More 522 ranting.. they CHEATED to win, but no one cares! The Grocery Manufacturers Association began planning the anti-522 campaign nearly a year ago. Big food companies and agribusiness had just spent $46 million to defeat Proposition 37, a similar measure on California’s 2012 ballot. The grocery manufacturers told staff to “scope out a funding mechanism” while “better shielding individual companies from attack for providing funding.” The result was a “Defense of Brand Strategic Account.” The Washington, D.C., based lobby group assessed its members in March and again in August. The association would eventually put $11 million into the No on 522 campaign, without naming any big companies that contributed to its war chest. Agribusiness delivered as well: Monsanto poured $5.374 million into No on 522, with DuPont Pioneer contributing $3.880 million. Bayer Crop Sciences and Dow Agrisciences put up $591,000 apiece. Attorney General Bob Ferguson sued the Grocery Manufacturers Association, citing internal hide-the-money memos and claiming widespread violations of state public disclosure laws. The association responded by disclosing individual contributors. PepsiCo, Coca Cola and Nestle topped the list, each donating more than $1.5 million to the No on 522 media blitz. Still, the names of big food companies never appeared in the listing of top five contributors on the No on 522 campaign ads — a requirement of state law. The grocery manufactuers doubled down in late October, pouring an additional $3.7 million into the No on 522 campaign. According to a statement from AG Ferguson, the money appears to “have been collected by the GMA from its members prior to registering a political committee. These subsequent contributions were not reported by the GMA when it submitted its disclosure of contributor members and the value of their contributions on Oct. 18. Trudy Bialic, co-chair and co-author, speaks at the Yes on 522 election Party after the the 1st returns from votes were announced at the Impact HUB event space on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2013. (Sofia Jaramillo,seattlepi) Trudy Bialic, co-chair and co-author, speaks at the Yes on 522 election Party after the the 1st returns from votes were announced at the Impact HUB event space on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2013. (Sofia Jaramillo,seattlepi) Ferguson is pressing ahead with his case that the Washington, D.C., lobby violated state campaign finance laws. No on 522 has blanketed the air waves, dominated new media, and sent out glossy mailings — all on an unprecedented scale. Starting in mid-October, polls began to show support for the measure slipping away. The Yes on 522 campaign raised a respectable war chest, but found itself outspent three-to-one. Ferguson is likely to win — or negotiate — a substantial fine from the Grocery Manufacturers Association. The association has been represented by the blue chip K & L Gates law firm. For big business, it’s a cost of doing business. Apparently, no moral obligation was felt to follow to follow the transparency requirements of Washington’s voter-approved campaign finance Washington’s campaign-finance laws.
Posted on: Wed, 06 Nov 2013 18:43:32 +0000