|
A Virginia-based conservative legal group has filed a complaint with the Internal Revenue Service, alleging that the Colorado Education Association and the Poudre Education Association violated federal tax laws with their work for a Democratic legislative candidate in 2004.
The complaint filed July 10 by Landmark Legal Foundation alleges that CEA and PEA staff members worked on the campaign of state Sen. Bob Bacon, D-Fort Collins, but that the two organizations didn’t report the staff salaries and other expenses as in-kind contributions on their tax returns.
The complaint is the most recent step in a long-running legal dispute over the role of the unions, particularly the PEA, in that campaign four years ago. The local teachers’ union organized two campaign walks during which volunteers knocked on doors and distributed literature supporting Bacon.
Bacon won the election with 38,719 votes to 28,539 for Republican Ray Martinez, who has just finished service as mayor of Fort Collins.
In 2005, two Fort Collins residents, Wayne Rutt and Paul Marrick, filed a complaint with the secretary of state about the campaign activities of the two unions.
A state hearing officer ruled against them, but the Colorado Court of Appeals overturned the hearing officer.
The case went to the Colorado Supreme Court, which ruled 5-2 last May 19 that the unions’ activities did not violate state campaign and reporting requirements because those activities were protected by the unions’ free speech rights to communicate with members. (Click here for the ruling and two dissents, and click here for a news story about the ruling.)
Landmark’s formal complaint to the IRS argues that the supreme court ruling is “inapplicable” because it didn’t involve the federal tax code. The complaint asks for a review of union tax returns and, if applicable, to assess taxes, fines and penalties, including possible revocation of tax-exempt status.
According to its news release, Landmark operates an initiative called the National Education Association Accountability Project, which it claims “has documented millions of dollars in unreported political expenditures by the national teachers’ union and its state and local affiliates.”
In addition to the NEA project, the group works on judicial reform and accountability for federal environmental grants, according to its website.
According to a variety of press reports from the 1990s, including The Washington Post and Salon.com, Landmark has been funded by Richard Mellon Scaife, the Pittsburgh millionaire who has supported a variety of conservative causes.
In 2007, Landmark nominated radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh for the Nobel Peace Prize, according to a news release.
The foundation also was involved in litigation over the Milwaukee school voucher program.
Bacon, a former teacher, school board member and state representative who has a school named after him, is running for re-election this year. He’s been mentioned as a possible contender for chair of the state Senate Education Committee next year. He faces Republican Matt Fries, a Fort Collins Republican who lost a bid for city council last year. According to an editor’s blog post on www.coloradoan.com, Bacon has raised $49,000 compared to $17,600 raised by Fries.
For more information:
 |
Subscribe to this comment's feed
Show/Hide comment form
