Two new 527 PACs in Kansas

An  IRS web search shows two new 527 PACs have formed since the election in Nov. 2008:

• Terracon Political Action Committee, 18001 W. 106th St Suite 300, Olathe, KS 66601, established on 12/15/2008.
• Moving Kansas Forward, P.O. Box 442489, Lawrence, KS 66044, established on 2/26/2009.

A Form 8871 is filed to notify the IRS that an organization is to be treated as a tax-exempt section 527 organization.  From the Wiki CPA:

Many 527s are run by special interest groups and used to raise unlimited amounts of money to spend on issue advocacy and voter mobilization.

The 8871 only identifies a small amount of information about the organizations.  What can be gleaned from the 8871s and other sources is described below:

Terracon PAC’s IRS 8871 said there was a “connected” relationship to Terracon Consultants.

Terracon Consultants in Olathe is an engineering consulting firm providing geotechnical, environmental, construction materials and facilities services from nearly 100 offices nationwide.  One could only speculate their political interests are connected with their business markets.  Their stated purpose is “to contribute to federal, state and local candidates for public office whose views are similar to that of Terracon.”

Terracon PAC identifies the Comerica Bank in Detroit, MI as the custodian of records with the contact person James Hoeberlin, also in Detroit, MI.

Comerica Bank, who moved its headquarters from Detroit to Dallas in 2007, was the recipient of $2.25 billion in TARP (bail out) funds.  Investigating the connections among Comerica Bank, their PAC clients, and the politics of the TARP funds may be an interesting research project.

Comerica Bank and James Hoeberlin are the custodian and treasurer for a number of PACs in a number of states.  In fact, PAC administration is a targeted business market for Comerica. There’s an online Comerica PowerPoint explaining how they administer PACs for clients.

Comerica Bank PAC Admin Services

One of the Comerica services is to provide payroll deductions for payments.

For reasons that are not at all clear, Terracon PAC from Olathe, KS is claiming an exemption from filing IRS 8872 forms that would show their contributions and expenditures on the IRS web site.  Rather, Terracon said they will file such reports in the state of Texas.  Why?

This Kansas-Michigan-Texas 527 PAC political connection is curious.

The IRS 8871 for Moving Kansas Forward names these people who are involved with the 527 PAC:

• Branden Bell, contact person and custodian of records, P.O. Box 442489, Lawrence, KS 66044.
• Abbie Hodgson, Chairwoman, same address Lawrence.
• Tyler Longpine, Treasurer, same address in Lawrence.

The 8871 gave this purpose for organization:

to recruit and elect sensible candidates to public office

The group apparently will file IRS forms 8872 to for their contribution and expenditure reports, instead of filing in Kansas.

The group does not mention any relationships to other entities.  The only hint of what this group may be doing politically is from looking at the prior activities of those involved:

Branden Bell, 32, a Democrat, is an attorney in Lawrence with his The Bell Firm.  Bell completed is J.D. at the KU School of Law in 2005.  His known political contributions include:

• $100 to the Steve Six Committee in Dec 2008,
• seven contributions that total $1548 the Kansas Democratic Party in 2003.

Abbie Hodgson, 27, a Democrat,

• Deputy director for research for Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, 2006.
• Spokeswoman for Kansas Social and Rehabilitation Services, 2007.  Listed in 2009 Kansas Directory as SRS Director of Communications.
• Communications director for Democratic Senate Candidate Jim Slattery, 2008.
• Named to Kansas leadership team for Hilliary Clinton in 2008.
• Director of Communications for the Kansas Corporation Commission, 2009.

Tyler Longpine, 26, a Democrat

• Directed Moore for Congress campaign operations on the KU Campus, 2004.
• Directed Democratic Party operations in the Kansas 2nd Congressional District, 2005-2008.
• Familiar with Washington, DC from working for four years for the Democratic National Committee, Hays Daily News.
• Attended Jan 2009 inauguration of President Barack Obama, Hays Daily News.

Sarah Burris’ blog posting last month about The New Heartland Leadership credited Longpine with his leadership and organization skills

Tyler Longpine ushered in a new generation of leadership with a slate of candidates who have worked on campaigns and hold leadership positions in the state’s county party system. In a recent interview he spoke with us about his hopes for the future and enthusiasm for young voters in Kansas.

“Throughout a series of post-mortem discussions following the 2008 Election it became evident that the long term viability of Kansas Democrats would require a committed effort to develop and retain the next generation of skilled operatives and candidates,” Longpine says. “With the right leadership I believe the Kansas Young Democrats can be a partner in a crucial and historic party building effort that prepares young activists for political and public leadership.”

Given the Democratic Party roots of the leadership of the Moving Kansas Forward 527 PAC, and their prior political activities, this 527 will likely be recruiting mostly Democratic Party candidates. Why their IRS 8871 indicates they will file IRS 8872s, instead of reports in Kansas, is a bit of a mystery.

Apparently, in their 527’s purpose they used “sensible” to mean “Democratic Party.”

[Editor’s note:  Sarah Burris, who I quoted above, wrote about me yesterday in Daily KOS, while I was researching this article.

Tags: 527 PAC, IRS 8871, Moving Kansas Forward, Terracon Political Action Committee