A powerful state lawmaker and a self-described free-market group violated state lobbying, ethics and charitable solicitation laws, the leader of a progressive group says in a complaint filed with the N.C. Secretary of State.
The complaint comes three months after Greater Carolina confirmed that it hosted North Carolina legislators on a in Kentucky where participants were accused of being drunk and disorderly. The complaint says the group is actually a “lobbying front,” providing gambling-industry officials and their lobbyists access to state lawmakers for what it calls “development events,” and using its status as a social welfare group known in the federal tax code as a 501(c)(4) organization to avoid disclosure. The complaint also says that Greater Carolina violated the state’s ban on gifts to public officials, and that it is not disclosing its relationships with lobbyists involved in its events.
It has not reported hiring any lobbyists to state officials. Greater Carolina was formed in 2018 by a former legislative aide to Rep. Jason Saine, a Lincolnton Republican and a top budget writer.
On its , it calls itself a “coalition of forward thinking, pro free-market conservative leaders from across North Carolina dedicated to ensuring a strong economic future for ALL of North Carolina.” Organizations with tax-exempt 501(c)(4) status “must not be organized for profit and must be operated exclusively to promote social welfare,” according to federal rules. Greate.