THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 29, 1994 TAG: 9406290005
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Long
DATELINE: 940629 LENGTH:
When Pat Robertson contributed $15,000 to a slate of five conservative candidates three days before the May 3 School Board election in Virginia Beach, critics howled: The bogyman of the Religious Right was trying to buy the election, and the Kids First Team was selling its soul.
{REST} But Pat Robertson wasn't the only, or the highest, or the winning bidder. The Kids First Team lost to the six candidates who won the recommendation of the Virginia Beach Education Association. In disclosure reports required by the state for the May election cycle, VBEA Political Action Committee/Education, or PACE, reports raising more than $37,000. Most of it came from the Virginia Education Association's PAC. Much of it directly from National Education Association affiliates in Kansas, for example, and Pennsylvania, Illinois, California and Michigan.
Some of it came indirectly, through a group based in Virginia Beach called Coalition for Quality Schools, from state NEA chapters headquartered in Buffalo, Tallahassee, Topeka and Juneau. VBEA-PACE reports spending about $40,000 to influence the May School Board election - more than it has spent on elections in toto since its inception in the mid-'70s.
Prior to the election, VBEA-PACE reported spending only $712.35 and receiving contributions of only $23,610.79, $16,430.72 of it within days of the election. But those amounts were not pub-li-cized.
Did VBEA-PACE do anything illegal? After the election, in response to complaints, Commonwealth's Attorney Bob Humphreys found two non-willful violations: PACE failed to report two expenditures amounting to $2,942.13 on the proper pre-election report. But state campaign-finance disclosure laws permit - in fact, encourage - PACs to obscure their expenditures on behalf of their chosen candidates until after the election. Some examples:
First, an expenditure does not have to be reported until a check is written; given enough credit, a PAC would not have to report any spending until after an election. Second, because PACs that span several elections and years can use a surplus from a previous election in the next, it's difficult to tell from disclosure documents precisely from whom funds were raised and how much was spent in any particular election.
Third, PACs must file documents concerning their fund-raising and spending only in Richmond, not in the locality where the election is held. Fourth, nobody is responsible for verifying the accuracy of campaign disclosure forms. Only if a citizen or candidate complains does anyone check to see even if the numbers add up. Finally, the penalties for non-willful violations are too low and proof of willful violations too difficult to ensure careful attention to disclosure or to deter manipulation.
VBEA-PACE took full advantage of those legal loopholes. So do PACs that operate on behalf of legislators, which is why the General Assembly is loath to close them. And none of this counts voluntary services of incalculable value which groups like VBEA offer their chosen candidates.
The Kids First team was criticized for taking a substantial contribution from Pat Robertson, in spite of the fact that the team espoused none of the causes widely associated with the so-called Religious Right. But the public deserves to be aware that the other side in the election was getting even more substantial help from a national organization with its own very well-defined agenda. The NEA and its local affiliates want higher spending for public schools and teachers and minimal public accountability for how that money is spent.
Here's a math problem teachers' unions won't use: If $15,000 can influence five school board candidates, would $40,000 influence six?
When Pat Robertson contributed $15,000 to a slate of five conservative candidates three days before the May 3 School Board election in Virginia Beach, critics howled: The bogyman of the Religious Right was trying to direct the election, and the Kids First Team was complying.
But Pat Robertson wasn't the only, or the highest, or the prevailing contributor. The Kids First Team lost to the six candidates who won the recommendation of the Virginia Beach Education Association. In disclosure reports required by the state for the May election cycle, VBEA Political Action Committee/Education, or PACE, reports raising more than $37,000. Most of it came from the Virginia Education Association's PAC. Much of it directly from National Education Association affiliates in Kansas, for example, and Pennsylvania, Illinois, California and Michigan.
Some of it came indirectly, through a group based in Virginia Beach called Coalition for Quality Schools, from state NEA chapters headquartered in Buffalo, Tallahassee, Topeka and Juneau. VBEA-PACE reports spending about $40,000 to influence the May School Board election - more than it has spent on elections in toto since its inception in the mid-'70s.
Prior to the election, VBEA-PACE reported spending only $712.35 and receiving contributions of only $23,610.79, $16,430.72 of it within days of the election. But those amounts were not pub-li-cized.
Did VBEA-PACE do anything illegal? After the election, in response to complaints, Commonwealth's Attorney Bob Humphreys found two non-willful violations: PACE failed to report two expenditures amounting to $2,942.13 on the proper pre-election report. But state campaign-finance disclosure laws permit - in fact, encourage - PACs to obscure their expenditures on behalf of their chosen candidates until after the election. Some examples:
First, an expenditure does not have to be reported until a check is written; given enough credit, a PAC would not have to report any spending until after an election. Second, because PACs that span several elections and years can use a surplus from a previous election in the next, it's difficult to tell from disclosure documents precisely from whom funds were raised and how much was spent in any particular election.
Third, PACs must file documents concerning their fund-raising and spending only in Richmond, not in the locality where the election is held. Fourth, nobody is responsible for verifying the accuracy of campaign disclosure forms. Only if a citizen or candidate complains does anyone check to see even if the numbers add up. Finally, the penalties for non-willful violations are too low and proof of willful violations too difficult to ensure careful attention to disclosure or to deter manipulation.
VBEA-PACE benefited from those legal loopholes. So do PACs that operate on behalf of legislators, which is why the General Assembly is loath to close them. And none of this counts voluntary services of incalculable value which groups like VBEA offer their chosen candidates.
The Kids First team was criticized for taking a substantial contribution from Pat Robertson, in spite of the fact that the team espoused none of the causes widely associated with the so-called Religious Right. But the public deserves to be aware that the other side in the election was getting even more substantial help from a national organization with its own very well-defined agenda. The NEA and its local affiliates want higher spending for public schools and teachers and minimal public accountability for how that money is spent. by CNB