Kansas Governor Fined $1,500 for Soliciting

[Highwayman]

Well kiss my grits….

Kansas Governor Fined $1,500 for Soliciting Campaign Money From Lobbyists

Thursday , April 27, 2006

TOPEKA, Kan. — Gov. Kathleen Sebelius was fined $1,500 by the state ethics commission Thursday for illegally soliciting campaign contributions from lobbyists.

The case involved an April 12 e-mail that Sebelius' re-election campaign sent to 92,000 supporters. Among those supporters, 39 appeared to be lobbyists, and 16 registered lobbyists actually received the e-mail, according to testimony before the commission.

State law prohibits legislators, statewide officials, and candidates for those offices from seeking contributions from lobbyists, corporations and political action committees while the legislature remains in session.

Sebelius' staff had described the e-mail as an update on education, but at the bottom was a link to the governor's campaign Web site, where people can make a contribution. The link itself said: "Make a contribution."

The Governmental Ethics Commission concluded that the Sebelius campaign e-mail was a solicitation.

Sebelius' campaign paid the fine immediately.

Campaign attorney Gary White and Deputy Director Joe Scranton had no comment. The governor, a Democrat in her first term, could have faced a fine up to $5,000.

Democrats nationally have been making ethics a major campaign issue in the wake of the Jack Abramoff influence-peddling scandal in Washington.

Ohio Gov. Bob Taft, a Republican, was fined $4,000 last year after pleading no contest in an ethics scandal involving his failure to report free golf outings and other gifts.

Sebelius herself served on Kansas' state ethics commission during the 1970s.

Ethics commissioner John Solbach said Thursday he doesn't believe the Sebelius campaign meant to violate the law. However, he said, if that were the standard for determining whether to fine someone, there would be no point in having the restrictions.

Solbach also noted that, according to testimony, the campaign hired a Tampa, Fla., company to weed out lobbyists' names from its e-mail list.

"Obviously, it was a solicitation, or that effort would not have been made," Solbach said.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,193460,00.html

[Made in the USA]

Solbach also noted that, according to testimony, the campaign hired a Tampa, Fla., company to weed out lobbyists' names from its e-mail list.


Why can't they do business in the State of Kansas??

[wordsmythe]

You seem to have left out the part about how this is the very same thing that Crazy Phill Kline was fined the very same amout for.

[Highwayman]

Originally Posted by wordsmythe

You seem to have left out the part about how this is the very same thing that Crazy Phill Kline was fined the very same amout for.

No Wordy, I copy/pasted the whole thing word for word.

Democrats, F**king you every chance they get for their own personal gain.

[wordsmythe]

Sebelius fined $1,500 for soliciting money from lobbyists
Associated Press
TOPEKA -- Gov. Kathleen Sebelius was fined $1,500 by the state ethics commission today for illegally soliciting campaign contributions from lobbyists.

The case involved an April 12 e-mail that Sebelius' re-election campaign sent to 92,000 supporters. Of those 92,000, 39 appeared to be registered lobbyists and 16 of them actually received the e-mail, according to testimony.

The Governmental Ethics Commission concluded, on a 7-0 vote, that the e-mail was a solicitation. State law prohibits legislators, statewide officials, and candidates for their offices from seeking contributions from lobbyists, corporations and political action committees while the Legislature is in session.

Sebelius, a Democrat seeking a second term, had faced a fine of up to $5,000. Her campaign paid the fine immediately.

"I respect this ruling and will take immediate action to make sure nothing like this mistake occurs again," Sebelius said in a written statement. "It will also be helpful to have some guidance on the use of e-mails, since this technology is becoming more widely used to communicate with voters."

She is the second Kansas governor to be fined by the commission and the fourth official in a year to have violated the law against soliciting contributions from lobbyists.

In 1999, Gov. Bill Graves, a Republican, was fined $1,000 over errors on a finance report filed by his re-election campaign.

Last month, the commission fined another Republican, Attorney General Phill Kline, $1,500. A consulting firm working for his re-election campaign inadvertently sent a fundraising letter to as many as 29 lobbyists, with nine confirming they had received it.
"We levied a similar fine in a rather similar proceeding," said Commissioner Robert H. Miller, a former Supreme Court chief justice.

Another commissioner, John Solbach, a Lawrence attorney, said he doesn't believe the Sebelius campaign meant to violate the law.

However, he said, if that were the standard in determining whether to fine someone, there would be no point in having the restrictions.

Solbach also noted that, according to testimony, the campaign hired a Tampa, Fla., company to weed out lobbyists' names from its e-mail list.

"Obviously, it was a solicitation, or that effort would not have been made," Solbach said.

Sebelius' staff had described the e-mail as an update on education, but at the bottom was a link to the governor's campaign Web site, where people can make a contribution. The link itself said: "Make a contribution."

During the hearing, campaign attorney Gary White and deputy campaign director Joe Scranton told the commission the campaign committee made a good-faith effort to purge lobbyists' names from its e-mail list.

Sebelius is not the only governor in the nation to face ethics problems.

Ohio Gov. Bob Taft, a Republican, pleaded no contest to four misdemeanor ethics reporting violations last year and was fined $4,000. Earlier this month, a federal court jury convicted former Illinois Gov. George Ryan, also a Republican, of racketeering and fraud.

Nationally, Democrats have been making ethics a major campaign issue in the wake of the Jack Abramoff influence-peddling scandal in Washington.

In 2000, Rep. Jim Ryun, who represents Kansas' 2nd District, purchased a Washington town home from a nonprofit group with connections to Abramoff, paying $19,000 less than the group did. Ryun has said Democrats' allegations of a sweet deal aren't true.

In Kansas, some state legislators, particularly Kline's fellow Republicans, saw the Sebelius case as a test of whether the ethics commission is truly nonpolitical.

House Speaker Doug Mays, R-Topeka, called Sebelius' fine "appropriate." But Senate Elections and Local Government Committee Chairman Tim Huelskamp said the fine is too small, given that it came after three similar incidents by others.

"After these recent occasions, you'd assume you'd hold somebody like that to a higher standard," said Huelskamp, R-Fowler. "It should have been a much larger fine than that."

Kline's chief deputy, Eric Rucker, attended the hearing. He said the attorney general's office has a general interest in such matters.

"It's between the governor and the ethics commission," Kline said later.

Kline's office reported its ethics problem to the commission. The commission began investigating Sebelius after a lobbyist forwarded the e-mail to its staff.

White told the commission that had Sebelius' campaign committee known its e-mail had gone to lobbyists, it would have reported the problem.

[Highwayman]

Looks like the one I came up with was a shortened version of the same AP article.

Good job Wordy.

[lurker]

Thanks wordy for taking a porn-break. Bill Graves bankrupted his father's trucking company, stopped a concealed carry law and generally should remain forgotten.