The Sunlight Policy Center of New Jersey released a report “naming names and providing the state with a first-of-its-kind Who’s Who of the organizations that make up the NJEA’s vast and interconnected network of political allies.” This is exactly the type of investigative journalism that our fourth estate should be providing us for all the taxpayer subsidies they wheedle from those they are supposed to report on.

Excerpts below:

Non-profits do not have to disclose their donors and provide tax-exemptions for their  donations. They are not permitted to engage in political action on behalf of a candidate or party. But they can and do support political action in other ways by providing research, litigation, parent and community organizing, and by joining coalitions that address issues of concern they share with the public sector unions and their allies. (page 7)

These 527 and 501(c)(4) organizations are called “Super” political action committees (PACs) because they can spend unlimited amounts in support of a candidate – so long as they are independent expenditures (IE), which cannot be coordinated with the candidate’s campaign. “Dark money” groups are registered under Section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code. They can spend unlimited amounts in IEs (subject to certain qualifications) and are not required to disclose their donors, hence the phrase “dark money.” Groups organized under Section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code do have to disclose their donors, but oftentimes this is delayed until the various government agencies release their reports. (page 9)

During the 2013 gubernatorial election between Governor Chris Christie and State Senator Barbara Buono, One New Jersey ran TV ads attacking Christie. All told, One New Jersey spent $2.8 million, which was “dark money” because One New Jerseyrefused to disclose its donors. Through the end of the election, voters never knew the source of One New Jersey’s funding. Perhaps it is no surprise, but SPCNJ can now report that it was the NJEA that funded the entire One New Jersey effort, secretly donating $2.95 million. In addition to both being dark money groups funded by the NJEA, there is another significant overlap between NDNJ and One New Jersey: the two political operatives who ran One New Jersey, Steve DiMicco and Brad Lawrence, are the same two political operatives who run NDNJ. (page 10)

• NJEA Donations to 501(c)(4) and 527 Super PACs 2009-2016 (page 12):
  Garden State Forward $24,235,500
  General Majority PAC $9,170,000
  New Direction New Jersey $4,500,000
  One New Jersey $2,950,000
  New Jersey Workers’ Voices $500,000
  Progressive Values Committee $325,000
  Our Community Votes $50,000
  Emerge New Jersey $43,300
  TOTAL $27,278,800
• NJEA Donations to 501(c)(3) Non-profits 2009-2016 (page 33):
  Education Law Center $3,202,000
  The Latino Institute $1,140,000
  NJ Policy Perspective $510,000
  Statewide Education Organizing Committee $105,000
  NJ Black Issues Convention $83,000
  New Jersey State Chapter NAACP $76,000
  Statewide Parents Advocacy Network $23,500
  Save Our Schools $5,000
  TOTAL $5,039,500
• NJEA Donations to Alliances 2009-2016 (page 57):
  New Jersey Working Families Alliance $845,600
  Working Families United for New Jersey $295,000
  New Jersey Work Environment Council $156,000
  Anti-Poverty Network of New Jersey $10,000
  TOTAL $1,256,600