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| Advocacy & Government Relations |
New Lobbying and Ethics Law Taking Effect—Take Steps Now to Ensure Compliance - 11/07
Advocacy and Government Relations
November 9, 2007
Cynthia E. Berry
Recently, the President signed into law the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act, which imposes new lobbying disclosure and ethics requirements.
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Congress Passes New Ethics, Lobbying, and Earmark Requirements - 08/20/07
Health Care & Advocacy & Government Relations
August 20, 2007
Cynthia E. Berry
Before recessing for the month of August, the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate passed the "Honest Leadership and Open Government Act" (S. 1), which would tighten ethics guidelines, restrict lawmakers' interactions with lobbyists, increase lobbying disclosure, and impose new requirements on earmarking of federal funds.
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Summary of General Statutes Enacted at the 2007 Session of the Georgia General Assembly of Georgia - 8/07
Advocacy & Government Relations
August 15, 2007
Robert J. Lystad
Joel C. Williams, Jr.
A memorandum outlining select general statues enacted by the Georgia General Assembly during the 2007 legislative session.
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HB 2007 Local Government - 8/8/07
Advocacy & Government Relations
August 8, 2007
Robert J. Lystad
HB 2007 Local Government
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Sign Regulation Restrictions Affecting Local Governments - 06/27/07
Government Relations
June 27, 2007
David M. Armitage
The Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit handed down opinions regarding how county and municipal governments may enact and enforce their sign ordinances.
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House Approves Lobbying Overhaul Package - 06/04/07
Advocacy & Government Relations
June 4, 2007
Cynthia E. Berry
Just before leaving Washington for the Memorial Day recess, the House of Representatives passed legislation that would tighten lobbying practices and expand disclosure requirements in an effort to honor promises of reform and a more ethical environment in Congress.
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Searching for Capital: Selected Legal Issues - 04/2007
Private Equity
April 11, 2007
Stuart C. Johnson
Robert J. Lystad
Many entrepreneurs ask third parties to help them raise capital. Such persons can be classified in two different ways, from a legal perspective: as a "finder" or as a "broker-dealer". This Alert will summarize the differences between "finders" and "broker-dealers," the potential risks of using the wrong person to accomplish fundraising activities, and best practices to consider when undertaking to raise capital.
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House Adopts Tighter Ethics Rules - 01/09/07
Advocacy & Government Relations
January 9, 2007
Cynthia E. Berry
Fulfilling an election year promise on the opening day of the 110th Congress (January 4), House of Representatives Democratic leaders introduced a resolution changing the chamber's rules governing ethics and lawmakers' relationships with lobbyists. House members adopted the new rules by a vote of 430-1, which will take effect on March 1.
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Fall Elections May Bring Increased Oversight of the Medicare Program - 10/30/06
Health Care
October 30, 2006
Alan K. Parver
Representative Fortney "Pete" Stark, Ranking Minority Member for the House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee recently identified areas in health law and policy that could draw the attention of a Democratically-led Congress.
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Court Rejects Doctrine That Protects Attorney-Client Privilege in Government Investigations - 08/04/06
Litigation
August 4, 2006
On June 26, 2006, Judge Lewis A. Kaplan of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, in the case of United States v. Jeffrey Stein, raised eyebrows when he declared portions of the United States Department of Justice's so called "Thompson Memorandum" unconstitutional. In particular, he ruled that the Thompson Memorandum's requirement that prosecutors consider a corporation's payment of its employees' legal expenses when determining the corporation's cooperation is unconstitutional.
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FEC Will Permit Paycheck Deductions for Trade Association PACs; Court Finds Loopholes in FEC Implementation of BCRA - 8/05/05
Advocacy & Government Relations Alert
August 5, 2005
Michael H. Chanin
Two recent developments in campaign finance law are worthy of note. A new Federal Election Commission rule will allow trade associations to raise money more easily from solicitable employees of their corporate members. Separately, a ruling by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals will force the FEC to adopt stricter rules implementing the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002. In particular, the more restrictive rules are likely to impact the campaign activity and funding of "independent" groups.
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Committee Assignments for the 109th Congress - 01/25/05
Advocacy and Government Relations
Cynthia E. Berry
House Republican and Democratic leadership continue to finalize committee assignments for the 109th Congress. The House Steering Committee and Leadership are meeting this week to prepare a final resolution for a vote by the House of Representatives. It is expected that the House will vote on committee assignments this week. After each committee is formally established, organizational meetings will be held to adopt committee rules and establish subcommittee assignments for the 109th Congress.
Click on the link below to see the complete House and Senate assignments for the 109th Congress.
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FED Considering PAC Payroll Deductions for Trade Groups - 12/23/04
Advocacy & Government Relations
December 23, 2004
Michael H. Chanin
The Federal Election Commission ("FEC") is considering a rules change that would improve the ability of trade associations to raise money for their political action committees ("PACs").
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Busy Year for Guilty Pleas - 12/23/04
Advocacy & Government Relations
December 23, 2004
In 2004, ongoing investigations by the Criminal Enforcement section of the Antitrust Division of the United States Department of Justice resulted in high profile guilty pleas and large fines. In March of 2004, Crompton Corporation, a US manufacturer of rubber chemicals, plead guilty to conspiring with other rubber chemical producers to suppress and eliminate competition in the sale of rubber chemicals and agreed to pay a $50,000,000 fine. Joseph B. Eisenberg and James J. Conway. former executives of Crompton, subsequently also plead guilty.
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Department of Health and Human Services Task Force Releases Report on Prescription Drug Importation - 12/23/04
December 23, 2004
Cynthia E. Berry
In this edition of the Advocacy & Government Relations Client Alert we discuss the final report (released on December 21) of the Department of Health and Human Services Task Force on Drug Importation. Reiterating that access to safe and affordable prescription drugs is an important policy goal, the Task Force concluded that drug importation would be costly to implement, provide little overall savings and, if not restricted to commercial importation from Canada, could be dangerous to consumers. The Task Force advised that all aspects of achieving safety, quality and cost-effectiveness must be comprehensively examined before imported drugs can be considered safe.
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FEC Proposed Rule Could Restrict Fundraising by Tax-Exempt Organizations - 03/04
Tax
March 16, 2004
On March 11, 2004, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) requested comments on a proposed rule that could have a serious negative impact on fundraising by tax-exempt organizations.
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FEC Strictly Enforcing Ban on Company Facilitation of Political Contributions - 06/03
Government Relations
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Now You Can Start Your Own PAC - 03/02
Advocacy & Government Relations
March 21, 2002
Passage of Campaign Finance Reform Will Promote More Nonconnected PACs
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Homeland Security, the War on Terrorism and Economic Revitalization: The President's 2003 Budget - 02/02
Homeland Security
President Bush sent his Fiscal Year 2003 budget to Congress on February 4, 2002. The budget focuses on 3 priorities: strengthening protections of our homeland, winning the war on terrorism, and revitalizing the economy and creating jobs. In addition to increased defense spending by 12%, spending for homeland security is nearly doubled and a major theme in the budget.
Our Government Relations practice has prepared an succinct analysis of the administration's proposed budget.
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