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Political parties still lacking in disclosure of contribution information, report states Nate Ellis Daily Reporter Staff Writer 05/14/2001 While Ohio's Republican and Democratic parties have made strides towards greater disclosure of contributors, the state's voters remain in the dark with respect to specific information regarding the flow of money to selected candidates, stated a report released Monday. The report, "Ohio Political Parties: Secrecy Remains Legal," was issued by the Citizens Policy Center, a nonprofit and research affiliate of Ohio Citizen Action. The report stated that the Ohio Republican and Democratic parties' committees have improved in reporting of contributors' addresses and employers, but that the parties' committees continue, at times, to fail to identify the economic interests supporting the parties. The report also indicated that while the Ohio Democratic Party openly volunteered to disclose contributions from its operating funds in 1999-2000, the Ohio Republican Party failed to provide any information about this account. "Today, we're releasing the first in a series of studies concerning the 1999-2000 campaign contribution data from the Ohio Secretary of State," said Laura Yeomans, research director for Ohio Citizen Action. "In our analysis, we are evaluating whether the Ohio political parties voluntarily reveal the addresses of contributors and the employers of contributor who gave more than $100 because we believe voters have a right to know about the money flowing through Ohio political parties." Currently, Ohio law exempts political party committees, but not statewide and legislative candidates, from requiring disclosure of the full addresses of contributors and the employer of major individual contributors. However, as noted by the Ohio Citizen Action report, both parties have made attempts to disclose at least some of this information. Both the Ohio Republican and Democratic parties received overall "C" grades for their voluntary disclosure of 75 percent of the employers for "major" individual contributors in 1999-2000. Of the $666,868 in total individual contributions to the Ohio Republican Party State Central in 1999-2000, $516,718 of the contributions were reported with the employer disclosed. Of the $152,286 in total individual contributions made to the Ohio Democratic Party in 1999-2000, $91,913 of the contributions were reported with the disclosure of the employer. "The Ohio Republican Party and the Ohio Democratic Party committees have set high standards for disclosing addresses, however, employer disclosure rates of 75 percent leave the public in the dark about the economic interests supporting both parties," Yeomans said. Ohio law also does not require political parties to disclose their operating funds. In 1999-2000, the Democratic Party voluntarily disclosed contributions to its operating funds and received an "A" grade from Ohio Citizen Action for doing so. The Ohio Republican Party received an "F" grade for failing to provide any information about its operating funds account. Yeomans did note that the Democratic Party did not have any individual contributions of more than $100 to its operating funds. She said it remains to be seen how many, if any, $100-plus individual contributions were made to the Republican Party because of the party's refusal to disclose the information. "It is left to citizens to stand up and demand a high standard of disclosure," she said. "Part of why we're releasing the study is to demand that the political party committees follow the same high standards required for statewide and legislative candidates. Yeomans also indicated her "disappointment" with the legislative caucuses of the two parties. The Ohio Citizen Action report stated that the Republican Senate Campaign Committee was the only such legislative caucus to disclose contributors' employers. It did so at a rate of 77 percent. The Ohio House Republican Campaign Committee, the House Democratic Caucus Fund and the Ohio Senate Democratic Committee all received "F" grades in this area. "The issue here, for us, is that voters deserve to know who is trying to influence Ohio elections, who is trying to influence the passage of legislation," she said. "If political parties do not provide the address of contributors, one cannot identify that contributor. If the political parties do not provide the employer of the contributors, then it is more difficult to figure out the economic interests and affiliation of the contributors." The report listed several examples of unidentified contributors to the parties, including David Brennan of Brennan Industries, William J. Rumpke, chief executive officer of Rumpke Consol and attorney Stanley Chesley of Waite, Schneider, Bayless & Chesley. Brennan and Rumpke contributed $2,500 and $1,000 respectively, but were not identified by the Ohio House Republican Campaign Committee. Chesley contributed to $1,250, but was not identified by the Ohio Democratic Party State Candidate Fund. "Overall, the best disclosure information was released by the Ohio Democratic Party State Candidate Fund, which disclosed 100 percent of the addresses of all contributors and 98 percent of the employers of major contributors," Yeomans said. In addition to identifying areas where disclosure may be lacking, the report also outlined several recommendations. It stated that political party committees in Ohio should be required to disclose the full name and address of contributors, as well as the employer of contributors who give more than $100. The report also recommended that Ohio law should be changed to require full political party disclosure and that political party committees should be required to provide the information on all contributions to all party funds, including operating funds. In 1998, Gov. Bob Taft, then Ohio secretary of state, recommended that Ohio expand several areas of contribution disclosure. However, he did not recommend that political parties be required to disclose the employers of contributors. Yeomans said Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell has indicated openness to further extending disclosure requirements, but at this point, she said no legislation to enact that movement has been brought forth by members of the General Assembly. "We think that openness and disclosure is a basic foundation for good government," she said. "We have had multiple discussions with legislators. We have been met with resistance and disinterest on the part of the legislators." Gary Abernathy, communications director for the Ohio Republican Party, said the Republican Party does not feel it should disclose contributors to operating funds because it is not written into the law. He stopped short of stating the party would support such legislation, but noted it would not oppose it. "It's enough to try and make sure that you obey the laws that are there," he said. "If they (Ohio Citizen Action) were able to find out who the contributors were, there's no mystery to it. There's no effort to hide things. "They're (Ohio Citizen Action) nice people. But we didn't enroll in their school and they've decided to grade us anyway. I hope they don't ask for tuition," Abernathy said. In a letter sent to Ohio Citizen Action by David Duffey, a representative of the Ohio Democratic Party, Duffey said the group's failure to examine contributions to state party's federal accounts misses "the vast majority of individual donors to state parties." "By failing to include the federal reports in your review, you are not giving an accurate report on how well state parties are providing information about their contributors," he said. Yeomans said Ohio Citizen Action focuses on state regulations because it is trying to affect state law to create greater contributions disclosure for Ohio voters. Kena Hudson, communications director for the Ohio Democratic Party, said disclosure remains a top priority of the party. She added the party would continue to hold that stance. "Democracy doesn't work in secrecy," she said. "We've always been for full disclosure. You should know whom you're getting your money from." If you have questions or comments for The Daily Reporter regarding this story please contact editor@sourcenews.com. |
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