Naked City

Expensive Education for T.A.B.

On Nov. 22, four defeated Democratic state House candidates filed lawsuits in state district court alleging violation of campaign ethics laws by the Texas Association of Business. According to the petition filed by incumbent Reps. Ann Kitchen of Austin and Debra Danburg of Houston and candidate Danny Duncan of Commerce, the lawsuit seeks to enforce "well established, fundamental Texas law," and accuses the T.A.B. and its Executive Director Bill Hammond of illegally soliciting and spending $2 million "in direct corporate funds in arrogant dismissal of the ethical limits imposed by the people of Texas." Defeated Dist. 50 candidate James Sylvester has filed a separate lawsuit, with others likely to follow.

At issue are some 4 million T.A.B. mailers sent to voters across Texas, which the business association says were "educational," but the Democratic candidates say constituted "electioneering" as well as direct and undeclared corporate campaign contributions -- all illegal under state ethics law. Hammond, however, told the Chronicle's Amy Smith, "It's perfectly legal to spend corporate dollars to educate voters," adding that the funding came from the association's membership. "It's very clear who paid for the mailers -- our logo is right on the front."

Hammond told the Statesman that the mailers passed the "magic words" test -- that is, they did not directly instruct voters to "vote" or "don't vote" for particular candidates. Karen Lundquist of the state Ethics Commission could not comment on the specific mailers, but said whether or not they would constitute "express advocacy" for candidates is "a very fact-specific question." Fred Lewis of the nonpartisan reform group Campaigns for People called the prohibition on direct corporate and union campaign contributions the "one shining spot" in Texas ethics laws, and described the T.A.B. effort as "unprecedented" in its degree of evading those prohibitions. "It's not like we don't have enough money in Texas politics," said Lewis -- unlike federal campaign law, there are no limits on individual contributions. "Why go to all this trouble, if we don't have limits?" asked Lewis, then answered his own question: "Because it's a lot easier to raise the money directly out of corporate treasuries."

The T.A.B. did not respond to a request for comment, but in its post-election newsletter -- "T.A.B.'s Aggressive Election Effort Wins Seats for Pro-Business Candidates" -- the group was not shy about bragging of its "unprecedented show of muscle that featured political contributions and a massive voter education drive." Because of its "educational" defense, the T.A.B. says it is not obligated to disclose the sources of the campaign money: "T.A.B. devoted $2 million, including $100,000 from its political action committee [BACPAC], to just 22 hotly contested Texas House races and two Texas Senate races" -- roughly $80,000 per race -- and boasted that "18 of 22 TAB-endorsed candidates won, while 22 of 23 TAB-endorsed Senate candidates won."

In the same newsletter, T.A.B. blasted Danburg for complaining to the Houston-area League of Women Voters that the T.A.B. mailers were "illegal and untrue." T.A.B. claimed the LWV "dismissed" the complaint and found the mailers were "factual [and] exceeded ethics requirements." Houston LWV President Judy Hollinger told Naked City that the Fair Campaign Practices Committee of the League had not upheld one Danburg complaint against a T.A.B. mailer only "because there was no evidence that it originated from the [Danburg's GOP opponent, Martha] Wong campaign." "In my opinion," added Hollinger, "the T.A.B. has not only abused the processes and principles of the Harris Co. Fair Campaign Practices Committee, but has also violated the trust of its members."

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