Jan 25, 2007
PACs help lobbyists bypass ethics laws
Mark Johnson - Charlotte Observer

A staffer for the Committee to Elect Republican Women greeted guests at the group's breakfast on the opening day of the General Assembly Wednesday. When a lobbyist handed her a check, she discreetly slipped it into a big white envelope already stuffed with donations. 
 
At a reception for state House Democrats the night before, a breadbasket on the table at the entrance was brimming with checks from political action committees, or PACs, many delivered by lobbyists. 
Who says the new ethics laws have crimped anybody's style? 
 
The new laws, passed last year in response to scandals surrounding House Speaker Jim Black, prohibit lobbyists from contributing to legislators' campaigns. The laws, however, do not bar donations to or from PACs, and lobbyists took advantage of that as the new legislature arrived in town. 
 
"This is becoming another source of income for elected officials and candidates, and another venue for lobbyists who are barred from giving to individuals," said Louisa Warren, director of the N.C. Coalition for Lobbying and Government Reform, which helped push the new law through last year. 
 
She likened the fundraising components of the ethics laws to a game of "Whac-A-Mole" -- when one potential avenue for pay-to-play contributions is smacked down, another pops up. 
 
Leaders of the groups that held fundraisers, however, emphasized that they are following the law and holding the same sort of functions they have organized for years. The evening receptions were napkin-and-wine-glass-toting affairs with hot hors d'oeuvres, such as tiny shish kebabs, while the breakfasts featured egg-and-bacon-laden buffets. 
 
PACs connected to lobbyists or to lobbyists' employers are prohibited from contributing to lawmakers during a legislative session, so the day before the legislature opens is often a flurry of fundraisers, a sort of political harvest time. 
Republicans and Democrats organized separate parties for their House and Senate members, for a four-party circuit Tuesday night. Lobbyists could be spotted on the sidewalks hustling between to a 28th-floor social club, to the city's museum, to the performing arts center and to an Italian restaurant. 
 
One idea behind the new laws was to try to end the cash flow from lobbyists -- who are paid to influence -- to legislators. 
 
The parties this week illuminated two alternative routes. 
 
Lobbyists can donate to PACs, which then give to certain candidates. Lobbyists, PACs and individuals also can give to a political party, which then parcels out the money to its candidates. 
 
Proponents of the new law said they will be watching reports from PACs this year for a possible spike in the cash flow. But House Speaker Joe Hackney, a Democrat who helped usher in the new laws, said there is a limit to what can be limited. 
 
"The lobbyists who are registered here, many of them have connections to the PACs; that's a reality," Hackney said, "Given the United States Supreme Court decisions [on campaign contributions], I do not know how to totally get big money out of politics."