Democracy North Carolina

Lobbyists Donated $450,000 to State Legislators, But Their Fund-Raising Goes Undisclosed

      

Special-Interest PACs Donate $7 Million to Legislators in 2004 Election

 

As the North Carolina General Assembly grapples with whether to regulate the fund-raising activities of lobbyists, a new study finds that the house parties and other events hosted by lobbyists for legislators are rarely disclosed on campaign finance reports.

In a search of over 200,000 records covering contributions and expenditures from January 2004 to April 2006, researchers found only eleven cases of legislative candidates acknowledging the liquor, food, invitation letters, and other forms of in-kind donations that lobbyists provide to help fund-raising events. The goods and services come from lobbyists for pork producers, billboards, state lottery proponents and opponents, and education groups—but the total listed is only $5,005.

“The public gets hardly any information about how lobbyists move money into the political system in North Carolina,” said Bob Hall of Democracy North Carolina, a watchdog group that monitors campaign finance reports.

“Political observers know that lobbyists are hosting an increasing number of fund-raising events for legislators, caucus committees, and executive branch politicians. But you don’t see the lobbyists’ spending for those events listed, even though state law says such in-kind donations should be disclosed on the beneficiaries’ campaign finance report.”

Hall also said a proposed restriction on lobbyists giving more than a total of $4,000 per election to all legislative and Council of State candidates would have, by itself, “a small impact on their clout and even less impact on the money chase that dominates North Carolina politics today.”  

Less than half the registered lobbyists in 2003-2004 made a donation to a state candidate or party over $100 during that period, Democracy North Carolina found.  The top ten donor-lobbyists gave a total of about $200,000 to legislative candidates, while the next 251 gave $250,000.

Contract lobbyists Dave Horne, Marsha Jones, Don Beason, and Zeb Alley topped the list.

The total of $450,000 from lobbyists to legislative candidates in the 2004 election pales next to the $7 million donated by special interest PACs (political action committees), Hall noted. Much of that PAC money is directed to candidates by lobbyists and feeds what he called an “unhealthy co-dependency between needy politicians and special interests in need of special favors.”

He recommended a “stick and carrot approach” to reduce the power of lobbyists in Raleigh: (1) a ban on lobbyists soliciting money for legislators and Council of State officials, (2) a limit on their direct contributions, and (3) as an incentive, access to public campaign funds for the candidates who voluntarily reject special interest contributions and gather a large number of small donations for voters.  Proposals for all three measures are still awaiting action in the General Assembly as part of a package of reforms adopted by a special study commission.

 

Highlights from the findings (see tables below):

 

· In-Kind Donations. Democracy North Carolina analyzed over 200,000 records from the State Board of Elections that cover contributions and expenditures for legislative candidates from January 2004 to mid-April 2006. The group found only 11 cases of in-kind donations attributed to lobbyists with a description that linked the activity to fund-raising. About 15 other cases had vague or no description.  (See details on first table.)

The eleven in-kind contributions total $5,005 and came from such well-known contract lobbyists as Zeb Alley, Roger Bone, and Al Adams, from Theresa Kostrzewa, who represented beer and pork producers, and from Tony Adams of the NC Outdoor Advertising Association.

· Direct Donations. The analysis also shows that only about a dozen lobbyists would be impacted by a proposal (in the lobby reform bill on the House floor) to limit their total contributions to state-level politicians to $4,000 per election (primary, run-off, and general) or $12,000 in an election cycle.

The top ten lobbyist-donors gave 44% of all the donations from lobbyists to legislative candidates in 2003-2004—$200,000 of the $450,000 total. Then Co-Speaker Jim Black was the leading recipient of those funds, receiving $54,050, followed by Co-Speaker Richard Morgan ($47,470) and Senate President Pro Tem Marc Basnight ($33,550). Overall, Mike Easley was the top recipient of contributions from lobbyists in the 2004 election, with $103,000.

· Party Donations. A $4,000 limit can be circumvented, Hall said, because under the proposal lobbyists can still give unlimited amounts to the political parties for caucus committees that benefit the Democratic and Republican members of the General Assembly.

In fact, sixteen lobbyists gave a total of $16,900 to the N.C. Democratic Executive Committee in early 2003 as the General Assembly was reconvening. Lobbyists donated a total of $69,165 to political party committees during the 2004 election.

