Last session, State House and Senate Democrats passed legislation to prohibit lobbyists giving money to candidates; then, in a political flim-flam, they proclaimed they’d cleaned up the ‘pay to play’ scandal. The Democrats eliminated the, say, 5% of the money lobbyists, personally, give them. But left in place the 95% lobbyists raise for them (mostly from their clients).

Republican State Senators have now staked out their agenda and at the top of the list are reforms that will really help end the ‘pay to play’ scandals. Specifically, Republicans prohibit lobbyists raising campaign contributions for legislators – which drives a spike through the heart of ‘pay to play.’ (It will also cost Democratic legislators hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions, so expect them to fight it tooth and toenail.)

The Republicans also called for full disclosure of contributions to legislators’ legal defense funds. (It says a lot about the state of affairs in Raleigh that such funds have become political necessities). Of course, the leading Democrat with a legal defense fund is House Speaker Jim Black. In theory, Black can now raise a million dollars and never tell anyone where the money came from. It could come from video poker operators. Or lottery vendors. Or businesses with state contracts. No one would ever know. The conflicts of interest would never be exposed.

In addition, Republicans challenged Democrats on three issues: Passing legislation to discourage illegal immigration, making English the official language in North Carolina, and passing a constitutional amendment to define marriage as being between one man and one woman.

The good news for Republicans if their Senate leaders have laid out a strong agenda going into the election. The bad news, unfortunately, is the Democrats used redistricting to create so many safe seats for their incumbents that only five of the fifty Senate races are competitive. And, in those five races, Democrats enjoy a huge financial advantage, in no small part due to ‘pay to play.’ The Republicans will be outspent four or five to one.

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