FITSNews Exclusive – SCASA, Shealy Violate State Ethics Law
ORGANIZATION CONDUCTS ILLEGAL LOBBYING EFFORTS, MISREPRESENTS FINANCES, COMMITS FILING VIOLATIONS
FITSNews – March 20, 2008 – A consultant for the South Carolina Association of School Administrators (SCASA) illegally lobbied a member of the S.C. General Assembly, persuading him to file an unconstitutional campaign finance bill that specifically targets school choice supporters, according to documents obtained by FITSNews.
Ross Shealy, the son of veteran South Carolina political consultant and “Reform Caucus” mastermind Rod Shealy, lobbied State Rep. Herb Kirsh to file a bill earlier this year aimed at criminalizing legal campaign contributions. Shealy’s lobbying efforts, which were detailed in a recent newspaper article, are in direct violation of South Carolina law, which specifically requires individuals and organizations who engage in lobbying to register with the State Ethics Commission.
According to the the most recent lobbyist disclosure list, Shealy is not registered and therefore not permitted to engage in lobbying activities in the State of South Carolina. And according to SCASA’s most recent lobbyist’s principal disclosure statement, Shealy is not authorized to lobby on behalf of the organization.
On top of these violations, SCASA – which is already facing a separate lawsuit for refusing to disclose documents related to its taxpayer-funded activities – has also provided undisclosed, in-kind contributions to LEAPAC, a political action committee formed at the urging of State Superintendent of Education Jim Rex. LEAPAC has not only failed to disclose these in-kind contributions, but it has also misstated its revenues and violated ethics law by failing to disclose its contributors on time.
According to a June 21, 2007 article in the Charleston Post and Courier, LEAPAC said it “raised more than $100,000 from donations collected (on June 20, 2007) and from previous contributions by district superintendents.”
Yet on the organization’s initial disclosure report filed with the State Ethics Commission just three weeks later, LEAPAC showed contributions of only $36,750 – roughly a third of what it told the Post and Courier that it had raised. In fact, six months after boasting its $100,000 haul, LEAPAC’s January disclosure form still showed only $52,900 in contributions.
“That’s not common,” said Cathy Hazelwood, general counsel for the State Ethics Commission. “Absolutely, we would want to look at that (discrepancy).”
Hazelwood said that the Ethics Commission generally contacts political action committees requesting clarification when discrepancies like this take place.
“We ordinarily send them a letter saying, ‘this has been brought to our attention,’ and then we ask them if they have any additional infromation to provide,” Hazelwood told FITSNews.
LEAPAC has also reported receiving absolutely zero dollars in “in-kind contributions” since its inception, despite the fact that it shares an office and a telephone number with SCASA.
Hazelwood confirmed to FITSNews that the provision of either office space or a telephone line to a political action committee counts as an in-kind contribution, and that if the value of that contribution exceeds $3,500 in a calendar year, it counts as an “illegal contribution.”
Developing …
Comments
By Calhoun Fawls on March 20th, 2008 at 8:48 pm
If someone is having “private” conversations on a regular basis with a legislator from Lexington County, he ought to be careful not to be a hypocrite.
Yep, that’s you, Willie Boy. You lecturing on ethics is like Bill Clinton lecturing on marital fidelity. What a joke.
By Jay on March 21st, 2008 at 7:09 am
There’s more to being a lobbyist than trying to convince a legislator to pass a bill. You posted the statute, but did you read it? Give us something more to back up the claim (a link to the newspaper article perhaps?) or this just looks like another of the usual shoot-from-the-hip postings from this blog. What’s the story on the child Sanford drowned by the way?
By Ron on March 21st, 2008 at 7:47 am
I’m a citizen from the lowcountry that appreciates “shoot from the hit bloggers”. We certainly don’t get straight talk from our elected officials. So Jay, if you’re one our corrupt multitude of lawmakers and/or lobbyists in Columbia, you’re part of the problem, sir. As a citizen who’s looking for some transparency up there, I find fitsnews quite refreshing and will continue to support this effort. Goooo Wil!!!
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