Posted on 09/20/2006 11:15:36 AM PDT by Diddle E. Squat
AUSTIN - Texas politicians who receive suitcases full of cash may not be required to report the amount of it, according to a draft ruling by the Texas Ethics Commission.
Under the proposal, candidates for state offices could satisfy Texas disclosure laws by simply calling it "currency."
Watchdog groups deplored Tuesday's draft opinion by the agency established to monitor campaign-finance laws. Agency commissioners are expected to vote on it Friday.
"If the Texas Ethics Commission adopts this opinion ... public officials can take millions of dollars in cash and legally write 'currency' on their disclosure form," Craig McDonald, director of the Austin-based Texans for Public Justice, which favors tougher campaign-finance laws, said in a statement. "This interpretation of the disclosure law is absurd and dangerous."
The vote will come six months after the same commission ruled that a gift of two checks for $100,000 could be listed simply as "checks."
Texas requires all public officials to report cash donations in excess of $250. But the law, according to the Ethics Commission, doesn't define how much description is needed.
"In our opinion ... the legislative intent as discerned from the plain reading of the words in the statute is that the description of a gift is not required to include the value of the gift," stated the draft ruling, put together by agency staff.
Under the draft, a candidate could describe a gift of cash as "currency" and still be within the law, but describing a cash gift as "a piece of paper" or "an envelope" would put one outside the law, it said.
Agency staff said it hoped the Legislature would consider amending the law.
This story broke a few months ago....but went nowhere. Odd that it would make waves now.
I agree 100%, Diddle. IF this story is true, Perry should be calling a press conference as we speak and insisting that the Leg will amend this law and make it more specific.
If he doesn't move fast, Kinky & Carol will be falling all over themselves to beat him to it.
The average Joe doesn't pay much attention until near elections. But this is the perfect story for the media to harp on and portray the current admin as corrupt. Combine it with a purposely toothless review board for complaints against homebuilders (a deserved black mark against this admin.) and a perception that electric deregulation was incomplete and allowed TXU to artificially inflate rates, and the media can really work the message that Perry's admin is just too cozy and turning corrupt. Regardless of the accuracy of that portrayal, get enough smoke and voters will assume that there is a fire.
I've been a big defender of Perry and realize that even within the best administrations there can be quirks and errors, so I am not yet ready to buy this story as presented or jump off his bandwagon. But this is the kind of easy to understand issue that can be ridden hard by the media and opponents.
If the story wasn't already planted by Strayhorn...'s campaign. I'd like to know the allegiances of those on this committee.
Very interesting. I didn't think of that, but unlike most campaigns this hasn't gotten nasty enough yet so we're due some kind of dust-up. I wouldn't put anything past Grandmaw.
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