Over $1M poured into sugary-drink tax dispute
Only two groups, on opposing sides, disclose campaign funds in push to sway voters
Two political committees on opposite sides of a proposal to tax sugary beverages in Santa Fe filed reports Friday showing they have raised a combined $1.57 million in cash and other support as they try to influence city voters in a May 2 special election on a plan to fund early childhood education programs.
In the last two weeks, the amount of campaign cash and in-kind contributions to the battle for votes has tripled — and that doesn’t take into account what has been raised and spent by two additional organizations involved in the election that haven’t filed financial disclosures.
While Pre-K for Santa Fe and Better Way for Santa Fe & Pre-K have reported their finances to the city clerk, a group called Smart Progress New Mexico and the Rio Grande Foundation have yet to reveal details regarding where they are getting their campaign funds and how they are spending the money.
After representatives told The New Mexican they don’t have to make such disclosures because of their nonprofit status under federal tax laws, the two groups Friday softened their positions after receiving letters from the City Attorney’s Office stating that they may
have to file campaign finance statements under provisions of the city election code.
“We take our reporting obligations seriously and wish to comply as required by law,” Paul Gessing, president of the Albuquerque-based Rio Grande Foundation, wrote in a letter to the city Friday. “This is a complicated area, so we are carefully reviewing our records to determine whether we have crossed the reporting threshold.”
Loveless Johnson III, a spokesman for Smart Progress New Mexico, met with City Clerk Yolanda Vigil on Friday to discuss reporting requirements. Vigil said the group is reviewing the city election code and will follow up with city officials Monday.
“We don’t have dark money,” Johnson said in a brief interview at City Hall. “We have green money — and it’s all local.”
Barry Kiess, CEO of the Coca-Cola Bottling Co. of Santa Fe, said in an email to The New Mexican at about 6:30 p.m. Friday that the local bottler contributed $10,000 to Smart Progress New Mexico.
“As a local company, we want the people of Santa Fe to know,” he said.
“We remain committed to opposing this beverage tax because there is a better way to fund Pre-K and it will hurt local restaurants, stores, consumers and our employees,” Kiess added. “We will continue to be transparent throughout this discussion.”
Edward Stein, a retired Chicago attorney who has lived in Santa Fe full time since 2012, filed complaints about both groups with the city Ethics and Campaign Review Board on Friday. Stein described himself as a concerned citizen who supports Mayor Javier Gonzales’ proposal to impose a 2-cents-per-ounce excise tax on sugar-sweetened beverages to increase access to early childhood education programs.
“I’m not interested in causing anybody any trouble,” Stein said. “I want full disclosure. We’ve had enough in our politics where there’s dark money.”
The two political committees that filed campaign finance reports with the city said they have received most of their money from out-of-state or out-of-town sources.
Better Way for Santa Fe & Pre-K, which opposes the proposed tax, has the better-funded campaign. The group has reported receiving cash and in-kind support totaling about $1.05 million.
Most of the contributions have come from the American Beverage Association. In the past two weeks, the Washington, D.C.-based trade group contributed $700,000 in cash. That comes on top of an initial $100,000 the association provided during the previous reporting period, plus more than $100,000 in in-kind contributions so far this election season.
“Of course the beverage industry is going to stand up for store owners and customers who will be really hard hit by this tax,” said David Huynh, a spokesman for the anti-tax group, which includes the Santa Fe Chamber of Commerce and the Coca-Cola Bottling Co. of Santa Fe in addition to the American Beverage Association.
“The coalition, along with our financial supporters, feel like it’s unfair to single out everyday beverages for this massive tax that’s going to hurt so many people,” he said.
The group spent more than $500,000 in the last two weeks on phone banks, canvassing, consulting and “media and production,” among other expenditures.
On the other side, the pro-tax group Pre-K for Santa Fe has reported more than $530,000 in cash and inkind contributions. The group said it spent $58,280 over the last two weeks, including $27,078 for “campaign management” and $14,000 for mailers.
The group’s latest report listed only $950 in additional cash contributions but nearly $300,000 in inkind support during the past two weeks.
The committee’s biggest donor so far is Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire former New York City mayor who spent millions of dollars helping soda tax measures pass in San Francisco and Oakland, Calif. The group reported that Bloomberg in just the past two weeks contributed $180,000 in digital media and $53,000 in research.
Another major supporter is an Albuquerque-based nonprofit that backs expansion of early childhood education, Organizers in the Land of Enchantment, also known as OLÉ. In the past two weeks, the organization provided nearly $62,000 in “field canvass” and printing costs.
Sandra Wechsler, campaign manager for Pre-K for Santa Fe, asserted that “Big Soda” is trying to masquerade as a local effort and spending its money to spread disinformation and lies.
“The contrast between the two campaigns couldn’t be more clear,” she said in an email. “Ours is a homegrown campaign ensuring Pre-K for all 3- and 4-year olds alongside the New Mexico Pediatric Society, the American Health Association, the [Santa Fe chapter of the] Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and over 150 other local organizations and businesses. ‘Better Way’ is representing Big Soda and the American Beverage Association, not families in Santa Fe.”
The next reporting deadline is April 25.