August 2003 - arrl-odv - reflector.arrl.org

[ARRL-ODV:9320] Re: Ham Radio PAC?
by Jim Weaver 25 Aug '03

25 Aug '03

Chris, Tnx. Jim Weaver, K8JE, Director, Great Lakes Division k8je(a)arrl.org - Tel. 513-459-0142 ARRL -- The reason Amateur Radio is! GREAT LAKES DIVISION CONVENTION, September 6, 2003: See http://greatlakes.arrl.org

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[ARRL-ODV:9319] Re: Ham Radio PAC?
by W3KD＠aol.com 25 Aug '03

25 Aug '03

In a message dated 8/25/2003 2:46:58 PM Eastern Standard Time, dsumner(a)arrl.org writes: > > 3) Chris can perhaps locate the report of the earlier investigation more > quickly than I can. Certainly the degree of Board overlap has to be less than > 50%. AS Chris reported earlier, John Chwat was involved in the research at the > time. > > I am putting together my files on this subject from a few years ago, and will get what Chwat has for a Board presentation. Chris, W3KD

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[ARRL-ODV:9318] Re: Ham Radio PAC?
by dick＠pobox.com 25 Aug '03

25 Aug '03

25 AUG, 2003 - 1415 CDT I am familiar with two of the organizations on Tom Frenyae's list: Allied Pilots' Association (APA) -- I'm a life member of this organization: the union for American Airlines pilots. It is a separate entity from the Airline Pilots' Association (ALPA) that is frequently in the press. APA does have a PAC and I think it's called the American Pilots' Association Political Action Committee. It was set up shortly before I retired in 1995. ALPA also has a PAC. Sierra Club Political Committee -- Many years ago, I was a dues-paying member of the Sierra Club and the Wilderness Society. But now I give my support to the Nature Conservancy which, rather than confronting government and industry, works with the establishment and has subsequently become the largest private conservator of open space outside of government - both domestic and foreign. I think both of these organizations have been able to retain their original tax-exempt status in spite of having some sort of a relationship with a PAC. 73 - Dick, W9GIG

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[ARRL-ODV:9317] Re: Ham Radio PAC?
by Sumner, Dave, K1ZZ 25 Aug '03

25 Aug '03

A couple of quick comments, then I have to get back to the October QST editorial: 1) To the best of my knowledge, none of the "parents" of the listed organizations are 501(c)(3). They may have related Foundations that are 501(c)(3). 2) I know of no doors that are closed to us that could not be opened by a constituent, contributor or not. $500 isn't going to change anybody's mind. That's not to say that it wouldn't be nice for somebody to be able to float some money toward a legislative friend of amateur radio, in the name of amateur radio, as a gesture of appreciation. 3) Chris can perhaps locate the report of the earlier investigation more quickly than I can. Certainly the degree of Board overlap has to be less than 50%. AS Chris reported earlier, John Chwat was involved in the research at the time. 4) If you gentlemen and ladies have some funds that you'd like to contribute to political candidates you are free to make those contributions as private individuals. You are also free to make it clear to those candidates that amateur radio is your principal interest. I know many of us have done so in the past and will continue to do so. 73, Dave K1ZZ -----Original Message----- From: Frenaye, Tom (Dir, NE) Sent: Monday, August 25, 2003 2:17 PM To: arrl-odv Subject: [ARRL-ODV:9315] Re: Ham Radio PAC? At 12:21 PM 8/25/2003 -0400, K1ZZ wrote: > If anyone knows of a bona fide 501(c)(3) who has an affiliated 501(c)(4) with a PAC I'd be glad to research how they've done in practice; the membership associations I know of that have affiliated PACs are not 501(c)(3)s. I thought I had found one, the Keep Hope Alive PAC, but in their filings they claim no affiliation with the 501(c)(3) Keep Hope Alive, Ltd. There are 7807 PACs listed on the Federal Election Commission web site for 2003-04. Of those, 927 are in the Trade/Membership/Health category (where an Amateur Radio PAC would be listed if there were one). Here are a few of the listings: (a couple of these must be related to 501c3 organizations) AIRCRAFT OWNERS AND PILOTS ASSOCIATION POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE PEOPLE FOR THE AMERICAN WAY VOTERS ALLIANCE AMERICAN PILOTS' ASSOCIATION POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF ASSOCIATION EXECUTIVES A-PAC NATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR WOMEN POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE POWER PAC OF THE EDISON ELECTRIC INSTITUTE AMERICAN MOTORCYCLIST POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE SIERRA CLUB POLITICAL COMMITTEE BOAT OWNERS ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES (BOAT/US) POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE I'm not sure what you mean by "affiliated" PAC. From previous discussions it appears we can not have too close of a relationship with a PAC, so the question appears to be how much overlap (if any) can the organizations have? Could two or three or 50% of the Boards overlap? >That aside, rephrasing Jim's question slightly: Could enough money be raised (not could "we" raise it since we're prohibited from raising it) for a PAC to make any difference? The examples given are useful to understand each end of the influence spectrum. As I understood Jim's input, the ability to give $500 to a Congressman would open some doors that are closed to us today. So, my thinking is that opening one more door would be a useful thing. If we can do it with 20 members of Congress ($10k overall) or 200 members ($100k) those would be even better steps... I'm willing to bet that the ARRL Board would find a way to contribute more than $10k itself... Perhaps one place we can get some good advice on this is from John Chwat? Or does ASAE (American Assoc of Association Executives) have any research that would be useful? -- Tom ===== e-mail: k1ki(a)arrl.org ARRL New England Division Director http://www.arrl.org/ Tom Frenaye, K1KI, P O Box J, West Suffield CT 06093 Phone: 860-668-5444

