Many elected officials say "My loyalty can't be purchased" or "Money does not influence me". But are these statements the truth? or are they false? A quick look at some "pay-to-play" donors and the "payed-to-play" recipients, may shed some light on this question. Two individual EPIC CEO's donated $92,096 and $73,839, respectively, to 117 different elected officials - in order to influence school legislation being considered in the House or Senate... Some recipients of the "pay to play" money are:
Joy Hofmeister $30,000? Kevin Stitt $8,100
Gary Stanislawski $1,500 Stephanie Bice $3,500
Katie Henke $1,000 *Charles McCall $5,000
Chuck Strohm $1,500 Jadine Noland $500
Todd Thompsen $500 Matt Pinnell $1,000
Rhonda Baker $4,200 Jason Smalley $3,000
Kim David $2,500 Jon Echols $4,200
Kevin Wallace $2,000 Chris Kannady $3,700
Greg Treat $4,200 Sherrie Conley $1,000
Greg Babinec $500 Josh West $500
Tom Gann $500 Ajay Pittman $1,500
Mark Lawson $500 Shawn Howard $1,000
Kil Easley Graf $1,000 Tammy West $1,000
Nicole Miller $1,000 Todd Russ $1,000
Darin Chambers $500 Mat Hamrick $200
Avery Frix $5,200 Jason Dunnington $500
J. Paul Jordan $2,500 Travis Dunlap $500
George Faught $500 Daniel Pae $1,000
Tammy Townley $1,000 Garry Mize $1,000
Gary Sims $1,000 Terry O'Donnell $2,700
Trey Caldwell $1,000 Jack Beall $1,000
Robert Manger $1,000 Kevin McDugle $1,000
Rusty Cornwell $1,000 T.J. Marti $1,000
Frank Simpson $3,000 Cyndi Munson $1,000
Jim Grego $1,000 Jud Strom $1,000
Jim Olsen $1,000 Brian Hill $1,000
Toni Hasenbeck $1,000 Carol Bush $1,000
Zach Taylor $2,000 Ryan Martinez $500
Mike Osburn $500 Kyle Hilbert $1,000
Kevin West $1,000 Mark Lepak $1,000
Dan Hicks $1,000 Denise Crosswhite $1,000
Ronny Johns $1,000 Tommy Hardin $1,000
Marilyn Stark $1,000 Ty Burns $1,000
Glen Mulready $2,700
* Oklahoma Speakers Ball
This list is not all-inclusive and some elected officials actually turned down the pay-to-play money... and most lost their election bid. As a matter of fact, a personal friend reported he turned down $1,000 from an EPIC CEO, and promptly lost his re-election bid. As one may plainly see, some candidates received more than others - ranging from $24,585 down to $200. The only reasoning shared by many, is that some candidates are judged to be more persuasive than others... for EPIC.
Since EPIC is a public school, the influenced candidates and officials probably say they are only supporting our public school students and teachers - for the payola. Many people believe, however, that EPIC has far more influence than other public schools - "Money Talks and BS Walks". The next question that one may ask is - How does a company CEO, who probably makes less than $150,000 in annual salary, donate more than half that salary to elected state officials? The answer may be: The individuals in question cannot afford to donate half their annual salary to candidates, but Oklahoma taxpayers can afford it! Also, a link to the Oklahoma Cost Accounting System (OCAS) may provide an explanation to this intriguing question. One virtual charter spent $983,017 of its administrative expenses for community relations, federal and state relations, and business office expenses. This total was almost 90% of its cumulative administrative expenses and did not include the superintendents salary. It may be safely assumed that at least part of this expenditure originated in state appropriated student dollars. The connection and analysis may be that "an increase in state appropriations to virtuals results in donations to the listed candidates. A link to this California article may provide yet another answer...
It appears that all bases are covered by the two EPIC Chiefs and Government Relations Director, as the elected officials receiving the big $$$ are listed below with their assignments:
* Joy Hofmeister, State Superintendent of Public Instruction - $25,585
* Mike Hunter, Attorney General - $11,737
* Kevin Stitt, Governor - $8,100
* Avery Frix, Judiciary Committee - $5,200
* Charles McCall, House Speaker - $5,000
* Jon Echolls, House Majority Leader - $4,200
* Rhonda Baker, House Education Chair - $4,200
* Greg Treat, Senate Pro-Tem - $4,200
* Chris Kannady, Judiciary Committee Chair - $3,700
* Stephanie Bice, Finance Committee Chair - $3,500
* Jason Smalley, Education Committee A&B - $3,000
* Glen Mulready, State Insurance Commissioner - $2,700
* Kim David, House Appropriations Chair - $2,500
* John Paul Jordan, District Judge - $2,500
* Kevin Wallace, Senate Appropriations Chair - $2,000
* Tammy West, Education Committee A&B - $1,500
* Gary Stanislawski, Senate Education Chair - $1,500
* Matt Pinnell, Lieutenant Governor - $1,000
While it is not illegal to donate to elected officials campaigns, it may be illegal as to where the donations originate. For example, EPIC Virtual School spent $8.9 million (school year 2015-2016) for student instruction costs, which was formerly coded to administrative costs in 2014-2015. It is suspected, although it can't be proven, that the EPIC officials provided at least some student instructional appropriations to state elected officials. The $92,122 donated to the candidates above is reported to originate in the salaries of three EPIC officials. The EPIC officials did not just deposit the funds without the candidates knowing full well what was expected in return. What is expected in return for the generous wads of cash, is favorable legislation from the representatives and senators, favorable court rulings from the court officials, favorable AG opinions from the AG, favorable appropriations from the finance officials, and favorable support from public school officials and education chairs. The elected officials who have grounds for a complaint may be the Lieutenant Governor, who only received $1,000; the Senate Education Chair at $1,500 (the House Education Chair received $4,200); and the House Education Committee A&B head at $1,500 (the Senate Education Committee A&B head received $3,000). So much for equity...
