There’s no more potent force in American politics than the political action committee. And, now, we can conjure the image of a pro football huddle mulling not just what play to run on third down but which candidate to support in a mayor’s race.
The latest filings at the Federal Election Commission by groups planning to form PACs include computer giant Sun Microsystems, Coca-Cola
Bottling Co. and the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League.
Huh?
“Yes, we’re going to do it,” said Dan Luther, the Chicago attorney who represents the Colts. He cites a particular Indiana legislative wrangle as catalyst for the unusual move detailed here for the first time. “We created it, and now we’re exploring how to proceed.”
For sure, PACs are a favorite of corporate America, organized labor and special-interest groups on the right and left for a simple reason: They allow one to assemble and dole out big chunks of money. They can demolish the relative impact of individual contributions because PACS can give far more to a politician.
You, as an individual, can only give $1,000 directly to a candidate in each election. But you can give $5,000 to a political action committee, probably one run by your employer or industry trade association. In turn, a PAC can give $5,000 to a candidate in any election (primary or general) and unlimited sums to parties on the state and national level.
During the 1997-98 election cycle, PACs passed out $200 million to political candidates. That figure surely will be smashed this time around.
According to Kent Cooper, co-founder of the watchdog group Public Disclosure Inc., there are nearly 3,800 PACs, with about half sponsored by corporations. His group has a dandy Web site with all such information, at www.tray.com.
In the 1997-98 election cycle, the king, or queen, of the PACs was not a corporation but Emily’s List, which assists female candidates and took in $14.2 million. It was followed by the Teamsters union at $8.2 million, the National Rifle Association at $7.8 million, the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees at $7.7 million and the Association of Trial Lawyers at $6 million.
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When it came to corporations, the big ones were United Parcel Service at $2.7 million, AT&T at $1.9 million and Federal Express at $1.8 million. But even a longtime PAC-watcher like Cooper was somewhat taken aback by the Colts’ filing.
“Many times groups want to take advantage of a large membership base, where they can aggregate large numbers of small contributions and give them in one large check to a candidate,” Cooper said. “In this case, the Colts obviously don’t have that big a base, so why would they start a PAC?”
Luther, a partner in the Loop firm of Mayer Brown & Platt, said one need look no further than legislation proposed two years running in the Indiana legislature. Then, one may realize why Jim Irsay, son of the late Chicagoan Robert, who originally brought the team from Baltimore, decided to make a move clearly unusual for a sports franchise.
Like many smaller markets in love with sports, Indianapolis has not only had to come up with substantial inducements to lure and keep teams around, notably basketball’s Pacers and the Colts, but it also has had to live with the fear that those teams would split town at the hint of a richer package elsewhere.
Indianapolis is also home to Mark Rosentraub, associate dean and a professor at the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University-Indianapolis. He has closely studied the changing sports scene and the frequent extortion of local communities by franchises.
Rosentraub was the intellectual father of a bill sponsored the last two years by Indiana State Rep. Bill Bailey, a Democrat from Seymour. It would not only mandate that teams give six months’ warning before a plan to leave the state but also raise the possibility of taxpayers or private investors buying a team that had taken public subsidies and then tried to exit.
As he wrote in his book, “Major League Losers” (Basic Books), “A welfare system exists in this country that transfers hundreds of millions of dollars from taxpayers to wealthy investors and their extraordinarily well-paid employees,” namely players.
Rosentraub conceded to me last week that there is no move afoot by the Pacers or Colts to leave. But he believes that inevitable economic pressures, caused by Indiana teams not having the same revenue opportunities as big market teams, could influence the Colts, and even the Pacers if the wealthy and civic-minded family that owns them isn’t around one day.
“My view is that small-market teams are an endangered species,” he said.
It helps explains the legislation that passed an Indiana House committee this year before being defeated on the House floor. Even in victory, the Colts were enlightened, even a bit shaken.
“For the first time in the team’s history, it found itself trying to educate itself about political matters,” said Luther, the outside counsel whose unrelated handiwork includes helping draft the will of the late Cardinal Joseph Bernardin.
“The Colts are a medium-size, high-visibility business,” he said. There are fewer than 100 full-time employees, not including players. The organization is asked with regularity to make contributions to politicians.
“A PAC seemed a logical way to organize our political activities,” said Luther, all the more so with legislative races and a governor’s contest next year.
At this point, what will be known technically as Indianapolis Colts Inc. Political Action Committee, and take the acronym INDYCOLTSPAC, hasn’t raised a penny. And, if truth be told, fans need not worry about the firm’s richest workers, the players, engaging in on-field discussion of political spending strategies, since the PAC doesn’t plan on hitting them up for money (“That’s nuts,” said Luther).
Still, the Colts will soon develop fundraising tactics for its other employees. A PAC is allowed to solicit from its management, employees and, if it has them, shareholders.
“We want to have some political involvement and educate legislators on sports franchises,” said Luther. “Having spoken to many, they don’t have a clue what we’re about.”
By that he means, in part, that many legislators didn’t really seem to realize the Colts are a year-round enterprise that confronts a host of antitrust, contract and other issues and is continually seeking sponsors and ticket-holders, among other business complexities.
“Many people just know us from watching games on TV and think we’re just in operation for a few months each year,” Luther said.
Luther has to immerse himself in the often complex regulations overseen by the Federal Election Commission. Those include specific rules about who is senior management and who are employees, as well as how one may seek money from your workers.
Though the rules are sometimes not faithfully followed, one aim is to preclude the harassment of workers to contribute hard-earned dollars.
The Colts have filed as both a federal and a state PAC, meaning they will be able to give to both federal and Indiana state candidates, even if not in a huge way.
“We’re a football team and are not trying to become big political activists,” Luther explained. “But for years, the Colts were really a sleepy, small business. After Bob’s death, Jim wanted to make it more pro-active.”
Thinking it over a bit, PAC watchdog Cooper did see a certain logic in the move.
“Sometimes a state or city provides freebies or incentives to an owner not to move, then wants to have some claim on their staying there,” he said.
“These teams tend to be popular with voters and the general public, and politicians sometimes want to mix those things. If they can do something for the local team, they think they might curry favor with the local voters,” he said.
And if the team, like any other local enterprise, wants to curry favor with a pol, there’s no better way than throwing money his or her way.
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And make no mistake, said Luther, the Colts “will make a few selected contributions.”
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James Warren and Michael Tackett of the Tribune’s Washington bureau are hosts of “Unconventional Wisdom” at 7:05 p.m. Sunday on WGN-AM 720.