Yesterday, Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL) introduced in the House companion legislation to Sen. Russ Feingold's (D-WI) recent contracting reform bill. As companion legislation, the House version of the "Federal Contracting Oversight and Reform Act of 2010" is a mirror image of the Feingold bill. The measure has several strong provisions, and, "if enacted, will lay the foundation for future [contracting] reforms." More members of Congress need to support this legislation.

A very complicated case from Connecticut may have implications for federal campaign finance law. An appeals court upheld restrictions on campaign contributions from government contractors, threw out part of the state's public campaign financing law, and struck down a ban on lobbyist contributions. According to BNA Money and Politics ($$), "the decision by a three-judge panel of the U.S.

On Wednesday, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its Monthly Budget Review (MBR) for the month of June, providing a review of the federal budget through the first nine months of fiscal year 2010. It seems that revenues were about the same as they were last year at this time, but spending was down about 3 percent. These factors have combined to provide the country with a roughly $1.0 trillion deficit so far this year, which is "about $80 billion less than the shortfall last year at this time."

President Obama yesterday gently reminded the U.S. Senate that food safety reform is still on their agenda, and that Senators may want to pass legislation in order to expand protections for the food supply.