Accountability: Where do ACM/PCE funds go?

As promised, I spent part of my Labor Day weekend scanning our campaign reporting website. I took the idea from something Jeremy wrote here (http://www.themannings.org/soapbox/2007/08/28/the-money-behind-the-voucher-movement/#comments) and I'm still not finished totaling up the contributions collected by our lawmakers from All Children Matter of Michigan, through Parents for Choice in Education in Utah, and others inside and outside Utah who have invested something in our voucher referendum.

I started with the lawmakers who summoned those corporate lobbyists together last week and gave them instructions to raise money and campaign for passage of the referendum. Paul Rolly described that meeting here (http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_6767098). They included House Speaker Greg Curtis, House Majority Leader Dave Clark, House Assistant Majority Whip Brad Dee, Senate Majority Leader Curtis Bramble, and Senate Majority Assistant Whip Sheldon Killpack.

By far, Greg Curtis's campaign account has benefited most from entities with an interest in the voucher plan. It has received $9,000 from the combination of PCE, its co-founder Doug Holmes, Overstock/Patrick Byrne, and Utah's Working Moms and Dads during the past three years:

Doug Holmes	$1,000	October 25, 2006
Overstock/Patrick Byrne	$2,000	October 25, 2006
PCE	$2,000	October 23, 2006
Utah Working Moms and Dads	$1,000	October 5, 2006
PCE	$2,500	October 25, 2005
PCE	$500	September 28, 2004

House Majority Leader Dave Clark hasn't collected half that much -- only $4,200 in the same period -- but he clearly benefits from them:

Overstock/Patrick Byrne	$1,000	November 3, 2006
Doug Holmes	$500	October 23, 2006
PCE	$2,000	October 2, 2006
PCE	$500	September 29, 2006
PCE	$200	September 28, 2004

Senate Majority Leader Curtis Bramble collected only $2,000:

Overstock/Patrick Byrne	$1,000	11/01/2006
PCE	$1,000	10/06/2006

Senate Majority Assistant Whip Sheldon Killpack collected only $1,500:

Overstock/Patrick Byrne	$500	10/24/2006
PCE	$1,000	10/02/2006

And House Assistant Majority Whip Brad Dee collected only $1,500 from entities with an interest in the voucher issue, but two-thirds of that came from UEA, the same UEA that is opposing the voucher plan.

Holmes, Doug	$500	10/18/2006
Utah Education Assoc PAC	$500	11/06/2006
Utah Education Association PAC- UEA	$500	11/18/2004

But this doesn't reflect all of the funding that has flowed from ACM into Utah. PCE has spread that money around, through direct campaign contributions and through what ought to be considered in-kind campaign contributions, like doing polling and paying for "direct mail" about candidates.

Here are all the contributions FROM All Children Matter of Michigan into Utah since 2004:

To PCE	06/01/2006	$50,000 Contribution
To PCE	03/25/2006	$50,000 Contribution
To PCE	10/18/2004	$52,500 Contribution
To PCE	10/11/2004	$50,000 Contribution
To PCE	09/17/2004	$50,000 Contribution
To The Anderson Group	08/24/2004	$15,500 Polling
To PCE	07/22/2004	$2,000 Contribution
To PCE	05/06/2004	$50,000 Contribution
To PCE	02/04/2004	$50,000 Contribution

That's a total of $370,000 since 2004. How has PCE spent that money? Aside from its overhead costs -- consulting fees, and paying its operatives like Elisa Clements Peterson and Lincoln Fillmore -- it spent a large sum on contributions directly to campaign accounts, but it also spent a large sum on "volunteer dinners" for its favorite candidates, and a lot of t-shirts for its favorite candidates, and a lot of "phone banks" for its favorite candidates.

You can see for yourself who got contributions, who got multiple contributions, who got contributions plus services, and who got a lot of campaign "support" from PCE. Here's a list of expenditures made by PCE just during 2006, counting backward.

To Northwest Litho Graphics	09/12/2006	$666.25 (t-shirts for Mark Jacobs)
To Northwest Litho Graphics	09/12/2006	$697.16 (t-shirts for Jess Clifford)
To Northwest Litho Graphics	09/12/2006	$698.23 (t-shirts for Gordon Storrs)
To Northwest Litho Graphics	09/12/2006	$1,043.61 (printing for George Garwood)
To Northwest Litho Graphics	09/12/2006	$1,660.83 (printing for Dave Thomas)
To Northwest Litho Graphics	09/12/2006	$1,930.74 (printing for Peggy Wallace)
To Northwest Litho Graphics	09/12/2006	$719.55 (t-shirts for Milton Witt)
To Northwest Litho Graphics	09/12/2006	$1,310.11 (printing for Wayne Niederhauser)
To Northwest Litho Graphics	09/12/2006	$666.25 (t-shirts for Carl Wimmer)
To Northwest Litho Graphics	09/12/2006	$2,810.51 (printing for Jim Ferrin)
To Northwest Litho Graphics	09/12/2006	$692.90 (t-shirts for Ken Sumsion)
To Roger Barrus	09/09/2006	$250
To Stephen Clark	09/09/2006	$250
To Stephen Urquhart	09/09/2006	$1,000
To Todd Kiser	09/09/2006	$250
To Wayne Harper	09/09/2006	$250
To David Clark	09/09/2006	$500
To Greg Curtis	09/09/2006	$2,000
To Greg Hughes	09/09/2006	$500
To Jeff Alexander	09/09/2006	$1,000
To John Dougall	09/09/2006	$250
To Michael Morley	09/09/2006	$250
To Mike Noel	09/09/2006	$500
To Craig Frank	09/09/2006	$500
To Becky Lockhart	09/09/2006	$500
To Progressive Direct Mail	09/12/2006	$1,049.51 (postage for Wayne Niederhauser)
To Reagan Outdoor Advertising	08/31/2006	$3,502.18 (billboard for Deena Ely)
To Jim Ferrin	08/28/2006	$3,550 (in-kind: "staff support")
To Northwest Litho Graphics	08/08/2006	$2,491.24 (printing for Dave Thomas)
To Governors Special Initiatives Office	08/04/2006	$2,500
To Northwest Litho Graphics	07/12/2006	$691.83 (printing for Howard Stephenson)
To Jess Clifford	06/20/2006	$2,000
To Northwest Litho Graphics	06/16/2006	$275.03 (printing for Ken Sumsion)
To Northwest Litho Graphics	06/16/2006	$691.83 (printing for Howard Stephenson)
To Northwest Litho Graphics	06/16/2006	$943.41 (printing for George Garwood)
To Northwest Litho Graphics	06/16/2006	$1,203.51 (printing for Jess Clifford)
To The Summit Consulting Group, Inc.	06/15/2006	$252.5 (phone bank for Dave Thomas)
To Postmaster	06/15/2006	$49.92 (postage for Dave Thomas)
To Progressive Direct Mail	06/13/2006	$741.0 (postage for Mark Jacobs)
To Progressive Direct Mail	06/12/2006	$843.78 (postage for Mark Jacobs)
To Progressive Direct Mail	06/06/2006	$741.0 (postage for Mark Jacobs)
To Mark Jacobs	05/31/2006	$1,500
To David Thomas	05/31/2006	$1,000
To George Garwood Jr.	05/31/2006	$2,000
To Northwest Litho Graphics	05/25/2006	$468.24 (printing for Dave Thomas)
To The Summit Consulting Group, Inc.	05/25/2006	$190.16 (phone bank for Howard Stephenson)
To The Summit Consulting Group, Inc.	05/25/2006	$532.0 (phone bank for Ken Sumsion)
To The Summit Consulting Group, Inc.	05/25/2006	$166.25 (phone bank for Deena Ely)
To The Summit Consulting Group, Inc.	05/25/2006	$25.0 (phone bank for Jess Clifford)
To The Summit Consulting Group, Inc.	05/25/2006	$245.0 (phone bank for Milton Witt)
To The Summit Consulting Group, Inc.	05/25/2006	$567.5 (phone bank for Carl Wimmer)
To Reagan Outdoor Advertising	05/16/2006	$2,002.18 (billdoard for Deena Ely)
To Glenn Donnelson	05/16/2006	$300
To Progressive Direct Mail	05/09/2006	$759.68 (postage for Mark Jacobs)
To Progressive Direct Mail	05/09/2006	$1,663.41 (postage for Carl Wimmer)
To John Valentine	05/05/2006	$2,000
To Mark Jacobs	05/05/2006	$2,000
To Bradley Daw	04/20/2006	$500
To Merlynn Newbold	04/20/2006	$500
To Peggy Wallace	04/20/2006	$500
To Aaron Tilton	04/17/2006	$1,000
To Parley Hellewell	04/11/2006	$500
To Jess Clifford	04/11/2006	$2,000
To Craig Crippen	04/05/2006	$500
To Deena Ely	04/04/2006	$500
To David Thomas	04/03/2006	$1,500
To Gordon Storrs	04/04/2006	$500
To Mark Jacobs	03/16/2006	$500
To Curtis Oda	03/08/2006	$1,000
To Jim Ferrin	03/08/2006	$1,500
To Mark Walker	03/08/2006	$1,000
To SkyBox Sports Grille	03/03/2006	$545.3 (volunteer dinner for George Garwood)
To SkyBox Sports Grille	03/03/2006	$817.62 (volunteer dinner for Milton Witt)
To SkyBox Sports Grille	03/03/2006	$545.3 (volunteer dinner for Ken Sumsion)
To SkyBox Sports Grille	03/03/2006	$272.31 (volunteer dinner for Curt Oda)
To SkyBox Sports Grille	03/03/2006	$409.14 (volunteer dinner for Carl Wimmer)
To SkyBox Sports Grille	03/03/2006	$340.4 (volunteer dinner for John Tinsley)
To SkyBox Sports Grille	03/03/2006	$204.24 (volunteer dinner for Jim Ferrin)
To SkyBox Sports Grille	03/03/2006	$782.7 (volunteer dinner for Jess Clifford)
To SkyBox Sports Grille	03/03/2006	$782.7 (volunteer dinner for Mark Jacobs)
To Mark Jacobs	03/01/2006	$2,000
To Carl Wimmer	02/27/2006	$2,000
To Kenneth Sumsion	02/27/2006	$2,000
To Milton Witt	02/27/2006	$2,000
To Sylvia Andersen	02/20/2006	$1,000

While I was poking around in the campaign reports, I also checked on some of the folks who give money directly to PCE inside Utah, and I check to see who else got money from them. Here's some, but not all, of what I found.

Since 2004, Overstock owner Patrick Byrne gave $77,000 to three candidates and $50,000 to PCE:

To PCE	07/14/2006	$10,000
To Ferrin, Jim	06/03/2006	$1,000
To Jones, Patricia W	06/01/2006	$1,000
To PCE	05/08/2006	$20,000
To PCE	01/09/2006	$20,000
To Huntsman, Jon M	05/21/2004	$50,000
To Huntsman, Jon M	01/26/2004	$25,000

Rick Koerber, who has given the third-largest sum to PCE -- at least $30,000 through various corporate accounts -- also gave $3,000 to a handful of candidates last year:

To Bagley, Robyn	09/25/2006	$500
To Conder, Phillip	09/18/2006	$500
To Ely, Deena Detton	09/15/2006	$500
To Garwood Jr., George	09/16/2006	$500
To Clifford, Jess	09/15/2006	$500
To Thackeray, Sandy	09/12/2006	$500

And PCE co-founder Jordan Clements, whose daughter now runs the organization, gave $4,000 to a variety of candidates since 2004, but gave his largest single contribution -- $1,500 -- to PCE last September.

To PCE	09/12/2006	$1,500
To Clifford, Jess	08/14/2006	$500
To Bagley, Robyn	08/11/2006	$500
To Conder, Phillip	08/10/2006	$500
To Brummett, Jay	08/08/2006	$500
To Garwood Jr., George	08/09/2006	$500
To Thackeray, Sandy	08/08/2006	$500
To Ely, Deena Detton	08/08/2006	$500
To Jacobs, Mark D.	06/02/2006	$250
To Huntsman, Jon M	10/04/2004	$250