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[ARRL-ODV:9316] Re: Ham Radio PAC?
by W3KD＠aol.com 25 Aug '03

25 Aug '03

In a message dated 8/25/2003 1:41:39 PM Eastern Standard Time, K8JE(a)ARRL.org writes: > I think if we looked more deeply in the list of PAC > sponsors we would find any number of 501(c)(3) organizations have > established PACs under other categories. > > Well, when we looked into this before, the law firm that we consulted about this made clear that a 501(c)(3) cannot have anything to do with a PAC. Rather, it would be necessary for some entity other than ARRL to establish a separate, non-501(c)(3) corporation which could operate a PAC. So, strictly speaking, no 501(c)(3) will have established a PAC. The two are mutually exclusive. Chris

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[ARRL-ODV:9315] Re: Ham Radio PAC?
by Tom Frenaye 25 Aug '03

25 Aug '03

At 12:21 PM 8/25/2003 -0400, K1ZZ wrote: > If anyone knows of a bona fide 501(c)(3) who has an affiliated 501(c)(4) with a PAC I'd be glad to research how they've done in practice; the membership associations I know of that have affiliated PACs are not 501(c)(3)s. I thought I had found one, the Keep Hope Alive PAC, but in their filings they claim no affiliation with the 501(c)(3) Keep Hope Alive, Ltd. There are 7807 PACs listed on the Federal Election Commission web site for 2003-04. Of those, 927 are in the Trade/Membership/Health category (where an Amateur Radio PAC would be listed if there were one). Here are a few of the listings: (a couple of these must be related to 501c3 organizations) AIRCRAFT OWNERS AND PILOTS ASSOCIATION POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE PEOPLE FOR THE AMERICAN WAY VOTERS ALLIANCE AMERICAN PILOTS' ASSOCIATION POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF ASSOCIATION EXECUTIVES A-PAC NATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR WOMEN POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE POWER PAC OF THE EDISON ELECTRIC INSTITUTE AMERICAN MOTORCYCLIST POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE SIERRA CLUB POLITICAL COMMITTEE BOAT OWNERS ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES (BOAT/US) POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE I'm not sure what you mean by "affiliated" PAC. From previous discussions it appears we can not have too close of a relationship with a PAC, so the question appears to be how much overlap (if any) can the organizations have? Could two or three or 50% of the Boards overlap? >That aside, rephrasing Jim's question slightly: Could enough money be raised (not could "we" raise it since we're prohibited from raising it) for a PAC to make any difference? The examples given are useful to understand each end of the influence spectrum. As I understood Jim's input, the ability to give $500 to a Congressman would open some doors that are closed to us today. So, my thinking is that opening one more door would be a useful thing. If we can do it with 20 members of Congress ($10k overall) or 200 members ($100k) those would be even better steps... I'm willing to bet that the ARRL Board would find a way to contribute more than $10k itself... Perhaps one place we can get some good advice on this is from John Chwat? Or does ASAE (American Assoc of Association Executives) have any research that would be useful? -- Tom ===== e-mail: k1ki(a)arrl.org ARRL New England Division Director http://www.arrl.org/ Tom Frenaye, K1KI, P O Box J, West Suffield CT 06093 Phone: 860-668-5444

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[ARRL-ODV:9314] Re: Ham Radio PAC?
by Jim Weaver 25 Aug '03

25 Aug '03

Dave, Thanks for the discussion. I believe we need this information and more if we are to continue considering establishing a PAC. I agree with much of what you said; however, (you know, there is always a however or a but or something!) some of it is predicated upon attempting to be a PAC-like operation while remaining 501(c)(3). It seems apparent to me that we would need to establish the PAC under a suitable tax category and leave ARRL as it is. I think if we looked more deeply in the list of PAC sponsors we would find any number of 501(c)(3) organizations have established PACs under other categories. The point about the huge donations made to politicos by some PACs is well taken, of course. We could not dream of approaching these amounts. On the other hand, is it worth being shown on the records in politicians offices that the Amateur Radio PAC had made a modest donation? How much would this get us? It may not guarantee us anything, but would it make certain the door was open to us at least? One of us raised a concern over getting involved in partisan politics. I'm sorry for forgetting who this was. Many donors to political campaigns handle this very neatly. They contribute to each of the viable candidates. Can't loose this way and it handles the partisanship issue even though it seems weird to people such as me. 73, Jim Weaver, K8JE, Director, Great Lakes Division k8je(a)arrl.org - Tel. 513-459-0142 ARRL -- The reason Amateur Radio is! GREAT LAKES DIVISION CONVENTION, September 6, 2003: See http://greatlakes.arrl.org

