In the past year, Georgia has seen a surge in political spending by tax-exempt nonprofits. In many cases, their donors remain anonymous.
The year’s two big state ballot questions — one to authorize a sales tax increase for transportation projects and the other to create an additional pathway to approve charter schools — were pushed by nonprofits. The promise of anonymity helped attract donors, say some involved in the campaigns.
“It’s a whole lot easier when they know their name isn’t going to made public, absolutely,” said Bryan Long, executive director of Better Georgia, which has used some of its money to fly banners over college football games this fall accusing Gov. Nathan Deal of destroying the popular HOPE scholarship.
Campaign finance experts call such groups the wave of the future, but the lack of transparency concerns watchdogs, who say some groups are misusing the tax code.
“Tax exempt money is really political money now,” said Bill Bozarth, former head of Common Cause Georgia. “Very smart lawyers have found ways around the law that allows you to be politically active and remain anonymous.”
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