Cash and carry in Texas
In Texas, public officials may accept gifts of money as long as they disclose who it came from. They do not, however, have to say how much. So says the Texas Ethics Commission, ruling in the case of an official who reported receiving $100,000 from the state's most generous political donor, a Houston homebuilder named Bob Perry....Needless to say, the ethics commission's ruling created a sensation in Texas. Ronnie Earle, the district attorney prosecuting Mr. DeLay, noted that the interpretation could allow a public official to report receiving a wheelbarrow, "without reporting that the wheelbarrow was filled with cash."

Cash and carry in Texas
Thursday, December 21, 2006

FROM the political culture that spawned George W. Bush comes an audacious legal interpretation that could start a gold rush of sorts in the Lone Star State.

In Texas, public officials may accept gifts of money as long as they disclose who it came from. They do not, however, have to say how much.

So says the Texas Ethics Commission, ruling in the case of an official who reported receiving $100,000 from the state's most generous political donor, a Houston homebuilder named Bob Perry.

The money went to Bill Ceverha, a member of the Employees Retirement System of Texas, who reported the gift on his state financial disclosure form simply as a "check" but did not include the amount.

A watchdog group called Texans for Public Justice filed a complaint nearly a year ago and last week the ethics commission made its decision. Because of vague wording in the law, the panel said, the amount of a money gift need not be disclosed as long as it is either "check" or "currency."

It turns out that Mr. Perry's gift was intended to help Mr. Ceverha out of a financial jam: defending himself against a civil suit that arose in connection with his role as treasurer of a political action committee created by Tom DeLay, the former House majority leader who was forced to resign and is under indictment for alleged wrongdoing in a Texas redistricting case.

The giver, Mr. Perry, is known outside Texas as the Republican who bankrolled the "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth" TV ads that bedeviled Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry in 2004. Not so coincidentally, he also was the largest contributor to the DeLay PAC.

Needless to say, the ethics commission's ruling created a sensation in Texas. Ronnie Earle, the district attorney prosecuting Mr. DeLay, noted that the interpretation could allow a public official to report receiving a wheelbarrow, "without reporting that the wheelbarrow was filled with cash."

In that case, such a transaction could be named for what it really is: cash and carry.

http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2006612210302