Jan 05, 2007
PAC Invites Lobbyists to Give
David Ingram - Charlotte Observer

A political action committee dedicated to electing Republican women might be showing the way for state lawmakers to get around part of a new ethics law. 
 
The law, which took effect Jan. 1, prohibits lobbyists from contributing to a lawmaker's political campaign. It was designed to reduce the influence of well-funded lobbyists. 
 
But the law doesn't apply to the hundreds of political action committees in North Carolina. And that exception has not been lost on the leaders of the Committee to Elect Republican Women, a group of 14 female state officials. 
 
The group sent a letter this week to lobbyists, inviting them to attend a breakfast Jan. 24 before the new session of the General Assembly and to contribute as much as $4,000. The invitation even mentions the new law and argues that the group is exempt. 
 
Groups that argued for the new law say the Committee to Elect Republican Women is taking advantage of a loophole -- one of the first loopholes in the state's new, more comprehensive ethics laws. 
 
"They're trying to thread the needle," said Bob Hall, research director of the Carrboro-based watchdog group Democracy North Carolina. "They're undercutting the spirit of what the new law says." 
Cherie Berry, founder of the Committee to Elect Republican Women, said it's doing only what it has done since its launch in 1999. 
 
"We started that years ago, and started having a breakfast every year before the opening of the session. We've continued that yearly," said Berry, a former lawmaker from Catawba County who is now the state's labor commissioner. 
 
"We believe that Republican women as a group and as individuals have a lot to say and a lot to contribute about public policy," Berry said. 
According to the invitation, the group has received written opinions from a staff lawyer at the General Assembly and from the State Board of Elections indicating it was complying with the law. Berry said those opinions are good enough for her. 
 
The lawyer, Walker Reagan, told the Observer his opinion is not binding. Gary Bartlett, executive director of the State Board of Elections, said he is unaware of any written opinion from his office. Bartlett said he isn't sure his office has authority over the issue. 
 
Since 1999, the Committee to Elect Republican Women has spent at least $58,000, some of which came from lobbyists. Rep. Linda Johnson, R-Cabarrus, is listed in state records as the treasurer. She did not return calls Thursday. 
The new law was part of a package of ethics changes and was approved in the wake of criminal investigations involving House Speaker Jim Black, a Matthews Democrat. Records and testimony have shown Black often relied on lobbyists to raise money for him. 
 
Advocates for the tighter rules say they fear lawmakers will set up new political action committees, similar to the Committee to Elect Republican Women, to get around the new law. The advocates promise to push for even tighter rules. 
 
"The idea is to stop the flow of money from lobbyists -- the people who are paid to influence," said Bob Phillips, the executive director of the watchdog group Common Cause North Carolina. 
 
Incoming Rep. Ruth Samuelson, R-Mecklenburg, whose name appears on the group's invitation, said she's worried campaign laws might become so restrictive that candidates won't be able to raise enough money to get their messages out. She argues for disclosure. 
 
"Make it as transparent as possible," Samuelson said, "and things will work themselves out."