Sunlight Foundation

NEWS ROUNDUP:

• Special interests ranging from defense contractors to university professors and everything else in betweent lobbied against the sequester, which looks more and more likely to go into effect at the end of this week. (Roll Call)
• Georgian officials charged Tblisi mayor Gigi Ugulava with money laundering and misusing state funds. It is the latest in a string of charges levied against allies of President Mikheil Saakashvili. (Wall Street Journal)
• Nearly five months after passing legislation mandating it, San Francisco has not hired a chief data officer and isn't showing signs that they are in any hurry to do so. (GovFresh)
• The Supreme Court decided to limit the number of campaign finance cases they will consider this year. Yesterday they declined to take up a chalenge to the ban on direct corporate contributions to candidates and parties. They are expected to rule on a challenge to individual donation limits in the coming term. (Roll Call)
• White House press secretary Jay Carney denied that access to President Obama was for sale following reports that he would hold quarterly meetings with major donors to Organizing for Action, the new nonprofit rising from the ashes of his reelection campaign.  (Politico)
• Al Jazeera continues to add lobbyists to its bench as it ramps up its US operations. The network added the Law Offices of George R. Salem, PLLC to a roster that already includes DLA Piper, Global Policy Initiatives, and TCK International.(Public Integrity)
• New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg vetoed campaign finance legislation that passed the New York City Council 47-1 recently. The legislation would have weakened disclosure rules related to internal labor and corporate political messaging. His veto can be overruled by a two-thirds majority. (Lobby Comply)

NEWS ROUNDUP:

• New York Governor, and assumed 2016 presidential candidate, Andrew Cuomo is planning a series of huge dollar fundraisers. He already has more than $22 million in his campaign account and no major challenger in his 2014 race for another term in the New York state house. (Politico)
• The leaders of Organizing for Action, the Obama campaign spin off that is looking to promote issues at federal and state levels, appear to be coordinating with just about everyone from Hollywood executives, to former members of the campaign's finance team, to the President himself as they plot their fundraising and action strategy. (Washington Post)
• Wireless company Qualcomm has agreed to ramp up disclosure of its political spending following a law suit filed by the New York State Common Retirement Fund. In exchange for the suit being dropped Qualcomm will post its political contributions and expenditures online. It will also disclose the money it spends to influence ballot measures. (The Hill)
• The White House released a memo directing federal agencies to create plans to provide free public access to the results of federally funded scientific research. The memo, which was released in response to a petition on the White House's We the People platform, is parallel to legislation that has been introduced in the House. (Politico)
• South Korea is one of the most technologically advanced countries in the world. Unfortunately, there is a strong culture of government censorship and little has been done to use technology to increase transparency. A nascent group of NGOs is trying to change that. (Tech President)
• A top energy adviser to Mitt Romney's 2012 campaign is taking a lobbying job with a major natural gas company. Rebecca Rosen, who also previously worked on the Senate's energy committee, will join Devon Energy Corp. as vice president of federal government affairs. (The Hill)