Investigative reporter Jennifer Palmer of Oklahoma Watch wrote that Leaders of the state's largest virtual charter school (Epic) contributed at least $145,000 to the campaigns of dozens of candidates this year..., but the question remains "What favorable legislation and actions do the CEO's expect in return for these donations?".. Many traditional public school supporters believe some favorable bills and actions have already occurred. For example, Senator Stephanie Bice (the recipient of $3,500 from Harris and Chaney) sponsored a school consolidation bill during the last legislative session. Senator Bice related that the bill was what her constituents wanted, and since Chaney (Epic's superintendent) and Harris (the profitable non-profit's CEO) are Bice constituents - she is being truthful. Another example of "money talking"..
Another example of "money talks" is: In 2015, Representative Dennis Casey was on the House Common Education Committee, and voted to kill House Bill 2949 (a school voucher bill which would have allowed state tax dollars to flow to private and religious schools). The vote was 9 to 9 to kill the bill, which effectively ended it. The House Education Committee Chair, Representative Jason Nelson, a "paid to play" lawmaker - promptly removed Casey from the committee, and revived HB 2949 in 2016. After removing Casey from the committee, the bill passed on a 9 to 8 vote.
Yet another example of "money manipulation" occurred last week in the Oklahoma State Senate. Senator Ron Sharp (R) of Shawnee, a traditional public school supporter, was the vice-chair of the Senate Education Committee - and sponsored an interim study for virtual charter school funding. The interim study for the Senate Education Committee was held in October, 2018. The study provided information concerning how and why virtual school providers obtain state funding (tax dollars). Last week, when committee assignments were made, Senator Sharp became the latest victim of Epic money. He was removed as Education vice-chair by two senators - Greg Treat, the senate Pro-Tem and recipient of $4,200 from Epic; and Gary Stanislawski, the Education Committee Chair and recipient of $1,500 from Epic. The removal of Senator Ron Sharp from the vice-chair of the education committee may be traced directly to orders from Epic in the opinion of many public school supporters.
Update - Senator Joe Newhouse, (the named replacement for Senator Ron Sharp, as the Education Committee vice-chair), did not receive any Epic monies as reported by the Ethics Commission. He did, however, receive $13,611 in campaign support from the Betsy DeVos voucher group Oklahoma Federation for Children Action Fund, which is not reported to the Ethics Commission. The OFCAF is a dark money group which is similar to the Epic contributors. The big-money groups are similar in that they both deplore traditional public schools, the only difference being that Epic's contributors are named Chaney and Harris, but the OFCAF's contributors are anonymous (Why it's called "dark money").
Update - In following up on the contributor and recipient information in Palmer's article and the above recipient information, it becomes crystal clear as to the type of legislation which Epic wants to influence - education related bills. It also becomes clear which lawmakers are under the influence of Epic millionaires. For example, the Senate Education Committee is composed of the Chair Gary Stanislawski ($1,500 from Epic), Vice-Chair Joe Newhouse ( $36,399 from a pro-voucher group - $13,611 in support of, and $22,788 in opposition to Representative Newhouse's election opponents), Senator Jason Smalley ($3,000 from Epic), Senator Wayne Shaw ($1,000 from Epic), Senator Marty Quinn ($500 from Epic), and the Senate Pro-Tem Greg Treat, responsible for committee assignments ($4,200). In addition, Senator Joe Silk, member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Education received $500 from Epic.
The House Common Education Committee recipients of Epic money include Representative Rhonda Baker ($4,200 from Epic), Representative Todd Russ ($1,000 from Epic), Representative Trey Caldwell ($1,000 from Epic), Representative Tammy West ($1,000 from Epic), Representative Mike Osburn ($500 from Epic), Representative Jadine Noland ($500 from Epic),and Representative Tom Gann ($500 from Epic). In addition, House Speaker Charles McCall received $5,000 from Epic for the Speaker's Ball - and Representative Jon Echolls, the House Majority Leader and responsible for committee assignments received $4,200 from Epic.
Just to make sure all lose ends were tied up (T's crossed and I's dotted), Epic chiefs provided $25,585 to the State Superintendent of Schools, Joy Hofmeister.
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