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Political
& Campaign Buttons Make a Great
Collecting Theme
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This
month we held a number of primary races
in my home state, Ohio. It is always
interesting to see and hear the
different messages portrayed by the
candidates in these races. In fact, this
leads to one of my favorite hobbies –
collecting political memorabilia,
especially campaign buttons.
I love political buttons and thought
I’d share some interesting notes on this
field with you.
You can often find political buttons at
antique shows, auctions, and similar
venues, but today the place to shop is
eBay. Every day there is wide range
offered, and these can sell for a few
dollars up to thousands of dollars for a
single button from an early president. I
just did a tally on eBay and there are
more than 6,400 buttons available
right now! |
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Many factors can affect the price of a button – how old it
is, eye-appeal, the type of election, the candidate, rarity
and the condition. Some of the buttons are clever and push
the boundaries of promotion for their candidate.
There are a few books that specifically focus on political
buttons, but search through the many historical and
political books and you will see how buttons are used to
introduce a slogan or image. The internet is also a trove of
information. One interesting site
http://www.cyberbee.com/campaign/buttons.html
shows a number of items. You can even join a collector’s
association called the American Political Items Collectors.
This not-for-profit group |
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was founded in 1945 to encourage the collection,
preservation and study of Political Americana. Today, the
APIC has more than 3,000 members world-wide.
In
future issues of Compliance Now, I’ll have more
opportunity to talk about other types of political
collecting, but for now, here are some favorites from my
button collection. The oversized button that I’m holding
shows the 1989 “George to George” connection, featuring
Presidents George Washington and George H.W. Bush. What a
coincidence that this same President Bush was also a speaker at my daughter’s graduation ceremony this past
weekend at George Washington University! [shown here.]
Good
luck if you decide to embark on this fascinating hobby of
button collecting. And look for us at NCSL this summer where
we’ll be wearing our famous State and Federal
Communications buttons!
Elizabeth
Z. Bartz
President and CEO
State and Federal Communications, Inc.
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We’re
Looking for Your Success Stories…
We
know the value that the Executive Source Guides bring to
the many companies and institutions that we serve. There
is much information at your fingertips about
contributions, compliance, regulations and necessary
filings, and more.
What
we don’t always know is HOW you use the Guides. What
problems do they solve for you? Who uses them at your
company? How do they make your job easier? Is there a
short story or case study you can share? We’d love to
hear from you. Just drop an email to our editor at nhobrath@stateandfed.com
and give us some highlights about how you use
these informative tools in your everyday role. We may
feature your response in a future issue of Compliance
Now so we can share your knowledge with others. Thanks.
Move
over David Letterman!
We have our own list — these are
important considerations when making political
contributions. This is gearing up to be another competitive
election year so we thought you’d enjoy thinking about
these questions.
Do you have the answers to these questions? Good.
But if you are stumped, ask the experts at State and Federal
Communications to help you out.
The
Guidebook is OUT!
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The
2006 State and Federal Communications Guidebook is again a hit.
This Guidebook offers a quick reference overview of the
extensive data found in our “on-line” Executive Source
Guides on State Lobbying LawsTM, Political
ContributionsTM, and Procurement LobbyingTM.
As always the Executive Source Guides are free to ALERTS
Consulting clients and subscribers to the Executive Source
Guides.
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 In
a recent conversion with Ralph Miccio, Counsel to
the NYTSCL, this question
came up…
Q.
When a manufacturer does
business with a vendor of the state [as opposed to the state
agency], is this procurement lobbying?
A.
NO. For instance, when the state “brokers
out” the negotiation
process for the pricing/purchasing of pharmaceuticals, most
pharmaceutical manufacturers usually deal with the
vendor/broker. In this situation, the manufacturer DOES NOT engage in procurement lobbying
activity that would trigger the duty to register. Only preparing
a bid and submitting a bid directly to the state agency would
result in procurement lobbying.
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Tennessee Modifies State Code;
Impacts Upcoming NCSL National Meeting
 John
Cozine, Esq., State and Federal Communications Research Manager
presents a key change in activities at conference.
Tennessee Senate Bill 7001, signed on February 15, 2006,
modifies the state code to allow lobbyists and lobbyist
employers to provide gifts to public officials at
conferences sponsored by a recognized organization of
elected and/or appointed state government officials.
Tennessee Code section 3-6-305, which was among
provisions of the bill effective immediately upon
approval by the governor, applies to candidates for
public office, legislative and executive branch
officials, and the immediate families of those
candidates and officials.
The new code provision allows gifts consisting of
entertainment, food, refreshments, meals, beverages,
amenities, health screenings, lodging, or admission
tickets that are provided in connection with and
arranged or coordinated through the employees or agents
of the sponsoring organization.
The Tennessee Registry of Election Finance has indicated
that this provision was specifically adopted to address
national meetings such as the National Conference of
State Legislatures (NCSL), which is meeting in Nashville
this summer.
In application, the provision allows lobbyists and their
employers to sponsor an event during NCSL's annual
meeting as long as the event is coordinated through NCSL
and NCSL acknowledges and identifies the sponsor. |
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Meet Cynthia
Jones
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Meet
Cynthia Jones, State and Federal Communications Compliance
Assistant. Cindy works with the Compliance Squad to gather and
collect reportable activity for procurement lobbyists in the
states of Louisiana and New York.
When
asked the most challenging aspect of her job, she says,
“Getting the reportable activity for every single lobbyist is
critical because ultimately our client, the employer, has to
submit a report to the state. Sometimes it takes a number of
calls or emails to track that information down, but it needs to
be done to stay up to date on their activities.”
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See
us at the Leadership Institute
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State and Federal
Communications will be sending a number of our staffers to the
Leadership Institute (LI), an annual educational program for
both emerging legislative leaders and experienced state
government relations professionals. The State Government Affairs
Council (SGAC) Foundation sponsors the Leadership Institute
jointly with the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL). |
The
2006 LI “Inspiring Great Leaders” will be held in June 12-15
at the Loews Annapolis Hotel in Annapolis, Maryland. For
more information, visit the NCSL website at http://www.ncsl.org/programs/leaders/Institute06.htm
or the SGAC website at http://www.sgac.org/
See Us in Person
Plan
to say hello at future professional development events where
State and Federal Communications will be attending and/or
speaking regarding compliance issues.
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NCSL
National Conference
August 15 - 18, 2006
Nashville, Tennessee
www.ncsl.org
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