[Email from Daniel Graney to Texas Stonewall Democratic Caucus members] Page: 1 of 6
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IMPORTANT INFORMATION ON ANONYMOUS CONTRIBUTIONS
From: Daniel Graney <dcgraney@yahoo.com>
To: Mark Spencer <markspencer78213@yahoo.com>; jlaverriere@hotmail.com; redjk@hotmail.com;
mmccue25@hotmail.com; pingley@gmail.com; dave@wozco.com; pgandy99@aol.com; E.B. Allen
<hsyd.treasurer@houstonstonewallyd.org>; gwruppert@aol.com; henryrd@sbcglobal.net; Mike Agan
<majtx@aol.com>; J. Lynne Armstrong <gtcsa-1@earthlink.net>; Rich Bailey <richgbailey@sbcglobal.net>; Scott
Bellen <dsbellen@yahoo.com>; Matt Burckhalter <mburckhalter@gmail.com>; Andrew Caves
<andrewcaves@sbcglobal.net>; Allen J Daniels <allenjdaniels@aim.com>; Roberto J. Flores
<seeyuthere@yahoo.com>; Travis Gasper <travisgasper@gmail.com>; Kaye Gooch <kgooch2@sbcglobal.net>:
Daniel Graney <dcgraney@yahoo.com>; Olga Hernandez <omhdz@earthlink.net>; David Lumber
<dlumber@guerra-moore.com>; Eloy Machuca <emachucal@verizon.net>; John McClelland
<johntarheel76@gmail.com>; Phillip McNutt <phillipmcnutt@democracyforhouston.org>; Erin Moore
<erinmoore@aol.com>; Karl-Thomas Musselman <karItm@gmail.com>; Jay Narey <jaynarey@swbell.net>; Shaun
Nelson <vp.political@houstonstonewallyd.org>; Eli Olivarez <eli@ideodesign.com>; James E Oxford
<jameseoxford@yahoo.com>; Natalie Pennington <nataliepennington78@hotmail.com>; Brandon Webb
<hsyd. president@houstonstonewallyd.org>
Subject: IMPORTANT INFORMATION ON ANONYMOUS CONTRIBUTIONS
Date: Wed, Jul 29, 2009 12:41 pm
Dear Members of the TSDC Executive Board and Campaign Treasurers of local Stonewall
Democrats Clubs:
I have important information to share with you regarding the acceptance of "anonymous" small
cash donations at meetings and events. Some of you may already be in compliance with this,
but I am sharing this information because we all need to be on the same page regarding this
topic.
I attended the County Chairs Association meeting in San Antonio this past Saturday and sat in
on Jane Hedgepeth's presentation on campaign finance reporting requirements. For those of
* you who don't know Jane, she does Texas and Federal campaign finance consulting and
training for the Texas Democratic Party and affiliated organizations. She is not an attorney,
but she is extremely knowledgeable and she taught me something that caught me unawares.
Texas campaign finance laws frown on so-called "anonymous" donations such as cash
donations that are collected by "passing the hat" at meetings or at convention booths. Some of
our clubs may "pass the hat" at monthly meetings, where attendees are asked to drop in a
dollar or $5 or more. The TSDC has handed out credential holders and lanyards at the Texas
Democratic Convention for $5 donations and gives out merchandise and other "shrum" at our
convention booth for cash donations. Both of these practices must be avoided unless we also
document somehow the name of each contributor, address and occupation with the amount of
each contribution. The reason for this is that the Texas Ethics Commission requires that each
contributor who contributes in the aggregate of $50 or more (or $100 or more depending on
the balance in your account) during each reporting period (generally every 6 months) must be
reported by name, address and occupation. For example, you have a member who pays his
or her $35 dues in January and then makes another donation of $15 in March and then throws
in a $5 dollar bill into a collection basket at an April meeting has already exceeded the $50
aggregate reporting requirement.
I am copying and pasting below an e-mail I received from Jane Hedgepeth in reply to my
inquiry about this matter. Please read this carefully and take steps immediately to bring your
club into compliance. I attended the Tarrant County Stonewall Democrats meeting this month
and encouraged a "pass the hat" since there were so many people in the room. $205 was
* collected in cash, but I was wrong to recommend that. Contribution envelopes or a sign-up
sheet should have been provided so that each contribution, no matter how small, was
documented. I know it sounds like a "pain in the ass", but there is really no way of being ablehttp://webmail.aol.com/44148/aim/en-us/mail/PrintMessage.aspx
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8/25/2009
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[Email from Daniel Graney to Texas Stonewall Democratic Caucus members], letter, July 29, 2009; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1451764/m1/1/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.