Nearly $10M pours into Missouri’s Amendment 5. But those donors are hidden
Over the past two months, $9.6 million has poured into a campaign to replace Missouri’s income tax with expanded sales taxes as ads promoting the measure flood TVs and websites.
But the exact source of those dollars remains hidden, leaving voters in the dark about who is bankrolling the plan to overhaul the state’s tax structure. The measure, called Amendment 5, will appear on the Aug. 4 ballot.
The major contributions come ahead of a high-stakes primary election in which voters will decide whether to reshape how the state collects taxes. The measure, the top priority for Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe, would hand lawmakers broad authority to raise sales taxes with the goal of reducing the income tax.
Missouri Promise PAC, the main campaign supporting the measure, received the $9.6 million from six organizations or groups that do not have to disclose their donors, drawing scrutiny over the source of the contributions.
The donations mark an example of how political groups on both sides of the political aisle funnel money in ways that offer voters no way to track who is funding high-profile decisions.
Those contributions are often referred to as dark money or “spending meant to influence political outcomes where the source of the money is not disclosed,” according to OpenSecrets, a nonprofit that tracks campaign spending.
The campaign’s largest contribution, $3.9 million, came this week from Missouri Action, a little-known group that lists its address as a post office box in Jefferson City. Its website describes the group as a social welfare nonprofit.
The PAC has also received:
- $1.9 million from Missouri Promise Inc., a nonprofit incorporated in Delaware last year.
- $1.5 million from Secure Missouri, a nonprofit corporation registered to prominent Republican attorney Marc Ellinger.
- $1 million from America Advancement Inc., a Maryland-based economic policy nonprofit.
- $800,000 from American Policy Coalition, a nonprofit focused on conservative fiscal policies.
- $500,000 from Revitalization Project, a Virginia-based nonprofit.
Meanwhile, the main campaign opposing the measure, called Missourians for Fair Taxation, is largely bankrolled by a $1.9 million and $1 contribution from the PAC for the Missouri Association of Realtors, which supports the state’s real estate industry and discloses its donors.
The group has also received two $7,500 contributions from Missourians for Fair Governance, a campaign backed by the real estate industry that opposes Amendment 4, another high-profile measure on the Aug. 4 ballot that would overhaul the state’s main form of direct democracy.
Scott Charton, a spokesperson for Missourians for Fair Taxation, said supporters of Amendment 5 were “going for the World Cup of Dark Money” and “spending mystery millions.”
“It’s clear some very wealthy special interests are bankrolling Amendment 5 - even if it is not clear just who they are,” Charton said in a statement.
In response, Joe Lamie, a spokesperson for Missouri Promise PAC, defended the funding in a statement that called Charton’s comments the “World Cup of political spin.” He said the campaign complied with all campaign finance and disclosure laws, filed all required reports with the Missouri Ethics Commission and would “continue to follow the law.”
Lamie’s statement went on to tout the merits of Amendment 5, saying the campaign would “work to control spending, cut taxes, and ensure big tech and other service providers that cater to the wealthy pay their share so Missouri workers can get a break.”
That statement echoed an argument from the PAC’s new campaign ad that claims Amendment 5 would fix a “big tech loophole” responsible for porn and data centers. Opponents have called that claim false, pointing to the fact that the amendment would not unilaterally tax data centers.
If passed, lawmakers would have the power to decide which industries would — and would not — be subject to sales taxes.
Peverill Squire, a retired University of Missouri political science professor, previously predicted that voters would see a flood of ads on both sides of the income tax overhaul debate this election cycle.
“What Missourians can anticipate is that over the next weeks they will be inundated with ads of various sorts supporting and opposing the proposal,” he said. “But even if they look closely to see the tagline on who is funding the ad, they may still have no idea who is really behind it.”
Out-of-state interests?
Revelations about the contributions come as Missouri voters are also gearing up for a vote on Amendment 4, which would make it virtually impossible for citizens to amend the state constitution.
One group opposing that measure, Protect Majority Rule, has also received a large portion of its funding from organizations that do not have to disclose their donors, such as two contributions ($1 million and $75,000) from The Fairness Project, a Washington-based nonprofit that backs ballot measures nationwide.
Amendment 4 takes aim at Missouri’s century-old initiative petition process, which has allowed citizens of both parties to collect signatures and place measures on the ballot.
In a statement, the campaign director for Protect Majority Rule did not mention its funding and touted the merits of the campaign. Amendment 4, the statement said, “would gut Missourians’ right to directly propose and pass ballot measures.”
“Our coalition is made up of Missourians from every corner of the state, Republican, Democrat and independent, who are fighting to defeat Amendment 4 and protect our right to pass a ballot measure with a majority of votes statewide,” said M’Evie Mead, the campaign director.
Kehoe and other Republican supporters have framed Amendment 4 as a way to halt out-of-state interests and money from influencing elections, an argument that has sparked criticism in the wake of the funding for Amendment 5.
