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. Greater Carolina spokesman Jonathan Felts said Friday the nonprofit follows the law, but he did not provide requested details about the group’s activities.
”Contrary to the allegations made by a partisan-left-wing-extremist-political-organization, Greater Carolina Inc. has and will continue to operate in accordance with all laws and rules that govern these types of organizations,” he wrote in a statement. Undisclosed donors Since 2021, Greater Carolina’s tax returns show it has raised more than $1.
5 million and spent more than $1.2 million without its sole director reporting any hours spent working for the organization, according to the returns on file in . Some groups with 501(c)(4) status are described as “dark money” political groups that seek to benefit political candidates but are not supposed to be working in conjunction with them.
That’s because they can accept unlimited donations and do not have to disclose their donors. Greater Carolina’s website includes a link to make donations, but the nonprofit has not registered as a charitable organization, the complaint said. The nonprofit lists a P.
O. Box in Mooresville for an address. Blair Reeves, executive director of Carolina Forward, a nonprofit supporting progressive causes, filed the complaint Thursday.
He gave The News & Observer a copy after the N.C. Secretary of State’s office declined to release the complaint before reviewing it for possible redactions.
His complaint is also being filed with the Internal Revenue Service, State Ethics Commission and state Legislative Ethics Committee. State law requires the state agencies handling lobbying complaints to keep them secret until investigations are complete. The complaint said Marsh was an early fundraising contact for Greater Carolina, and since 2023 has represented three gaming companies as a lobbyist.
Wilkinson invited lawmakers to the distillery trip and Peck was listed on a payment record from a distillery, the complaint said. None could be immediately reached for comment. The N&O also unsuccessfully reached out to several lawmakers named in the complaint as beneficiaries of Greater Carolina’s activities.
Saine, first elected to the House in 2011, is a top budget writer and led the effort to legalize sports betting, which became law last year. He also serves on the House Alcoholic Beverage Control Committee. He announced he is effective Aug.
12, and may become a lobbyist. Distillery Trip, Tailgate Party Greater Carolina played a role in promoting gaming by paying for a market analysis and survey that are on its website and “demonstrate a positive endorsement on the gambling industry and its purported effects on the North Carolina economy,” the complaint said. It’s held various “luxury” events benefiting lawmakers, the complaint said, including the distillery trip that drew criticism after a social media post in April said that a group of 33 people from North Carolina, including legislators and government officials, arrived at a distillery visibly inebriated and disruptive.
Saine at first declined to talk about the anonymous Reddit post, but when reporters obtained an invitation he confirmed the trip. He and Felts, a spokesman for Greater Carolina, disputed that the group behaved badly. In the news release in late April acknowledging Greater Carolina hosted the trip as a fundraiser, the group said that it “hosts events throughout the year to educate interested parties about ongoing public policy debates.
And, like all similar organizations, Greater Carolina also hosts fundraising events throughout the year.” The invitation listed state party Republican Finance Director Sarah Newby as the contact. She is the daughter of state Supreme Court Chief Justice Paul Newby.
Democratic House and Senate leaders said they were not invited to the trip. The complaint also cited a Greater Carolina tailgate party at an Appalachian State University football game in 2021, which was by WRAL. The invitation solicited donations up to $10,000 and specifically mentioned that lobbyists could donate.
Top spenders would gain access to a suite with Saine and several other Republican lawmakers in the House and Senate, the invitation said, according to the WRAL article referenced in the complaint. The listed sponsor was Spevco, a company that provides vehicles for special events. Wilkinson had been a lobbyist for the company since 2021, but resigned on April 23.
He also resigned as a lobbyist for Aristocrat Technologies, a gaming company, on that day. The complaint said “the promotion of the football tailgate event demonstrates an apparent admission that Greater Carolina raises money by selling access to state legislators.” The complaint said none of the lawmakers have disclosed the suite access in their annual statements of economic interest.
Greater Carolina held the “inaugural” “Kentucky Bourbon and Churchill Downs” trip at the Omni Hotel in Louisville on April 25 to 27, according to an invitation The N&O obtained. It showed Wilkinson had sent it. Wilkinson and Greater Carolina should have disclosed his actions under the state’s lobbying laws, the complaint says.
Diageo, a London-based alcoholic beverage company, covered “in whole or in part” the distillery trip, the complaint said, but the company’s lobbyists and Greater Carolina have not reported any lobbying ties. The complaint includes receipts from the Stitzel-Weller Distillery in Louisville that show purchases by Riemer, Peck, and Newby, as well as Republican state Reps. Kyle Hall and David Willis.
Hall is a top budget writer and Willis serves on the alcoholic beverage committee. Neither could be reached. Riemer’s lobbying clients include two gaming companies – Rush Street Gaming and the Sports Betting Alliance – and the North Carolina Spirits Association.
Peck hasn’t registered as a lobbyist since 2015, when he worked for Cree, which is now Wolfspeed. Riemer and Peck and Greater Carolina have not reported lobbying ties..
