[EL] ELB News and Commentary 1/16/14

Wed Jan 15 21:19:47 PST 2014

<http://electionlawblog.org/>

    NYT's Taking Note Blog on Senate's Failure to Use Electronic Filing
    of Campaign Finance Info <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=57981>

Posted on January 15, 2014 9:16 pm 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=57981>by Rick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Disgraceful. 
<http://takingnote.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/01/15/the-rube-goldberg-approach-to-campaign-transparency/>

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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>

    "Were 300 votes on rent control wrongfully rejected? Hoboken seeks
    state, county probe" <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=57979>

Posted on January 15, 2014 9:12 pm 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=57979>by Rick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

NJ.com reports 
<http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2014/01/hoboken_mayor_seeks_state_investigation_into_rent_control_voter_fraud_allegations.html>.

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Posted in election administration <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=18>

    Obamacare Subsidies Upheld- D.D.C finds ACA "Clear"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=57972>

Posted on January 15, 2014 11:02 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=57972>by Abbe Gluck 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=15>

The first merits decision in the Obamacare tax subsidy litigation has 
been handed down, and it is a big victory for the federal Government.  
Judge Paul Friedman (D.D.C.) has upheld the IRS's rule implementing  the 
Affordable Care Act, and making its tax subsidies available to consumers 
purchasing insurance on exchanges operated by the federal government, as 
well as to consumers purchasing insurance on exchanges operated by 
states.  My previous post here 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=15> described the main arguments on 
both sides, which centered around some very sloppy drafting by Congress 
with respect to these provisions.

The reason the opinion is such a big victory for the Government is that 
Judge Friedman did not even go to /Chevron/ deference, as some had 
expected. Instead, the Judge found the ACA /clear/, despite the bad 
drafting. Looking to the text in question; the legislative history; the 
many other provisions of the statute implicating the subsidies; and the 
Congressional Budget Office's estimates during the drafting process 
(which I blogged about here 
<http://balkin.blogspot.com/2012/07/cbo-canon-and-debate-over-tax-credits.html>), 
the Judge found no ambiguity in the statute and upheld the rule on that 
basis.  (He references /Chevron/ deference as an alternative, but not 
necessary, basis for the holding in a footnote.)

Another point of interest in the opinion for /Chevron/ aficionados: The 
Supreme Court has never resolved the question whether /Chevron/ 
deference is available for multiple agencies. Much recent writing 
(including work by Jody Freeman and Jim Rossi 
<http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1778363>; Jacob 
Gersen <http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=981765>, and 
my recent empirical work 
<http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2244952> with Lisa 
Bressman) has focused on the increasing frequency with which Congress 
delegates to multiple agencies at once, so this is very much a live 
question. The plaintiffs here had invoked a 2003 case from the D.C. 
Circuit implying that, when multiple implementers are in the picture, 
there might not  be /Chevron/ deference for anyone (a conclusion 
that our recent empirical study finds inconsistent with congressional 
expectations).  Judge Friedman rejected that conclusion here, arguing 
that Congress's intent to delegate to both HHS and IRS, and to take 
advantage of both agencies' expertise, was clear.   That's even 
more good legal fodder for the courts in other Circuits still deciding 
parallel cases and for the D.C. Circuit, which almost surely will be 
asked by the plaintiffs to hear an appeal on this one.

/[Cross posted at Balkinization/]

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Posted in Uncategorized <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

    "Most likely to exceed: Who's poised to double down post-McCutcheon"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=57969>

Posted on January 15, 2014 8:28 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=57969>by Rick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Sunlight and CRP report 
<http://sunlightfoundation.com/blog/2014/01/15/most-likely-to-exceed-whos-poised-to-double-down-post-mccutcheon/>.

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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>

    Biggest Bucks = Fewest Wins for Super PAC Campaign Consultants
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=57967>

Posted on January 15, 2014 8:27 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=57967>by Rick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

Eliza. 
<http://www.rollcall.com/news/super_pac_outside_spending_chiefs_make_big_bucks-230166-1.html?pos=hftxt>

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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, 
campaigns <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=59>, election law biz 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=51>

    "Ads Attacking Health Law Stagger Outspent Democrats"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=57965>

Posted on January 15, 2014 7:23 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=57965>by Rick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

NYT: 
<http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/15/us/politics/ads-attacking-on-health-law-stagger-outspent-democrats.html?hp&_r=0>

    Democrats are increasingly anxious about an onslaught of television
    ads hitting vulnerable Senate and House candidates for their support
    of the new health law, since many lack the resources to fight back
    in the early stages of the midterm campaign.

    Since September, Americans for Prosperity, a group financed in part
    by the billionaire Koch brothers, has spent an estimated $20 million
    on television advertising that calls out House and Senate Democrats
    by name for their support of the Affordable Care Act.

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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, tax law 
and election law <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=22>

    "Elections chief ruled on governor's race fundraising without board
    approval and with little legal advice"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=57963>

Posted on January 15, 2014 7:15 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=57963>by Rick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

News 
<http://marylandreporter.com/2014/01/14/elections-chief-ruled-on-governors-race-fundraising-without-board-approval-and-with-little-legal-advice/> 
from Maryland.

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Posted in Uncategorized <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=1>

    "Crossroads GPS likely broke election law, FEC staff concluded"
    <http://electionlawblog.org/?p=57961>

Posted on January 15, 2014 7:13 am 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?p=57961>by Rick Hasen 
<http://electionlawblog.org/?author=3>

WaPo 
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/crossroads-gps-likely-broke-election-law-fec-staff-reports-concluded/2014/01/15/15af18b6-7d73-11e3-93c1-0e888170b723_story.html>:

    The legal staff of the Federal Election Commission concluded in a
    just-released document that Crossroads GPS, a nonprofit organization
    backing conservative causes, likely violated campaign finance rules.

    The law department's 2012 conclusion, first reported by the Sunlight
    Foundation
    <http://sunlightfoundation.com/blog/2014/01/14/fec-lawyers-reason-to-believe-crossroads-broke-law/?utm_content=buffer235b2&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer>on
    Tuesday, shows the FEC staff's reasoning in recommending an in-depth
    investigation of Crossroads GPS, which was founded by Karl Rove and
    others in 2010.

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Posted in campaign finance <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=10>, federal 
election commission <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=24>, tax law and 
election law <http://electionlawblog.org/?cat=22>

-- 
Rick Hasen
Chancellor's Professor of Law and Political Science
UC Irvine School of Law
401 E. Peltason Dr., Suite 1000
Irvine, CA 92697-8000
949.824.3072 - office
949.824.0495 - fax
rhasen at law.uci.edu
http://www.law.uci.edu/faculty/full-time/hasen/
http://electionlawblog.org

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