[A] nonprofit corporation and its affiliated political action committee will pay $3,000 to the state to settle a case saying the two entities violated campaign finance laws in 2012 and 2014.
Vermont Leads Inc. is a 501(c)(4) that started in 2012 as an organization to educate the public about single-payer health care. It signed a settlement with the attorney general’s office June 28.
Vermont Leads PAC also started in 2012, but it filed paperwork with the secretary of state’s office after the 2012 election “saying it had ceased operations and transferred all remaining funds to Vermont Leads Inc.,” according to the attorney general.
Peter Sterling, the founder of Vermont Leads, signed the settlement with the state but declined to comment for this story.
In September 2014, the PAC filed contradictory paperwork saying it had carried over a balance of $11,792 from the 2012 campaign and bought advertisements in August 2014 in support of a candidate for the Vermont Senate, according to the attorney general’s office.
The office then notified Vermont Leads PAC of the violation, and the PAC filed five campaign finance reports in response. Until that point, the campaign finance reports had been either missing or incorrect.
Additionally, the nonprofit Vermont Leads Inc. accepted a donation in March 2014 over the legal limit of $4,000 and then, in July 2014, endorsed 10 candidates for the Legislature.
Accepting the money and then endorsing the candidates meant the organization was acting as a political action committee and therefore subject to several requirements under campaign finance laws, according to the attorney general’s office.
“Vermont Leads Inc. violated these laws when it failed to register as a political committee and accepted a contribution that exceeded the $4,000 allowable limit,” the attorney general’s office said in a news release.
Under the settlement, Vermont Leads PAC will pay $1,000 to the state for the five reports that were originally missing or incorrect, and Vermont Leads Inc. will pay $2,000 for failing to register as a political action committee.
In a statement, Attorney General William Sorrell said there are certain actions an organization may take that will qualify it as a PAC and make it subject to the registration and reporting requirements governing those.
“This settlement should serve as a reminder to entities that accept contributions or make expenditures supporting or opposing a candidate that such conduct can trigger application of Vermont’s campaign finance laws,” Sorrell said.
