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STATE DEMS RENEW CALL FOR SECRETIVE COALITION WITH GOP TIES TO REVEAL ITS FUNDERS AND INTERESTS OF WASHINGTON-BASED INCORPORATORS
(Manchester) - New Hampshire Democrats renewed their calls for GOP leaders to urge the secretive New Hampshire Advantage Coalition to reveal the sources of its funding on the day arguments were being held in Hillsborough County Superior Court to determine whether a NHAC-promoted tax cap question would be placed on the November ballot in Manchester.
Calling the coalition "a front for the Republican Party and its candidates," Kathy Sullivan, a senior adviser to the New Hampshire Democratic Party, said state GOP leaders should admit that NHAC is a partisan political committee and disclose where its money is coming from. In particular, she called on Sen. Joe Kenney, the Republican gubernatorial nominee who has participated in NHAC-sponsored events, and Manchester Mayor Frank Guinta, the group's most vocal supporter, to demand that the group reveal its funders.
"NHAC is a partisan political organization involved in partisan political activities. But it claims nonprofit status as if it is a charitable organization in order to hide its donor list," Sullivan said. "What are they hiding? Why won't NHAC admit who is paying the bills? What is the reason for all the secrecy?"
Sullivan cited media reports that suggest that NHAC openly promoted itself as a political organization before seeking nonprofit status.
The NH Advantage Coalition, according to press reports, was founded to focus on "raising money to support candidates" [Portsmouth Herald, 11/26/06]. In an op-ed authored by Mike Biundo, the organization's chairman, Biundo is described as the "Chairman of the New Hampshire Advantage Coalition, an organization... with the underlying goal of local control, no sales tax, and electing representatives of the people" [NH Insider, 2/15/08]
NH Advantage Coalition was formed as a political action committee, but it has not filed any required financial disclosure with the New Hampshire secretary of state. New Hampshire law requires reporting by political committees that raise or spend more than $500 in support of a political candidate or measure. NHAC apparently claims that it did not raise or spend more than $500 as a political committee; however, during the four months it existed prior to filing for non-profit status, it employed an executive director, posted a web site, and actively solicited donations, Sullivan said.
After starting as a political action committee, the group quietly filed as a "nonprofit" group. Under IRS regulations, non-profits such as NHAC cannot directly or indirectly promote candidates or their campaigns. But the group's executive director, Tammy Simmons, and chairman, Mike Biundo, are candidates for the New Hampshire House of Representatives, and the group spends significant time and resources pushing their message and candidacies around the state under its nonprofit label.
Sullivan also accused the group of being "part and parcel of a radical Republican effort out of Washington, DC to influence New Hampshire's election," citing the fact that the group's incorporators were lawyers or employees of a Washington law firm.
"NHAC was incorporated by employees of a Washington law. Not one is a New Hampshire resident. Not one of them has a clue about issues impacting the state's working families," Sullivan said. "Why did a Washington law firm form a secretive group that refuses to disclose its donors, an organization which is trying to influence our New Hampshire elections?"
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