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[ARRL-ODV:9313] Re: Ham Radio PAC?
by Sumner, Dave, K1ZZ 25 Aug '03

25 Aug '03

First of all, the ARRL has no practical choice but to remain a 501(c)(3). If we don't, the first thing we have to do is to turn all of our assets over to a 501(c)(3), since they were accumulated under the favorable rules that apply to 501(c)(3)s and cannot be used for other purposes. The second thing we have to do is to stop accepting contributions to the Fund for the Defense of Amateur Radio Frequencies, the Big Project, and so on -- which finance an increasing percentage of our activity. That aside, rephrasing Jim's question slightly: Could enough money be raised (not could "we" raise it since we're prohibited from raising it) for a PAC to make any difference? One way of looking at this is to consider how much PAC money is already floating around. According to one of the best sources for such information, www.opensecrets.org, in the 2002 election cycle the electric utilities alone contributed $21 million, 50% of it from related PACs. This is relevant in view of the current BPL issue. One of the key figures for us is Billy Tauzin. So far, for the 2003-2004 cycle he has received $55,783 from electric utilities PACs. You can see the list at http://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/memberprofile.asp?cid=N00005372&cycle=2004&…. This compares to $136,376 from electric utilities PACs for the 2001-2002 cycle (an election for which, in all, PACs contributed $1,462,005 to Tauzin -- and in which he was unopposed by a major party candidate). Communications/electronics PACs contributed nearly $16 million to federal candidates in the 2001-2002 cycle. Not all of the big names are big contributors; Nokia's PAC, for example, appears to have contributed just $1,500 split between two candidates. But the National Association of Broadcasters PAC contributed more than $500k and the National Cable & Telecommunications Association PAC contributed more than $800k. The only listing for a PAC contributor that I could find under "Non-Profit Institutions" for 2001-2002 was for the American Arts Alliance Political Action Committee, which contributed $35,000. In the time available I haven't found out much more about the organization than that. If anyone knows of a bona fide 501(c)(3) who has an affiliated 501(c)(4) with a PAC I'd be glad to research how they've done in practice; the membership associations I know of that have affiliated PACs are not 501(c)(3)s. I thought I had found one, the Keep Hope Alive PAC, but in their filings they claim no affiliation with the 501(c)(3) Keep Hope Alive, Ltd. You can come to your own conclusion about how much it would take for a ham radio PAC to contribute in order to make a noticeable difference in what is achieved on the Hill for ham radio, and whether it would be possible to raise that much. If you want to get an idea of the reporting requirements that must be met by PACs you can get it by poking around the Open Secrets Web site. 73, Dave K1ZZ -----Original Message----- From: Weaver, Jim K8JE (DIR, GL) Sent: Friday, August 22, 2003 7:31 PM To: arrl-odv Subject: [ARRL-ODV:9302] Re: Ham Radio PAC? I agree we could in one way or another perform lobbying in the typical sense -- including forming a PAC and backing up our pleas with a few bucks. Does anyone have an estimate of the amount we would need to spend to become a greater force than we are now or than we could be given the current approximate "advocacy" budget? Stated otherwise: Would we be able to raise enough money so that a PAC would be meaningfully more effective than we COULD be as a 501(c)(3)? By the way I've stated this last question it should be obvious that I do not believe we are as effective as possible by staying within our current tax status. 73 Jim W. Jim Weaver, K8JE, Director, Great Lakes Division k8je(a)arrl.org - Tel. 513-459-0142 ARRL -- The reason Amateur Radio is! GREAT LAKES DIVISION CONVENTION, September 6, 2003: See http://greatlakes.arrl.org

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[ARRL-ODV:9312] Helen Grauer N0BCI SK
by Bruce Frahm K0BJ 25 Aug '03

25 Aug '03

I received word from QCWA webmaster N0UF at the MO state convention that Helen Grauer N0BCI has passed away, as had been expected for some time. Helen was the XYL of long-time Midwest Director Paul W0FIR/WA0LLC. She was on the ARRL Foundation board for many years after Paul's death until resigning for health reasons. Services will be Thursday at 10:AM in Wilson, KS at the Methodist Church. Memorials to the Paul and Helen Grauer ARRL Scholarship Fund. Bruce - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Bruce Frahm KØBJ http://www.carrollsweb.com/bfrahm/

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[ARRL-ODV:9311] Re: Helen Grauer
by Kay Craigie 25 Aug '03

25 Aug '03

Wade, thanks for letting us know that Helen is a Silent Key. I have ham friends here in Pennsylvania who came from the midwest years ago but still enjoy telling Paul Grauer stories ... and I still enjoy hearing them. With Helen passes away an era in Board family history and folklore. 73- Kay N3KN

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