[Vision2020] Nonprofit Idaho reform backer shields donors

[Tom Hansen]

Courtesy of today's (October 11, 2012) Moscow-Pullman Daily News

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Nonprofit Idaho reform backer shields donors
BOISE - A promoter of Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna's education reforms isn't revealing the source of hundreds of thousands in campaign cash by giving it through a nonprofit group whose donors he says are exempt from disclosure.
The Idaho Statesman reported Wednesday a pro-reform nonprofit, Education Voters of Idaho, created by Boise-based lobbyist John Foster, gave $200,350 to another group, Parents for Education Reform, for broadcast ads touting the reforms.
Though Parents for Education Reform disclosed its contribution - its only one, according to the Idaho Secretary of State - Education Voters of Idaho won't file a similar sunshine report detailing its backers. That's because it's exempted from such requirements by federal tax laws governing nonprofit, 501(c)(4) "social welfare organizations," Foster said, adding there's precedent in Idaho for such donor protections.
"I'm a big believer in the First Amendment, and the rights of people and corporations to engage in the political process as they see fit, without restrictions," he said.
The education reforms, passed by the 2011 Idaho Legislature to limit union bargaining power, promote teacher merit pay and require online classes, are subject of a Nov. 6 repeal effort being pushed by the Idaho Education Association teachers union.
Idaho Deputy Secretary of State Tim Hurst has contacted Foster about the contribution and is looking into how it aligns with Idaho campaign disclosure laws.
"It's under legal review," Hurst said Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Brian Cronin, a Democratic state representative from Boise and a strategist leading the campaign against Luna's reforms, contends voters who weigh in Nov. 6 won't know who gave more than $200,000 to tout the changes on TV, if Foster's donors remain unidentified.
Cronin said it provides potential cover for corporations that stand to benefit from the so-called "Students Come First" reforms - from computer makers to software providers - to give money without being held accountable.
"The existence of these entities raises the specter that corporations that have a direct and very lucrative financial interest in the outcome of this election have the ability to fund the advertising for this election anonymously," Cronin said. "That's what's most frightening."
In the past, Idaho political groups have employed nonprofit outfits to finance a campaign while keeping the original source of the money secret.
In 2006, for instance, in a heated battle over the state's eminent domain laws, a group calling itself "America at its Best" gave $575,000 to Idaho activist Laird Maxwell's unsuccessful effort to require governments to, among other things, pay private property owners when a regulatory action reduced their land's value.
As a nonprofit, America at its Best - like Foster's Parents for Education Reform - didn't disclose its sources, either.
There are some differences, however.
For one, America at its Best was incorporated in Montana, where Idaho campaign finance laws aren't enforced.
By contrast, Foster's group was incorporated in Idaho on Aug. 16, with help from three founding board members: C.L. "Butch" Otter's campaign manager, Debbie Field; lobbyist Phil Reberger; and former lobbyist and College of Western Idaho trustee Mark Dunham.
Foster insists he enlisted the trio to help Education Voters of Idaho tackle broader education reforms, not just the ballot measures voters will consider in less than a month.
The group even has a potential legislative agenda for the 2013 session, said Foster, adding he's been mulling the organization for months.
"There is a desperate void in the political arena for a middle-road voice that doesn't represent teacher unions and doesn't represent politicians, but represents parents," he said. "It's an advocacy organization set up to support and promote education reform in Idaho; one of the ways we chose to have an impact on our mission was to publicize the need to support the reforms on the ballot."

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Seeya at the polls, Moscow, because . . .

"Moscow Cares"
http://www.MoscowCares.com
  
Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"We're a town of about 23,000 with 10,000 college students.  The college students are not very active in local elections (thank goodness!)."

- Dale Courtney (March 28, 2007)
 
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