Secretary of State Ron Thornburgh is the chief election officer in Kansas, and keeps track of all Kansas corporations, including non-profit corporations. Exorbitant fees charged by the Secretary of State’s office for “open records” prevent the public from learning about non-profits that may be involved in this year’s elections until possibly after the elections.
Some Kansas non-profits may act much like political action committees (PACs) during this year’s elections, but will not file reports with the Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission, or the IRS. A recent Hawver’s Capitol Flash (June 25, 2008) suggested:
Expect some nonprofit group … to see just what happens if it does an issue ad featuring someone who agrees with the group but doesn’t specifically tell you to vote for or against him/her.
In 2006 two Kansas non-profits affected the outcomes of several elections, but voters were kept in the dark about the money behind these groups.
The non-profit “Progress Kansas” incorporated in Kansas on June 27, 2006 and was involved in perhaps six State Rep races. This non-profit only existed long enough to send out as many as three negative hit pieces in State Rep races before it went out of existence. This non-profit has not filed an IRS 990 with the IRS even though it received $46,775 from two Missouri PACs and one Kansas PAC. Why do three PACs get to know about this “non-profit” but Kansas voters do not?
The non-profit “Kansans for Consumer Privacy Protection” incorporated in Kansas on August 28, 2006 and worked with the ProKanDo PAC to oppose Phill Kline’s re-election bid for Attorney General. This non-profit was involved in as many as six “Snoop Dog” negative hit pieces against Attorney General Phill Kline. This non-profit has not filed an IRS 990 with the IRS even though its Executive Director (and the chair of the ProKanDo PAC), Julie Burkhart, “estimated that Kansans for Consumer Privacy Protection raised about $400,000.” The IRS legal mechanism of how money can flow in both directions between this non-profit and the ProKanDo PAC is not yet understood.
Why do both Kansas government and the U.S. government protect the “privacy” of these groups involved in Kansas elections?
With non-profits forming in June 2006 and August 2006 that were involved in “issue advocacy” to knock out certain candidates in the 2006 elections, wouldn’t it make sense to look now — perhaps every week — for new non-profits that may form and be involved in the 2008 elections?
An E-mail request was recently sent to the Secretary of State’s office for help, which included this question:
What can the Secretary of State’s office do to help researchers find non-profits that may be involved in our 2008 elections?
The response from the Business Services Division of the Secretary of State’s office:
We can provide you a list of non profit corporations, and you can specify the time period, if you’d like just non profits formed in May and June 2008, or another time period–a whole year, or even every non profit in our database. First, we’ll need you to complete the RAR form, (a link to the form is below), and send to us with a fee of $150.
Unfortunately, as with many open record requests to the Secretary of State’s office, the fees are exorbitant and unreasonable. Would anyone pay $150 for a Google Search?
The Kansas online business search is quite limited and does not allow search by business type or range of dates. The limitations in search features and the huge fee to have the search done by the Secretary of State’s office, almost guarantees that the information will be kept hidden from the public.
I can find the information I want from the Kansas business search page now ONLY if I know the name of the new non-profit I’m looking for. (I am not clairvoyant).
We need better “open records” in Kansas. We need a Secretary of State that makes public information available to the public for a reasonable fee — free would be nice.
Related:
Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission Opinion, No. 2008-10, Kansas Register, July 10, 2008:
“issue advocacy ads … would not be considered an ‘‘in-kind contribution.’’
Related:
- Sunshine Review
- WikiFOIA
- Kansas Open Records Act (KORA)
- Integrity of Kansas Elections Less Important to IRS than “Privacy Rights” of Groups Abusing Non-Profit Laws, Kansas Meadowlark, Nov 16, 2007.
Tags: Elections, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), Kansas Open Records Act (KORA), Non-profits, open records, Ron Thornburgh, Secretary of State
