LITTLE ROCK — While leading the Arkansas Senate, former Sen. Michael Lamoureux received $120,000 in consulting fees from a political nonprofit that was largely funded by some of the state’s top lobbying firms and their clients, according to tax documents obtained by The Associated Press.
Lamoureux – now the governor’s chief of staff – received the money through his law firm from the Arkansas Faith and Freedom Coalition in 2013. Tax documents show the group took in a total $141,000 in donations that year, and a member of its board of directors said Lamoureux was responsible for raising the money.
More: See tax documents from the coalition here (PDF).
At the time, Lamoureux held the powerful position of the Arkansas Senate’s president pro tempore and often dealt with lobbyists seeking his help. The position paid about $17,800 a year.
The Arkansas Faith and Freedom Coalition’s mission statement describes the conservative group as dedicated to educating residents about their right to vote. But tax documents show that, unlike in previous years, the group spent no money on research, advertising or candidate promotion in 2013. The remaining expenditures after Lamoureux’s consulting fee was about $14,000 for rent, payroll taxes, a convention fee and other small expenses.
Lamoureux declined repeated requests from the AP for comment about his work with the group, as did Marvin Parks, the former lawmaker who signed the nonprofit’s tax documents. Parks, who wasn’t paid by the Arkansas Faith and Freedom Coalition, said the organization was recently dissolved.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s spokesman, J.R. Davis, said Lamoureux’s association with the group “ended long before he came to work for this administration.” Lamoureux resigned from the Senate in November 2014 to join Hutchinson’s administration.
Legislators are required to report their sources of income, investments or other employers to the state on documents known as Statements of Financial Interest. Lawmakers aren’t required to list their specific clients for professions such as lawyers, but they must check a box indicating whether their businesses made more or less than $12,500. Lamoureux noted on his 2013 form that he made more than $12,500 from his law firm, which lists him as the only attorney.
Graham Sloan, executive director of the Arkansas Ethics Commission, said he was barred by state law from saying whether the commission was investigating.
Sloan noted that if legislators were paid through their businesses as a consultant, the Ethics Commission would look at whether that income was earned for services provided by that business or were for an outside purpose. If the services were for an outside purpose, they would need to be reported differently on the lawmakers’ financial forms, he said.
The rules of conduct passed by the Senate for the 2013 session explicitly prohibit senators from discussing or voting on issues that “will specifically relate to a business which employs the senator or in which he or she receives compensation as an attorney or consultant.”
If a senator has a financial conflict or financial interest in any legislation, he or she must file a letter in the Senate Journal, a daily record of Senate proceedings. No such notices turned up from Lamoureux in a search of the 2013 journal; Secretary of the Senate Ann Cornwell said she couldn’t recall him filing any letters.
The Arkansas Faith and Freedom Coalition’s former executive director, Gilbert Baker, asked the group’s board to hire Lamoureux to take over his duties when he left the group in 2012, said Rep. Donnie Copeland, who is listed as the board chairman or executive director in different tax years.
Baker, a former state senator and lobbyist, said Lamoureux “was going to be raising money, handling a lot of, maybe some of the legal work,” said Copeland.
Copeland added that the board wasn’t active in the group’s day-to-day operations.
Baker, who was also a senator when he worked with the group, did not return multiple phone calls for comment.
Tax documents show Baker raised more than $225,000 for the group in 2011 and again in 2012. The group spent more than $200,000 on advertising and promotion in 2012, an election year, and nearly $23,000 in 2011.
Baker’s salary equaled about half of the consulting fee Lamoureux was paid, according to tax forms, which require that nonprofits identify any consultant they pay more than $100,000.
In 2013, when Lamoureux took over, lobbying groups and their clients were the largest donors.
Two cigarette company groups – represented by MEJ Consulting, which lists Baker as one of its two lobbyists, and lobbying firm Mullenix and Associates – contributed a combined $60,000, while DBH Management contributed $30,000. Michael Morton, who owns numerous nursing homes and often contributes to political campaigns, and Reliance Healthcare, which has donated to several judicial candidates, each contributed $12,500.
Julie Mullenix, a partner in Mullenix and Associates, said her group gave money one year and that its clients, including cigarette group Altria, often contribute to similar organizations.
“This was a group that was identified as a campaign fundraising group. They were doing third-party advertising and promotion of candidates,” Mullenix told the AP. “Other than the contribution to the group, we had no connection to the group. We would not be privy to the other contributors or expenses.”
Morton’s spokesman, Matt DeCample, confirmed that Morton donated to the group but declined to say who solicited the money. Bruce Hawkins, who runs DBH Management, didn’t return requests for comment. A representative of Reliance Healthcare did not immediately return a message seeking comment Wednesday.
Arkansas’ campaign finance laws from 2013 capped contributions to candidates from lobbyists and individuals at $2,000 per person, per election. The law has since changed to cap the amount at $2,700, but more strictly defines who may give to campaigns so individuals in a lobbying firm could contribute, but not the firm itself.
(Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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