Democrats’ Dark Money Bypass Laws to Ensure House Attendance

Concord, NH – House Majority Leader Jason Osborne (R-Auburn) released the following statement after a Democrat-leaning, and unregistered, lobbyist organization offered to pay travel expenses for Democrat members to attend House session on May 18th.

“I am outraged that an unregistered Democrat lobbying organization would offer to fund travel expenses for a legislator in order to influence the outcome of a vote. The ease at which this was offered leads us to believe that offers like Jakows’s seem to be the norm on the other side of the aisle. This is not the first time we have heard of the possibility of life expenses being paid to members in order to ensure they are available to vote, and potentially influence their vote. This is an example of Washington-style politics at its worst and does not represent Granite State values”

“It is not lost on me that this comes ahead of an important session day where the House will take up the Parental Bill of Rights. The ferocity with which these Leftist dark money groups will bypass ethics and the law to prevent parents from knowing what happens to their children in public schools should be a concern to us all.”

“I hope Representative Vogt enjoys the remainder of his vacation.”

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Background: The now deleted Tweet is included below from Linds Jakows, a founder of the unregistered lobbying organization 603 Equality, offering to pay travel expenses for Rep. Robin Vogt (D- Portsmouth.)

Pursuant to RSA 14-C:3

1. It shall be unlawful to knowingly give any gift as defined in this chapter, directly or indirectly, to any legislator or legislative employee.

“Gift” is defined in RSA 14-C:2 as:

1. (a) ” Gift ” means:

(1) Money in any amount, whether in the form of cash, check, or any other negotiable or non-negotiable instrumentality for the transfer of money.

(2) Any other tangible thing, intangible thing, service, or the use thereof having an individual value of greater than $50. For purposes of this section, “service” shall not include acceptance of legal services on an individual basis when the legislator enters into an attorney-client relationship with the attorney for the purposes of addressing a complaint or petition if the attorney is not a registered lobbyist.