In a session marked more by delay than by decision, the Federal Election Commission did not approve a request by the Democratic Governors Association to use soft money to fund a new group that would participate in federal get-out-the-vote efforts, a matter it put off voting on at its last meeting in August.
By forming a separate organization, the group of state governors was seeking to get around a legal ban on groups of state lawmakers from playing in federal elections with unlimited funds.
The two Democrat-appointed commissioners voted against approval, disappointing the three GOP commissioners who believed the DGA ...
Continue readingDonors flooded state level PACs with big checks
If you think the $6 billion spent during the last election cycle on federal races was a lot, consider this: Another $1.4 billion that up until now was nearly impossible to total up on a national level flowed into campaigns through political committees that don't report to the Federal Election Commission because they operate only at the state level.
That's more than the $1.2 billion traditional PACs--the kind that give directly to candidates--collected at the federal level. And it reflects giving in just 23 states, those included in a new Sunlight Foundation analysis of data compiled ...
Missouri just the latest state to test limits of gun law nullification
One day after Colorado voters ousted two state senators over their support for gun control, Missouri lawmakers are debating whether to try to make federal gun control measures illegal in their state. In a special legislative session opening today, opponents of gun control in the Show-Me State are vowing to override Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon's veto of a bill that would effectively nullify federal gun control measures.
The law would make it illegal for state employee to enforce them. Nixon (pictured right) called it unconstitutional when he vetoed the measure in July.
As Sunlight first reported in March, the ...
Continue readingNYC Democratic mayoral hopefuls spend big in last minute ad push
The Democratic primary for New York City's mayoral election this Tuesday marks the end of a long, colorful chapter in municipal campaigning -- replete with sexual misconduct, name calling and of course big time spending.
The Big Apple's system of public campaign finance adds extra juice to candidates' fundraising forays -- the city provides matching funds for all contributions up to $175 with $6 in matching funds -- and candidates need every penny they can get their hands on in the city's high-dollar media market. FCC filings compiled by Sunlight's Political Ad Sleuth show that New Yorkers were bombarded ...
Continue readingWho’s giving how much in Colorado gun recall? Who knows?
DENVER -- Amidst reports of a torrent of some $3.5 million in spending, much of it from out of state, on today's recall elections for two Colorado state senators who voted in favor of stronger gun control laws, it appears all but certain that the actual tab will be much, much more. That's because of the big black hole even intrepid journalists fall in when trying to put together solid numbers on how much is being spent here.
A number of major spenders in the race are not required to report their contributors or expenditures to the Colorado ...
Continue readingIn new battleground over toxic reform, American Chemistry Council targets the states
This is a special report from The Center for Public Integerity, a member -- like the Sunlight Foundation Reporting Group -- of the Investigative News Network.
HARTFORD, Conn. — In the bare-knuckle war over toxic chemicals, the fight between industry and activists has shifted noticeably from Washington, D.C., to state venues such as the golden-domed Capitol that rises over Hartford like a lordly manse.
What happened this year in Hartford shows how industry — fueled by the American Chemistry Council, a $100 million a year advocacy group glittered with Fortune 500 partners — is flexing its muscles from statehouse to statehouse to beat back ...
Continue readingBattle over dark money takes many forms on state level
An analysis of dozens of laws introduced in state legislatures during the last two years suggests widespread concern over the effects of unlimited campaign spending groups in the wake of *Citizens United*.
Continue readingOut of state money pouring into Colorado gun recall races
A week before a much-watched recall election for two Colorado state legislators who voted in favor of strengthening gun restrictions last spring, the contest is attracting the kind of heavy political artillery normally reserved for national and statewide elections.
Continue readingThere’s no summer vacation for education lobbying
Though the fall doesn't officially start for another couple of weeks, for most Americans summer ends when school buses begin running their routes and college football broadcasts return to Saturdays. While educational institutions from kindergartens to law schools are welcoming students back, there was no summer vacation in Washington, where their lobbyists have reported spending more than $43 million lobbying Congress and the executive branch so far this year.
It's easy to understand why. Altogether, the federal government spent $47.5 billion on elementary and secondary education in 2012, the last full year for which statistics are available ...
Continue readingUse Sunlight Tools to track civil rights issues
As the nation focuses on the 50th anniversary of the historic March for Jobs and Freedom that culminated with Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I have a dream" speech, we decided to look at the subject of civil rights through the prism of some Sunlight tools:
It's a party affair. According to searches on our Capitol Words tool, which allows users to search text on the Congressional Record, Democrats talk more often about voting rights than Republicans do. Dems also own “Martin Luther King,” “redistricting,” “voter registration,” “civil rights” “Jim Crow,” “Selma,” and “March on Washington.” Republicans talk about ...
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