Schumer denies donation swayed him -- Senator says he backed deregulation before Enron gave nearly $22,000 to his campaign
timesunion.com
U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer said Monday that he favored deregulation of the electricity market long before the now-collapsed Texas energy giant Enron donated close to $22,000 to his campaign and doesn't think those contributions will hurt him politically.
Schumer, D-N.Y., said he assumed Enron gave him $21,933 to support his 1998 Senate bid against then GOP-incumbent Sen. Alfonse D'Amato because power deregulation was part of his platform. But since his election, Schumer said, he has opposed legislation the company favored limiting government involvement in the commodities market.
"I opposed them on one of their leading legislative priorities,'' Schumer said during a swing through the Capital Region. "I think that speaks for itself.''
Schumer was the fourth-largest U.S. Senate recipient of Enron money, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracked donations since 1989. He was surpassed by three Republican lawmakers, including Texas Sen. Phil Gramm, with whom Schumer sponsored energy deregulation legislation that Enron supported.
Schumer sits on the Senate banking and energy committees, which both have hearings scheduled on Enron. The company filed for bankruptcy on Dec. 2, wiping out the life savings of some longtime employees, who were barred from selling the company's shares from their retirement accounts last year as the stock price fell.
Schumer was not the only New York politician to receive donations from Enron, which handed out close to $10,000 in contributions to state political committees from 1999 to 2001, according to financial filings with the state Board of Elections. The donations were relatively small and made on both sides of the aisle, although Republicans generally received more than Democrats.
State Sen. James Wright, R-Watertown, chairman of the Senate Energy and Telecommunications Committee, got the most: $2,100 over three years.
"Any special bill or consideration for Enron doesn't exist,'' Wright said, adding that the company's main interest was in creating a competitive market.
The political action committee of the Independent Power Producers of New York came in a close second at $2,000. Senate GOP Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, R-Brunswick, Republican Gov. George Pataki and Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Andrew Cuomo, were given $1,000, in 1999, 2000 and 2001, respectively.
State Assembly Energy Committee Chairman Paul Tonko, D-Amsterdam, received $1,200 from Enron between 1999-2001. Assembly Majority Leader Paul Tokasz, D-Buffalo, got $250, as did Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan. The state Republican Committee was given $500; its Democratic counterpart got $125. |
