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Democracy North Carolina PAC DONATIONS TO N.C. LEGISLATORS SOAR Realtors, UNC-CH Boosters, Doctors Top List
As the General Assembly prepares to convene, a new study shows that twenty-five special-interest groups—each with their own wish list for lawmakers—donated a record $5.1 million directly to state legislative candidates in the 2006 election. The groups include Realtors and beer wholesalers, bankers and dentists, lawyers and utility executives, dentists and auto dealers. The $5.1 million total is almost double what the same groups gave legislative candidates just four years ago in the 2002 election, said Bob Hall of Democracy North Carolina, the nonpartisan watchdog group that conducted the analysis. Eleven of the political action committees (PACs) contributed more than $200,000 each; only two gave that much in 2002. The NC Realtors PAC, which topped the list in both election cycles, contributed $615,715 to General Assembly candidates in 2006, a leap from $235,200 in 2002. The Realtors PAC gave at least $3,000 to 107 of the state's 170 legislators. Citizens for Higher Education, a relatively new PAC sponsored by boosters of the UNC-Chapel Hill campus, came in second place, giving at least $6,000 to twenty-five sitting legislators. PACs for the NC Medical Society, NC Home Builders Association, Academy of Trial Lawyers, Progress Energy, Bank of America, Nationwide Insurance, NC Hospital Association, and Duke Energy round out the list of the top ten PACs. (A few reports have not been processed or received by the State Board of Elections, Hall noted, so totals may be even higher.) Many of these PACs are doling out thousands more this week, as legislators sponsor last-minute fundraising events for their political caucuses before the General Assembly begins. In fact, Democracy North Carolina found that PAC contributions to political parties, generally earmarked for legislative caucus committees, are also growing rapidly. In the 2006 cycles, the top twenty-five PACs and their national affiliates gave $740,900 to the state Democratic and Republican parties, led by donations of over $200,000 from groups tied to the NC Academy of Trial Lawyers and NC Association of Educators. That's a 54% jump over what these PACs gave the parties in 2002. The parties then funnel much of this money into hotly contested legislative races, Hall said. "The money chase is relentless and it's getting worse," he said. "It puts terrible pressures on both donor and politician, and it damages the integrity of our democratic government." "Groups complain about being shaken down for donations, but they use their role as money supplier to gain an advantage for goals that often conflict with another special interest or with the larger public interest," he said. "Too many people act like this is a 'pay to play' system." Some groups, like nurse anesthetists, have dramatically increased their giving, sometimes to offset the perceived leverage their opponents gain through their large donations. Hall said most legislators emphasize that a PAC contribution doesn't influence their vote, and some take the extra step of sending the money back. Legislators who routinely returned or refused all PAC donations in the 2006 cycle include Representatives William Current, Dale Folwell, and Carolyn Justice, all Republican House members. However, most of them faced little or no opposition and raised relatively little money. "The real solution is providing a new supply of clean money, attached only to the voters' interests," said Hall. Democracy North Carolina is part of NC Voters for Clean Elections, a coalition that promoted the public financing program for judicial races and wants it expanded to cover more elections. "Ethics, lobbying, and campaign finance reforms are all crucial, but they won't solve the demand for money for elections; only a new supply, a clean source, can do that." Other findings from a review of the top twenty-five PACs: · On one day in March 2006, the PAC for the Branch Banking & Trust Company sent checks totaling $102,500 to seventy-nine legislators in amounts ranging from $1,000 to $4,000. Most of the big PACs spread their contributions broadly, giving the most to the top tier of leadership but not overlooking the rank-and-file legislator. · Similarly, three weeks before the 2006 election, on October 11, the NC Home Builders Association PAC sent checks totaling $82,250 to 82 legislators. · On March 15, 2006, the Nationwide Insurance PAC sent checks totaling $61,750 to thirty-nine state senators. The next day, it wrote ninety-three more checks worth $86,750 and sent them to ninety-two House members and one senator. So in two days, it passed out $148,500 to 78% of the legislators - most of whom had no opposition in the upcoming primary. · The twenty-five top PACs all strongly favor incumbents, those in a position to help. More than ninety-six percent of their funds in 2006 went to legislators who were serving in office at the time of the contribution. · The list of twenty-five includes the state's top real-estate development interests, three top banks and the bankers association, three electric utility groups, three phone networks, five medical-related PACs, and two insurance companies.
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Carolina Civic Voice Winter 2006-07 Vol. 6, No 4 |