If money is spent in the capitol...
...but no one reports it, was it really spent?
The nonpartisan group Democracy North Carolina has studied the disclosure reports that folks who lobby the legislature are supposed to make. They found that a lot of those reports are missing.
From the Democracy North Carolina press release:
"The NC Beer & Wine Wholesalers Association and the Christian Action League often oppose one another when they lobby lawmakers in Raleigh. But the two groups have one thing in common: The Secretary of State's office has no record that either group submitted any of the required reports listing payments to their lobbyists for 2003 and 2004.
The two organizations are not alone, according to an in-depth analysis by Democracy North Carolina, a nonpartisan watchdog group based in Carrboro. Focusing only on the expense reports due twice a year from clients or 'principals,' rather than from their lobbyists, the analysis found that 341 of the nearly 2,700 reports required for 2003-2004 are missing. At least one report is missing for 201 of the 717 groups and businesses with a registered lobbyist in that period."
Other facts from the report:
Who is on the list? A pretty eclectic sample of folks from around the state. Here's a sample:
And by the way, since they represent folks in my business, I ought to mention that the NC Press Association neglected to file two of four reports due during 2003 and 2004.
Read the news release here and the full list of those who have missed reports here.
Due to recent automated spamming attacks on our blogs, we are temporarily requiring commenters to authenticate themselves via TypeKey® before posting comments to any News & Record blog in order to prevent denials of service. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience.