Maine Delegation: Where the Money Comes From
WASHINGTON, Jan. 26-No members of the Maine congressional delegation accepted money from indicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff. But they have raised considerable campaign funds from industry and labor political action committees.
Abramoff has plead guilty to charges of fraud, tax evasion and conspiracy to bribe public officials in a deal that requires him to provide testimony against unnamed members of Congress. His indictment has sparked a flurry of activity aimed at overhauling the rules for lobbyists’ interactions with Congress.
“I think our delegation is not as influenced by their donors because their seats are relatively safe,” said associate professor of political science James Melcher at the University of Maine Farmington.
Sen. Susan Collins, as the chairwoman of the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, is in charge of examining the reform proposals now before the Senate.
“We must act to strengthen the laws governing disclosure and ban practices that erode public confidence in the integrity of government decisions,” Collins said at a meeting of her committee on Wednesday.
Congress, she said, needed to limit the access to members of former members who are now lobbyists, to end the practice of lobbyists’ paying for vacations that masquerade as fact-finding trips and to end the rampant abuse of earmarking, or tacking on spending for projects to unrelated bills.
In her last election, in 2002, Collins raised $4,266,392, according to the Center for Responsive Politics’ Web site, opensecrets.org, which compiles records from the Federal Election Commission. Of that total, 58 percent was from individual donors, but Collins still received more than $1.5 million from political action committees.
Collins’ largest contributor was MBNA Corp., the credit card giant and one of the largest employers in the state of Maine. MBNA employees and PACs donated $86,750 to her campaign. At the time, MBNA was pushing for a reform of the bankruptcy code, which would mean millions more in profits for them. President Bush signed the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 last year after seven failed attempts to pass similar legislation.
Collins said that she had supported bankruptcy reform for years, and with so many employees in Maine that it was no surprise that her campaign had received a lot of money from the company.
Collins has raised $68,557 this election cycle. Some $32,700 of that comes from individual donors who gave $200 or more.
Many of the senators at Wednesday’s Government Affairs hearing complained that they had to travel all over the country to raise money. Senate campaigns are usually the most expensive statewide campaigns.
Unlike her junior colleague and fellow Republican, Sen. Olympia Snowe is up for reelection this year. She has raised some $1,475,205 so far, according to opensecrets.org, which is based on FEC reports from Jan. 4. However, her campaign manager, Lucas Caron, said that the campaign reported $2.2 million in a more recent filing.
According to opensecrets.org, 54 percent of that came from individual donors and about 39 percent from PACs.
Snowe has raised $756,131 from individual contributions of $200 or more, with 36 percent of that from Maine donors. Caron said many non-Mainers respect Snowe for her moderate stance and bipartisan approach to politics and give money to her campaign.
Opensecrets.org reports that the insurance and finance industry PACs were the largest donors, contributing more than $100,000 through last October,. including $6,500 from MBNA.
Caron said that PACs generally donate to candidates whom they agree with on the issues. Snowe, as a fiscal conservative, votes in ways that the insurance and finance industries like.
As for lobbying reform, Sen. Snowe has signed onto Sen. John McCain’s bill, which calls for more disclosure of lobbying activities.
Maine’s two Democratic House members also are pushing for lobbying reform. Rep. Michael Michaud of the Second District has co-sponsored bills that would eliminate lobbyist-sponsored travel, investigate ethics lapses and require that members be able to review legislation for at least 24 hours before it is voted on. Recently the leadership has pushed some bills through after midnight and without any advance notice.
“Honest leadership is not a partisan goal,” Michaud said in a statement. “It is the key to a stronger country and a value that we all share, and that we should all expect from our government.”
Rep. Tom Allen of the First District co-sponsored the Special Interest Lobbying and Ethics Accountability Act of 2005 with Rep. Martin Meehan (D-Mass.).
Michaud’s campaign had raised $228,890 as of Jan.4, with about 72.2 percent if it from PACs, according to opensecrets.org. Monica Castellanos of his office said that historically contributions move more toward individual donations by Election Day. In 2004, 41 percent of his campaign money was from individuals, and in 2002 it was 46 percent.
Labor has given his campaign $75,000 so far, or 54 percent of his total PAC contributions. Michaud is a member of the United Steel Workers (the USW PAC has donated $1,000 to his campaign), which mergedwith the Paper, Allied-Industrial Chemical and Energy Workers International Union . Michaud worked at the Great Northern Paper Company in Millinocket for 30 years.
Michaud has received $43,250 in individuals donations of $200 or more this election cycle, with 75 percent of that money from Maine.
Rep. Allen also has received a lot of money from labor: $41,000 for this election, or 57 percent of his total PAC contributions, according to opensecrets.org.
Allen has raised $210,447 this election, with 59 percent from individuals. Of the individual contributions of $200 or more, 81 percent are from Maine.
###
