Worth noting: The Hawaii Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing today at 4:05 pm eastern time on HB1481, a bill to create a public financing system for the state legislature. As we reported last week, the bill has already passed the House. Look for an interview from us later this week with the lead House sponsor, Rep. Della Belatti. If you want more details, or want to talk to legislative leaders down there, do let me know!

Rootstrikers is holding a conference on April 20th: "On April 20, 2013 in San Francisco, California, Rootstrikers will convene activists, experts, and citizens of all political stripes to debate some of the most challenging questions about the reform this country needs. The Conference to Restore the Republic is a daylong event purposefully planned outside the DC-beltway, and dedicated to tackling the corruption that threatens our democracy."

Campaign Finance/Fair Elections
NYT: Arizona barrier to the right to vote
New York Times editorial on yesterday's oral arguments in the Arizona NVRA case. "The justices should reject Arizona’s law as invalid and avoid recreating the problem that the federal law was intended to fix." WaPo, TPM, Nation, other reactions.

NYT: The Senate's muckraker
Last paragraph of Joe Nocera's column: "Toward the end of my interview with Levin, he let slip a tantalizing tidbit. Sometime in the next few months, the permanent subcommittee plans to call the Internal Revenue Service to task for allowing the political super PACs to be classified as tax-exempt 501(c)(4)s. 'Tax-exempt 501(c)(4)s are not supposed to be engaged in politics,' he said. 'It is against the law to do so, 'Then he added, with a certain undeniable relish, 'We’re going to go after them.'"

Democracy: Winning the voting wars
New issue of Democracy journal: "Our symposium, with essays from some of the smartest thinkers in the voting-rights movement, aims to highlight the problem of the shrinking franchise and to propose a series of solutions." Featuring Michael Waldman, Heather Gerken, Jonathan Soros and Mark Schmitt, Tova Wang, and Jeff Hauser.

Reuters: Starbucks shareholders plan to vote on political spending ban
To watch this week: "Shareholders of the Seattle-based company will vote at its March 20 annual meeting on a proposal by John Harrington, who owns 800 shares, to 'adopt a policy prohibiting the use of corporate funds for any political election or campaign.'"

Congress/2012
Mother Jones: Mitch McConnell will fundraise with billionaires after saying the GOP is not the party of billionaires
A pretty descriptive headline at MoJo on McConnell's new populism and his upcoming fundraiser.

Roll Call: Dialing for dollars: the other money matters on their minds this week
Lots of fundraising this week: "Because they’re about to leave town for two weeks, these are the final days for House members and senators to raise donations from Washington lobbyists, trade associations and advocacy groups before March 31, the first important date on the midterm elections calendar."

WaPo: Dominican police: 3 women paid to make false claims about Menendez
!! "Three Dominican women were paid to lie about having sex for money with Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) and a close friend, Dominican police said Monday, citing statements from the women and other evidence."

SF Gate Tom Steyer super PAC in Mass. Senate race
The people's pledge in the Dem primary in Mass Sen. is springing some leaks: "Billionaire California philanthropist Tom Steyer, a Democrat who has bankrolled two successful state environmental ballot measures, will put his money and muscle into a combative Massachusetts Senate race that's sure to highlight the debate over the Keystone XL pipeline." Also noted by CPI. Politico.

Politico: Right blasts RNC autopsy as "power grab"
Many in the Republican base aren't excited about the postmortem, but: "The recommendations are also a nod to the party’s donor class.

ThinkProgress: Republican National Committee plan: more money in politics, more influence for rich people
As I mentioned yesterday: "Among their top proposals for how the GOP can win: dismantling the nation’s already weak campaign finance laws to allow rich people even more influence over politics and politicians." PFAW. Jen Rubin totally loves this idea.

Politico: Reince Priebus defends ex-chief of staff on money
"Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus on Monday defended the party’s former chief of staff over questions about whether he personally profited when the phone-vendor firm he co-founded was retained by the GOP and Mitt Romney’s campaign to the tune of millions of dollars."

Roll Call: Business groups bid for tax rewrite is more than a hoop dream
"The head of the Business Roundtable on Monday used a conference table festooned with miniature basketballs to launch the group’s new campaign for an overhaul of the U.S. tax system." The Hill.

The Hill: Medicare Advantage lobbying heats up
"The insurance industry launched another salvo Monday in its aggressive lobbying campaign to beat back proposed Medicare Advantage cuts. America's Health Insurance Plans launched a second TV ad focusing on the cuts, this time featuring seniors talking into the camera about their reliance on the plans."

Roll Call: DSCC raises $500,000 from Ryan budget affront
"The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee raised $500,000 in its recent campaign attacking House Republicans — and possible Senate candidates — for supporting Rep. Paul D. Ryan’s budget blueprint, according to fundraising figures provided exclusively to CQ Roll Call."

The Hill: Obama group Organizing for Action courts unions as cash grab accelerates
"Officials with the advocacy group formed to support President Obama’s second-term agenda have been courting unions, a major source of Democratic campaign cash."

Roll Call: Who's behind the draft PAC for Hillary Rodham Clinton
"'Ready for Hillary PAC' is a presidential draft effort composed of her former allies and staff — although it’s not directly associated with Clinton. According to its spokesman, the super PAC’s priority is to convince Clinton to run in 2016 — and the next task is to build an infrastructure for her bid."

David Vitter: Vitter will block Perez labor nomination
A pretty derp-tastic release from David Vitter pledging to block Tom Perez's nomination, with a lot of focus on his efforts on voting rights.

Roll Call: FTI Consulting snaps up C2 Group
"The C2 Group is off the market. Global advisory firm FTI Consulting has acquired the dozen-lobbyist shop. C2 founder Tom Crawford said the goal is “significant and robust growth” for his firm, which last year brought in just under $6 million in revenue."

Other/States
AP: Bill Would bar election law violators from public campaign financing for eight years
"The State Elections Enforcement Commission is backing legislation requiring candidates who participate in Connecticut’s public campaign financing system to certify they’ve not been criminally convicted of any election law violation within the past eight years."

AP: Ga. senators to debate House plan to limit lobbyist spending; end-of-session drawing near
Ethics overhaul still moving in Georgia: "Georgia state senators will start debating a plan from House Speaker David Ralston to limit lobbyist spending."