Legislation that makes it legal for utility companies to contribute to political campaigns and that closes a loophole in state ethics law is headed for the governor's desk.
Senate Bill 160 received final approval Thursday in the waning hours of the 2011 legislative session. But the bill still faces a potential protest from a powerful House committee chair.
Rep. Wendell Willard, R-Sandy Springs, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said SB 160 opens the door for coercion of contributions to electric cooperative political action committees.
But the measure is important to government watchdogs as it fixes a problem in the state's ethics laws that was recently discovered. The loophole was opened, in essence, last week when the state ethics committee issued an advisory opinion that would exempt lobbyists from disclosing how they spend money on public employees.
While that's important, Willard, said, he will still urge Gov. Nathan Deal to veto the bill. Willard said he is worried because the bill would permit EMC contractors and agents to contribute to an Electric Membership Cooperative PAC. He is worried, he said, that EMCs could use the promise of a contract to coerce contributions.
"To put contractors in there opens up a way to do it," Willard said.
But Sen. Don Balfour, R-Snellville, the bill's sponsor, said there are existing laws against coercion. Balfour, the chairman of the Rules Committee, is an executive at Waffle House, and he used its PAC as an example.
"Can we ask Coca-Cola to give? Yes, we can," he said. "There are laws about how much you can ask. The bigger one is coercion of the rank-and-file employee, but there are very strict laws on that."
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