Jan 13, 2007
Lobbyists' checks still welcome, despite ban
David Ingram - Charlotte Observer

Sure, state lawmakers voted last year to ban lobbyists from giving to their campaign committees. But did anyone really expect lobbyists to no longer serve as the ATMs of the General Assembly? 
 
Among the first groups to find a way around the new ban was the Committee to Elect Republican Women. The ban doesn't apply to political committees that aren't tied directly to a candidate. 
 
A Kannapolis-based political action committee founded in 1999, the GOP group is asking lobbyists to contribute up to $4,000 each to sponsor a breakfast. The money is expected to end up in lawmakers' campaign committees. 
 
Not to be outdone, Democrats in the state Senate this week sent a solicitation letter to at least 150 lobbyists. The letter invites them to attend a reception and contribute as much as $4,000 each -- the "platinum" level. 
 
The money would go to the N.C. Democratic Party. Parties are also exempt from the ban on lobbyist contributions, though much of the money also could end up in candidates' accounts. 
 
"This is in full compliance with the law," party spokesman Schorr Johnson wrote in an e-mail. 
Supporters of the ban aren't happy with how apparently ineffective it might be, although their expectations weren't high to begin with. 
 
"Everyone who is engaged in collecting the big dollars is seeing a way to get around the law," said Bob Phillips, whose Common Cause North Carolina was part of the nonpartisan N.C. Coalition for Lobbying Reform last year. 
 
John Hood, whose John Locke Foundation was part of the same coalition, said he was always dissatisfied with the ban. Instead, he would like to see a dollar cap on what lobbyists can give. 
 
"This is good evidence of the fact that the bill was sprawling. It involved a lot of different issues. Parts of it were written quickly or rewritten quickly," Hood said. "This is an area that needs to be clarified."