Healthy Skepticism Library item: 15190

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Publication type: news

Burr T.
Drugmakers' donations to Hatch charity raise eyebrows
The Salt Lake Tribune 2009 Mar 3
http://www.sltrib.com/ci_11819223?IADID=Search-www.sltrib.com-www.sltrib.com

Abstract:

Accidental discovery » Report wasn’t public, but IRS released it anyway.

Full text:

Pharmaceutical companies in 2007 donated more than $170,000 to a Utah charity founded by Orrin Hatch as the Republican senator was working on issues affecting the industry.
The disclosure, which came in an errantly released tax form, reveals the depths to which companies lobbying Congress can go beyond campaign contributions to influence powerful politicians.
Hatch created the Utah Families Foundation in 1990 and hosts annual fundraisers to boost its coffers, which benefit a cross section of Utah groups. The foundation’s board of directors includes Hatch’s campaign manager, Dave Hansen, and a load of other Beehive State politicos.
In 2007 — as pharmaceutical groups were lobbying for legislation, including measures that would “preserve crucial incentives” to research and create drugs — five medical and drug companies and the trade-group Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) forked over $172,500 to the charity.
Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which first discovered that the Internal Revenue Service inadvertently released the form showing the donations, says the drug companies chose the Utah senator’s foundation on purpose.
“People max out their contributions to the member of Congress [and] this is another way to develop a stronger relationship with a member by donating to their charity,” Sloan says.
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Even worse, she adds, “This isn’t public, there’s no disclosure. It’s just an accident that we know the drug companies were giving to the Hatch foundation. … It’s clear the companies are doing it because of the congressional relationship.”
Hatch, a senior GOP member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Related Agencies Committee, has made a Capitol Hill career of working on medical issues. And the pharmaceutical industry is his biggest contributor, donating more than $1.25 million to him since 1989, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
For his part, Hatch sees nothing wrong with the donations to the charity group: “Giving to worthwhile causes is something to be celebrated.”
“Everyone who knows me can attest that I simply do what I believe is right for our state and nation, regardless of who supports me,” Hatch added in a statement. “If a company or organization decides to support the Utah Families Foundation and its wonderful mission of helping so many in need, that’s great. The only benefit I receive is the knowledge that even more people will be helped.”
Hatch’s office did not respond to a question of whether the senator was aware of the donations in 2007 or whether he considers it a conflict for his son’s firm to lobby him.
In 2007, the firm Walker, Martin & Hatch LLC, which includes Hatch’s son Scott as a partner, accepted $120,000 from PhRMA and $135,000 from the medical company GlaxoSmithKline.
Laird Walker, a partner in the firm with Scott Hatch, says there is no conflict with the senator because Scott Hatch doesn’t lobby or talk business with his father.
“From the day we organized ourselves, Scott hasn’t lobbied his father,” Walker says. “We go in on the merits of our arguments and try to make our case. We’ve been successful, and we’ve been unsuccessful in some cases.”
Sloan argues a conflict still exists — even if Scott Hatch isn’t the one lobbying his father.
“It’s clear that it benefits his firm,” Sloan says. “Obviously, Mister Hatch is going to listen closely to his son’s firm even if it isn’t his son he’s meeting with.”
Hatch has earned praise for his efforts to raise cash for the Utah Families Foundation, and he touted his participation with the charity in 2006 when up for re-election.
The foundation in 2007 donated money to a variety of groups in the state, ranging from the Caring Foundation and the Cancer Wellness House to the Sharing Place and the Utah Food Bank.