· PAC Donations. Hall said the biggest way lobbyists funnel money into campaigns is through directing the contributions of their affiliated political action committees (PACs) to key allies.  Millions of dollars are disbursed to nearly every member, with larger amounts going to the legislature’s top leaders and major committee chairs.  Sen. Stan Bingham, Rep. Carolyn Justice, and Rep. William Current are among the only legislators who refuse PAC contributions.

In the 2004 election, Hall said PACs supplied $7 million of the $23 million raised by legislative candidates (not counting unidentified donations or money transferred between candidates). 

Because limits typically have loopholes, Hall pointed out that any set of restrictions should be accompanied with incentives to make it possible for candidates to voluntarily reject donations from lobbyists and special-interest groups.

He said a bill for a pilot public financing program for legislatives candidates in four districts would be one place to begin. The bill (H-1851) was recommended by the House Select Committee on Ethics and Government Reform and could receive a floor vote later this week. Candidates would need to raise a large number of small donations from voters and refuse PAC donations in order to qualify for a competitive amount of “clean” campaign funding.

“One way or another, the money chase must be addressed,” said Hall. “It’s the pressure pushing politicians into mistakes and scandals. It will only get worse without some creative solutions.”

 

In-Kind Contributions for Fundraising Listed for Lobbyists on Campaign Disclosure Reports, 1/2003 to 4/2006: (in order by date)

 

11 Listed As Related to Fundraising for Legislative Candidates

 

(Date    Amount    Donor/Lobbyist    Candidate & Purposed Listed by Candidate)

 

2003.12.04     $150.00   ADAMS, AL     ROSS, DEBORAH       

BEVERAGES FOR FUNDRAISER

 

2004.04.20     $485.00   WILLIAMS, HOPE       YONGUE, DOUGLAS     

FUNDRAISING RECEPTION (FOOD, BEVERAGES)

 

2004.05.03     $500.00   BONE, ROGER        SWINDELL, A B IV

BEVERAGES, PAPER PRODUCTS FOR FUNDRAISER

 

2004.05.06     $500.00   ALLEY, ZEB         WILKINS, W A (WINKIE) JR     

FUNDRAISER AT HIS HOME FOR WILKINS

 

2004.07.23     $350.00   ADAMS, TONY        LAROQUE, STEPHEN    

CAMPAIGN FUNDRAISING EVENT

 

2004.10.11     $240.00   NEELY, CHARLES     DALTON, WALTER H JR  

FUNDRAISER DINNER

 

2005.10.06     $563.98   ALLEY, ZEB         WILKINS, W A (WINKIE) JR

FUNDRAISER-REFRESHMENTS

 

2005.11.04    $1105.26   ADAMS, TONY        LaRoque, Stephen    

FUNDRAISER INVITATIONS

 

2005.11.17     $325.00   KOSTRZEWA, THERESA LaRoque, Stephen    

FUNDRAISER

 

2006.01.18     $126.00   MCDOWELL, TIMOTHY  YONGUE, DOUGLAS     

POSTAGE/FUNDRAISER INVITATIONS

 

2006.02.08     $660.36   WILLIAMS, HOPE     YONGUE, DOUGLAS     

FUNDRAISING REFRESHMENTS, DECOR, ETC

 

Total       $5,005.60

 

 

Sample Without Reference to Fundraising: (These may or may not be related to fundraising)

          

2003.09.04     $350.00   BONE, ROGER        MORGAN, RICHARD T

      [NO PURPOSE LISTED]

 

2003.12.11     $330.00   WILLIAMS, HOPE     GRADY, ROBERT       

IN-KIND CONTRIBUTION/FOOD

 

2004.04.01     $342.69   PORTER, TRAVIS     BLACK, JIM          

[NO PURPOSE LISTED]

 

2004.09.21    $1712.92   TURLINGTON, ED     HARRIS, OSCAR       

SUPPLIES FOR CAMPAIGN EVENT

 

2004.09.22     $480.00   BODE, JOHN         STEVENS, RICHARD Y  

FOOD AND BEVERAGE

 

2005.01.25    $4000.00   ADAMS, TONY        BASNIGHT, MARC      

40 SIGNED, LTD ED. ART PRINTS @$100 EACH

 

2005.11.10     $210.00   TILSON, HUGH       STEVENS, RICHARD Y  

FOOD AND BEVERAGE

 

2006.02.14      $47.96   GUNNELLS, DURWARD  SWINDELL, A B IV    

BUTCH       DONATION-SOFT DRINKS

 

2006.03.02     $200.00   REED, MELISSA      RIDPATH, EDWARD A   

HOUSE PARTY FOOD AND DRINK

 

 

Prepared by Democracy North Carolina, July 2006.  Based on a review of campaign contribution reports processed by the State Board of Elections for 2003-2004 election cycle and part of 2005-2006 cycle.

