Campaign finance proposal in Raleigh is a recipe for expansive corruption • NC Newsline (2024)

• Progressive Voices

You could call this a crisis situation. Last week, with virtually no warning, state Senate Republicans pushed through a bill that will further harm fair elections and policymaking in North Carolina. If the House passes the bill this week and it survives a veto, voters will suffer as millions more dollars from unknown origins hijack our elections – and wealthy special interests will thrive by handing lawmakers campaign checks during debates on legislation affecting their profits.

The language in House Bill 237, apparently written by Republican lawyers in Washington, is so crude that the nonpartisan General Assembly staff couldn’t explain its full consequences to Democratic senators before Sen. Phil Berger called for the vote; so the Democrats walked out in protest.

Another insult: the language is jammed into a larger Republican bill that reduces personal freedoms, including your right to wear a mask for health reasons and your right to help organize a demonstration.

Others have written about those provisions. This column aims to explain what the election-rule changes in HB 237 will permit if it becomes law. Five main points stand out:

1. Individuals could funnel unlimited, untraceable contributions into a North Carolina political party or special committee called an “affiliated party committee” (APC). As the top elected Republican in the state, Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson controls an APC; so do the Republican and Democratic leaders in the General Assembly and the state’s top Democrat, Gov. Roy Cooper. People can already give huge donations to these committees, but their identity is disclosed in searchable reports filed with the State Board of Elections. Cooper’s APC has been raising millions from big donors to help Democratic candidates, but Mark Robinson is having trouble.

HB 237 comes to his rescue by legalizing a money laundering scheme. An individual can give, say, $500,000 to a federal 527 committee (the Republican Governors Association is one), and it can then donate $500,000 to an APC or a North Carolina party in its own name, without revealing the money’s true source. This will help Robinson’s campaign solicit donations from super-rich donors who don’t want to be publicly tied to his rhetoric.

It also allows a legislative leader like Senator Phil Berger to funnel big money from, say, gambling donors through a 527 into his APC to benefit GOP candidates. A partisan arms race in creating 527s and laundering money could result.

2. Federal committees that receive donations from corporations and individuals can play accounting games to increase how much they give in North Carolina. HB 237 says the committee must use a separate account with only personal contributions to donate to North Carolina parties or APCs. But the committee can shift money around; it can use corporate donations for operating expenses and donations in states with few limits, and use individual contributions from across the nation for activity in NC and other states with donor restrictions.

3. Traditional federal PACs, like those for Blue Cross, FedEx and Dominion Energy, could contribute to legislators in Raleigh during the debate on a bill affecting their business. PACs (funded by donations from employees or members) can already give to legislators, but only before and after the annual legislative session. Because of clumsy wording in HB 237, federal PACs could also hand lawmakers checks just before a crucial vote. There are hundreds of federal PACs operating in North Carolina. If HB 237 becomes law, existing state PACs for homebuilders, beer wholesalers, trial lawyers, chiropractors, and other interests would have an incentive to reorganize as federal PACs.

4. Federal committees could spend millions to influence our state’s politics with minimal oversight from state regulators. HB 237 repeals the mandate that a federal committee appoint an in-state assistant treasurer with authority to “produce whatever records reflecting political activity in North Carolina the State Board of Elections deems necessary.” Committees will send the Board copies of election reports they file with federal agencies, but it will be very difficult for the Board to pursue evidence of a state law violation with no local agent to subpoena for bank records, etc.

5. Federal committees will no longer need to decide to either give money directly to a candidate (campaign contribution) or spend money telling voters what action to take about the candidate (independent expenditure). Under H237, they could do both and gain more influence with the candidate.

There’s more, but I’m out of space. We already have tons of mystery money polluting state politics, which impacts everything from abortion rights to the North Carolina Zoo. HB 237 will make life worse. Put plainly, it gives the super-rich and their political allies permission to engage in expansive corruption.

If you’d like to follow the debate surrounding HB 237 or see where your legislator stands on the issue, visit North Carolina General Assembly (ncleg.gov). Contact information for lawmakers can be found here and here.