Watchdog says NEA broke rules
theolympian.com
PAUL QUEARY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
OLYMPIA -- The National Education Association violated state law when it poured more than $500,000 into Washington state initiative campaigns, according to an investigation by the state's campaign finance watchdog.
The case -- scheduled to come before the full Public Disclosure Commission today -- is the latest battle in an ongoing war between teachers' unions and the conservative Evergreen Freedom Foundation.
In a complaint filed in January, the foundation accused the NEA of violating Washington's law against using fees paid to the union by nonmember teachers to pay for political activity without specific permission from each member.
Although the law is designed to protect people from having unions spend their money on political causes they don't support, nearly all of the money in question was spent on campaigns to increase teacher pay and shrink class sizes.
The NEA ran afoul of the law several times, the commission's investigators say, when it made contributions from its general fund for several initiatives. That fund, investigators said, apparently mingles nonmember fees with union member dues.
"Without verification from the NEA to the contrary ... the NEA did not have written authorization from the fee payers prior to making these contributions," wrote Susan Harris, the commission's assistant director, in the staff's recommendation to the five-member panel.
The NEA gave $500,000 to support Initiative 728 and Initiative 732. Both measures passed in 2000, mandating smaller class sizes and yearly cost-of-living increases for teachers. The union gave smaller amounts in earlier initiative campaigns.
NEA spokeswoman Kathleen Lyons said the 2.6 million-member union's lawyers and accountants take care to segregate fee payers' money from the dues of politically active members.
"We're very proud of our vigilance on those issues," Lyons said.
Investigators recommended the five-member commission refer the case to Attorney General Christine Gregoire. The PDC can only levy maximum fines of $2,500 per case. The attorney general can seek civil fines of as much as $10,000 per violation.
That's what she did in a similar case against the Washington Education Association -- the NEA's state affiliate -- winning a $400,000 fine last year. The union has appealed that case, which also stemmed from an Evergreen Freedom Foundation complaint.
The investigator's recommendation to the commission calls for the attorney general to try to reach a settlement with the union for a substantial penalty and an agreement to refund fees to nonmembers.
But if negotiations fail, Harris said, the attorney general should withdraw because going to court would be costly.
That would shift the cost of pursuing the case to the foundation, said Doug Ellis, a commission spokesman.
That drew a sarcastic response from foundation spokeswoman Marsha Richards, who noted that investigators also recommended the commission send Gregoire the case against tax rebel Tim Eyman today -- without any advice to avoid the cost of a lawsuit.
"It's too costly to protect free and fair elections in Washington state unless it's Tim Eyman that you're going up against," Richards said. |
