commission has realized that the greater capabilities afforded by digital technology could affect broadcasters' obligations to serve the public interest and asked for public comment on how those obligations might be adapted to the digital context.
Legal Center Sends Memo on Paid Communications Campaigns to House
The Legal Center sent a memo to all members of the House this week on the constitutionality of the new lobbying disclosure proposal for paid communications campaigns. Later this spring, the House is expected to take up S. 1, the Lobbying Transparency and Accountability Act of 2007, legislation that will strengthen current lobby disclosure laws as well as change Senate ethics rules. S. 1 seeks to close major loopholes in the Lobbying Disclosure Act. One of those loopholes, however, remains unaddressed in the Senate-passed bill—that is the income received by lobbying firms who are paid by third parties to conduct communications campaigns that are designed to influence the general public to lobby Congress.
The new proposal would require these retained lobbying firms (including professional firms which engage only in public communication campaigns, not direct lobbying efforts) to disclose in a report the amounts that they received to conduct such campaigns.
Legal Center Urges House Members to Cosponsor Leadership PAC Bill
On Friday March 30, 2007, Policy Director Meredith McGehee sent a letter to all House Members urging them to cosponsor the Leadership PAC Disclosure Act, H. R. 237, introduced recently by Rep. Walter Jones Jr. (R-NC).
This measure would require leadership PACs to include in their statements of organization, and the reports they file with the Federal Election Commission, the identification of each candidate or officeholder with whom the committee is associated. The FEC would then be required to make this information publicly available over the Internet.
Current law permits lawmakers and candidates to maintain and operate leadership PACs without disclosing such information. This lack of transparency not only undermines the current campaign finance system, but also sends the message that Members of Congress are not willing to fully disclose their political fundraising and spending.
Campaign Legal Center's Executive Director Gerry Hebert spoke on March 30, 2007, at the National Press Club on the "Politicization of the U.S. Department of Justice". Hebert, a former official of the Justice Department for over 20 years, appeared on a panel with Joseph Rich and Steve Bickerstaff. Rich is a former chief of the Justice Department's Voting Section and a thirty-six year veteran of the Department. Bickerstaff is a University of Texas Law Professor who recently authored a book on the Texas congressional redistricting case, entitled "Lines in the Sand Congressional Redistricting in Texas and the Downfall of Tom DeLay".
Legal Center Blog Highlights
Each week, the Campaign Legal Center staff posts blog entries on its site, www.clcblog.org . This week's entries include Click to read this week's entry: " Briefs for WRTL's McCain-Feingold Challenge Filed in U.S. Supreme Court ," and " Gratuities Accepted... Unless Illegal " or to sign up for blog updates, click here .
To read a variety of this week's editorials and articles on a variety of Campaign Legal Center issues, please click here . |
