Campaign Finance and Political Influence by Bill Allison

Campaign Finance & Political Influence

An overview

�  Bank of America increased the interest rate on Bonnie Rushing’s credit card from 8 percent to 23 percent.

�  Sen. Thomas Carper: “But let me just ask you -- put yourself in the shoes of the credit card company…”

A Washington tale…

� And how do the credit card companies feel about Sen. Tom Carper?

� Rushing’s monthly interest bill went from about $150 to $674

� Small change to a U.S. Senator’s campaign committee…

Think of inputs and outputs

Happens at state level… �  You may recall Gov. Rick

Perry

�  Texas Tech fund rewarded donors

�  They gave in $32K-$310K range

�  They got millions back

…and at the local level �  Donors gave Kasim Reed

campaign contributions

�  Insiders raised money for Reed’s mayoral campaign

�  Airport concessions awarded to… �  Big donors to Reed’s

campaign �  Big fundraisers for

Reed’s campaign

Multiple means to exert influence �  Hire former staffers as

lobbyists

�  Hire former lawmakers, councilmen, etc.

�  Contribute to inaugural events

�  Give money to lawmaker charities

�  Give to super PACs

�  Hire relatives of elected officials

Politicians have lots of pockets �  Campaigns

�  Parties

�  Leadership PACs

�  Nonprofits

�  Businesses & investments

�  Super PACs

�  Family members

Businesses can pick the pocket(s) �  Lots of places to look

�  We’ll suggest some resources

�  Not all this money can be traced

�  Sometimes, you need sources

One thing to remember is that all of this is governed by rules

� Federal election law, lobbying disclosure, congressional ethics rules

� 50 sets of state rules

� Some local jurisdictions have rules specific to them (sometimes dependent on state law)

�  In Colorado, corporate and labor donors are banned, except when they aren’t

�  Colorado Springs is the largest home rule municipality in Colorado

Let’s look at the federal level

�  (inflation adjusted) �  Up to $2,500 per election

to a candidate, that is, $2,500 for the primary, $2,500 for the general

�  $30,800 to a national party committee (RNC, DCCC, etc.)

�  Up to $117,000 every two years to PACs, parties, candidates…

�  (not inflation adjusted) �  Up to $5,000 to a Political

Action Committee per year �  $10,000 to state, district &

local party committee (for use in federal elections, that is) (combined limit)

�  Unlimited amount to super PAC for eligible U.S. donors

…but potentially a lot more if they have a lot of friends

� Bundlers put together networks of donors, all of whom can write $500, $1,000 or $2,500 checks to campaigns

� They are important at all levels

� We find bundlers at presidential, congressional, state and probably local donors…

Unfortunately… �  While bundlers are bigger

than ever…

�  No requirement at federal level that they be disclosed

�  You can always ask a campaign “who the finance committee is”

�  But there’s no place to ask, “Is CEO of this company a bundler”

�  Only one searchable (but limited) resource…

� As part of the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007 �  Registered lobbyists must

disclose the bundling of contributions they do for federal candidates

�  Applies to individuals they bring to fundraisers, PACs they control or persuade to contribute

�  All bundles over $16,200 are reported

�  Data available at http://influenceexplorer.com/fec/bundling

Easy to get around disclosure �  We see tons of invites like

this one

�  Hosts commit to raise money

�  Vast majority don’t show up as bundlers

�  Even when they’re lobbyists

What a business can do

�  Form (and pay expenses of) a political action committee �  PACs can contribute

$5,000 per election (i.e., primary, general) to a candidate; $15,000 to a national party committee; $5,000 to state, district or local parties per year; $5,000 to other PACs per year

�  Funds must be “segregated” from other corporate money

Note this language…

� Where are corporations like ExxonMobil and Imperial Oil, and labor unions as well, making contributions?

Make donations to 501(c)’s

…and to Super PACs �  Mostly individual donors

�  Few businesses show up

�  But individuals run companies

�  Have interests before government

Hire lobbyists �  Lobbyists get access

�  Lobbyists are also contributors

�  Federal disclosure at InfluenceExplorer.com, OpenSecrets.org

�  State disclosure spread over 50 state websites

Lots of lobbyists do lots of fundraising

�  Party Time tracks fundraisers

�  Lots of invitations list “hosts”

�  Hosts can be PACs or lobbyists that pledge to raise money

Donate to inaugural committees �  All states have different

rules

�  Sometimes donors can give more

�  Enron gave lots to Bush’s Texas inaugural

�  501(c)4s most common vehicle

�  Don’t have to disclose donors

�  Check Guidestar.org

Pay for junkets �  Not always easy to

trace

�  Disclosure for Congress, Executive Branch

�  States, localities vary

Where do you get information? �  Federal

�  Primary �  FEC.gov �  House Clerk �  Secretary of Senate

�  Secondary �  OpenSecrets.org �  InfluenceExplorer.com �  NICAR �  NY Times

�  State �  Primary

�  State election authorities �  State ethics commissions �  IRE has a resource for

finding them �  Secondary

�  Followthemoney.org �  Influenceexplorer.com

�  Local �  Can be city clerk, state

ethics commission, etc.

Some other things to check…

�  Trip reports/junkets

�  Personal financial disclosures

�  Does the business you’re looking at have a charitable arm? �  Whom do they give

money to?

�  Do they sponsor things like charity golf games?

Some of the forms in Massachusetts (municipal)

Sources of information

www.FEC.gov �  Clunky

�  Getting better

�  Still not perfect

�  Original source of data

Useful features

�  Presidential election map with ZIP-coded contributions

�  Congressional election map with downloadable files for every candidate

Easier resource: OpenSecrets.org

Tons of data… �  Federal candidates

1987 to present

�  PACs 1997 to present

�  Lobbying 1998 to present

�  Trips, financial disclosure and much more…

�  You can buy custom slices of data from it

Lobbying

What you get

Drilling down

Easier resource

Takes information from forms and makes it easier to use

State disclosures vary considerably—here’s Mass.

Issues, campaign contributions listed on individual lobbyist pages

In Vermont, photo = issues

InfluenceExplorer.com

Note all the different data sets �  State and federal campaign

contributions

�  Federal lobbying

�  Federal regulatory matters

�  Federal grants and contracts (also has earmarks)

�  For top contractors, run-ins with federal government

�  EPA fines

�  Federal Advisory Committee info

All data can be searched and downloaded

�  http://data.influenceexplorer.com

�  Download data in Excel format

On the federal level, regulations matter

�  Companies comment on them

�  Companies lobby on them

�  Politicians rail against them

Influence Explorer tracks regulatory actions

Drill down to individual comments

State money

National Institute on Money in State Politics

� Like CRP, it codes contributions by industry

� Covers all 50 states

�  It always runs a bit behind raw state disclosures

Some good resources for navigating what’s available

�  NIMSP also has a run down of all state laws on lobbying disclosure

�  National Conference on State Legislatures has pages, too

�  Groups that do a lot of lobbying, such as Assoc. Builders & Contractors, have lists & links too

Always happy to help steer you to a resource Bill Allison Editorial Director Sunlight Foundation Ballison@sunlightfoundation.com 202-742-1520 ext 224 @bill_allison