Enron Was A Big Player in Texas
"Political donations by large corporations,
especially in the energy field, is tradition
in Texas, said Daron Shaw, an associate
government professor at the University of Texas."
Sunday January 20 2:42 PM ET
By KELLEY SHANNON, Associated Press Writer
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - In the company's high-flying days, Enron Corp. employees and their political action
committee stuffed the campaign coffers of Texas
state officials in nearly every top post,
from the governor to justices on the highest civil court.
Gov. Rick Perry has received more
than $227,000 in campaign donations from
Enron Corp. officials since 1993, second
among state politicians only to
George W. Bush during his campaigns for governor.
Executives and employees of the now-bankrupt
Houston energy giant gave more than $1 million
to state officeholders in Texas over the past
decade. That's along with at least $477,000
donated over 12 years to Texans in Congress.
Political donations by large corporations,
especially in the energy field, is tradition in
Texas, said Daron Shaw, an associate government
professor at the University of Texas.
``What you try to pay for is access, and people
will hear what you have to say,'' Shaw said.
However, it is ``the scope and the amount of
money they have to pay that's sort of
unusual,'' he said of Enron.
Donations to Perry's campaigns for state office
since 1993 include $138,000 given by Enron's chief executive, Kenneth Lay. That includes $25,000
given the day after Perry named former Enron
executive Max Yzaguirre to be chairman of
the Public Utility Commission last June.
Yzaguirre resigned Friday amid the political storm surrounding Enron's dramatic downfall, in which
it became the largest corporation in U.S. history
to file for bankruptcy.
Perry, a Republican, was agriculture
commissioner and lieutenant governor before
ascending to governor a year ago when Bush
resigned to become president.
For his two gubernatorial campaigns,
Bush got $312,500 from Enron officials,
according to Texans For Public Justice,
a nonprofit group in Austin that tracks
money in politics. During his race for
the presidency, Bush received nearly
$114,000 from Lay and Enron.
Enron benefited while Bush was governor
with passage of electric deregulation and
enactment of tort reform laws, and under
Perry when Yzaguirre was chosen to lead
the Public Utility Commission, said Andrew Wheat,
research director of Texans For Public Justice.
``When you look overall at political influence,
this is one of the most influential corporations
that we have. For a corporation to have one of
its own people as chairman of the PUC regulating its industry is an extraordinary coup d'etat,'' Wheat said.
Other leading
Texas politicians who received Enron campaign contributions were Attorney General John Cornyn, a Republican who got $188,000;
Comptroller Carole Keeton Rylander,
a Republican who got $71,500; and former
Texas Supreme Court Justice Greg Abbott, a Republican now running for attorney general
who received $12,600 in past campaigns.
Abbott has returned his contributions,
and Rylander plans to donate hers to a
fund to help Enron employees, their spokesmen said.
Enron's executives and its PAC have
contributed $134,058 to state Supreme Court
justices since 1993, according to Texans For Public Justice.
Among Democrats, gubernatorial candidate
Dan Morales said he is giving $8,250
in Enron PAC contributions, received when he
was attorney general, to an Enron employees assistance fund.
Former Comptroller John Sharp, the
Semocratic candidate for lieutenant governor,
received $7,500 and is donating it to help Enron
employees.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Ken Bentsen of
Houston received $42,750. He said he will
donate $2,000 to a fund to assist Enron
workers.
Cornyn has not taken any Enron-related money
in his bid for U.S. Senate. He isn't giving
his state contributions up because they were
made legally, said spokesman Dave Beckwith.
Perry said Friday he will keep his Enron
contributions.
dailynews.yahoo.com
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Reporter Natalie Gott in Houston contributed to this report.
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