The state's top lawmakers will gather on the Outer Banks inNovember for a two-day retreat where groups that annually have business before the legislature can mingle with policy makers for a $30,000 donation.
"Save The Date" invitations went out Monday, emailed to lobbyists working at the General Assembly. The event, a Republican retreat with proceeds used to fund GOP legislative races, is held every two years.
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Lobbyists are prohibited from making campaign donations to an individual politician's campaign, but there's no such limit on donations to the state's political parties, which in turn spend money to help individual campaigns. In this case, donations of $15,000 each are asked for the House and Senate caucus funds at the North Carolina Republican Party.
Although lobbyists get the invite, they're not really the target. The invitations get passed along to business and other interest groups with political action committees, which write the checks.
This year's retreat is at The Sanderling Resort in Duck and features Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger and House Speaker Tim Moore, according to an invitation forwarded Monday to WRAL News. A $30,000 "attendance contribution," split among the caucus funds, also covers costs at the resort.
The event is not, political directors for the House and Senate Republican caucuses said Monday, an example of pay-to-play politics. It will likely take place after legislative work wraps up for the year.
“Paying to attend an event is not paying for access," House Republican Caucus Director Stephen Wiley said. "People give money to candidates and organizations they agree with.”
"No one’s forcing anyone to do anything," said Dylan Watts, political director for the Senate Republican Caucus. "There’s no pay to play. … It’s just the caucus raising money.”
The state’s campaign finance laws are dotted with fundraising bans – and with loopholes.
Lobbyists are forbidden from donating to lawmakers' campaigns year round, but they can give to the state political parties and other affiliated committees, which can accept unlimited donations.
Lobbyist “principals,” essentially anyone who hires a lobbyist at the General Assembly, can’t donate to lawmakers during session. However, the “principal” is often a company or a particular executive there, and there’s no ban on that company’s other top executives donating, including during session, as long as they're not identified on paperwork as the "principal."
With individual contributions to a politician's campaign capped at $5,600 per election – an amount that goes up, by law, every two years based on inflation – the big money flows through the state parties and through similar fundraising committees that North Carolina lawmakers created several years ago by tweaking state code.
These groups aren’t supposed to let people earmark their donations for particular campaigns, but it happens.
Wealthy North Carolina businessman Greg Lindberg is serving a federal prison sentence now for laundering contributions through the state Republican Party that were ultimately bound for Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey’s campaign. The scheme fell apart because Causey called in federal agents.
The state party’s chairman at the time, former Congressman Robin Hayes, cut a plea deal in the case and avoided jail time.
There's nothing partisan about promising face time for a campaign donation, though. Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper and key members of his administration have repeatedly been promised attendees at fundraisers for Moving North Carolina Forward, a dark money group that supports the governor's agenda.