 

Contributions from Lobbyists in 2003-2004 Election Cycle:

 

Lobbyist/Contributor    To General   To Council       To          

                         Assembly     of State     Political     TOTAL

                        Candidates   Candidates     Parties

 

HORNE, B DAVIS JR         $33,750      $ 2,750      $    0     $36,500

JONES, MARSHA                 27,000            0          2,500      29,500

BEASON, DON                     25,750          500         3,000      29,250

ALLEY, ZEB D                     19,850        6,900        3,200      29,950

EUDY, KENNETH L            18,750       12,250        2,000      33,000

CLOUD, RANDOLPH          18,500       10,800        5,350      34,650

BODE, JOHN                         16,000       13,000           0          29,000

WEBSTER, WILLIAM IV    15,900            0               0          15,900

GRECZYN, ROBERT JR      13,500        7,000            0          20,500

BUTLER, PAUL JR               12,200          500             0          12,700

BONE, ROGER                      12,100        2,500         300         14,900

KAPLAN, HARRISON          11,785          500        1,350        13,635

PREYER, JANE B                  10,050        3,000       3,600        16,650

ADAMS, TONY                        9,100            0              0             9,100

COPE, DANA S                         5,750       6,000          500         12,250

PORTER, W TRAVIS                5,750       3,000         750           9,500

EDMISTEN, RUFUS L             5,650        3,735       1,750         11,135

KAYLOR, ROBERT W            5,550           500            0            6,050

DORSETT, JENNIE                  5,500            0            250           5,750

PETERSON, JOHN H                4,750            0         1,500           6,250

KILLIAN, LEON                       4,600        2,750         300           7,650

MISKEW, DOUGLAS P           4,250             0         1,500          5,750

MACFADYEN, AL                   4,025        6,500       1,150         11,675          

 

 

261 Other Lobbyists Giving Over

 

                                 $100           $159,137     $212,403      $40,165    $411,705

 

       TOTALS          $449,197     $294,588        $69,165     $812,950

 

 

Top Recipients of Lobbyists’ Contributions in 2003-2004 Election Cycle

 

CANDIDATE                                      AMOUNT

 

EASLEY, MIKE                                 $103,000

BLACK, JIM                                           54,050

COOPER, ROY                                      49,775

MORGAN, RICHARD T                       47,470

NC DEMOCRATIC EXEC COMM      40,475

BASNIGHT, MARC                               33,550

PERDUE, BEVERLY M                         28,550

BALLANTINE, PATRICK J                  27,878

MOORE, RICHARD H                           25,050

MINER, DAVID                                      19,550

RAND, TONY                                         19,450

SMITH, FRED                                         18,975

CULPEPPER, BILL                                 15,320

BRUBAKER, HAROLD J                       12,200

HOYLE, DAVID W                                 11,950

COBB, W BRITT JR                                11,440

COBEY, WILLIAM W JR                       10,200

NC REPUBLICAN EXEC COMM          10,000

STEVENS, RICHARD Y                           9,500

GIBSON, PRYOR                                      7,950

 

 

 

Access the Special Report: “A Profile of the Judicial Public Financing Program, 2004-06,” by Democracy North Carolina.

 

 

Democracy North Carolina is a nonpartisan organization working to fulfill the promise of "one person, one vote," the bedrock principle of equal rights and self-determination, and towards government responsive to the people and the public good.. It is located at 105 W. Main St. Carrboro, N.C., 27510. For additional information contact Executive Director Bob Hall, at sprc@mindspring.com, or 919-967-9943, or find out more about DNC at http://www.democracy-nc.org/default.htm

 

Carolina Civic Voice

                             Summer 2006  Vol.  6, No 2