This story was produced as part of the Colorado Capitol News Alliance. It first appeared at coloradosun.com.
Ethics complaints were filed Wednesday against several Democratic state lawmakers alleging they violated Colorado’s prohibition on elected officials receiving gifts when they attended a retreat last month in Vail where they mingled with lobbyists at a ritzy hotel.
The complaints were filed by Colorado Common Cause, a liberal-leaning nonprofit that advocates for an open government. They were submitted to Colorado’s Independent Ethics Commission, which is charged with reviewing allegations of violations of the state’s 20-year-old gift ban.
The Colorado Sun first reported that at least 17 Democratic state lawmakers gathered with lobbyists during the Oct. 4 weekend for a retreat at a Vail hotel organized by the nonprofit Colorado Opportunity Caucus. The caucus is made up of Democratic state representatives and senators who are considered to be among the party’s more moderate wing at the Colorado Capitol.
One Main Street Colorado, another nonprofit that is affiliated with the Colorado Opportunity Caucus, spent $25,000 to cover the cost of a room block for the retreat. One Main Street, which doesn’t disclose its donors and is what The Sun refers to as a dark money group, has spent large sums supporting more moderate candidates in Democratic state legislative primaries.
The Colorado Opportunity Caucus also does not disclose its donors.
A copy of one of the complaints provided to The Sun asks the Independent Ethics Commission to investigate if the Democratic lawmakers who attended the retreat violated the state’s gift ban by having their lodging paid for by One Main Street. The complaints also allege One Main Street paid for legislators’ food and beverages. The complaints ask the commission, if it determines that the gift ban was violated, to order that lawmakers who attended the event reimburse or return any gifts they should not have received and that penalties be imposed.
The allegations are filed under Amendment 41 to the Colorado Constitution, approved by voters in 2006. The amendment, known as the gift ban, changed the state constitution to say a lawmaker who is a scheduled speaker or participant at an event is allowed to have a nonprofit organization pay for their “reasonable expenses,” but only if the nonprofit receives less than 5% of its funding from for-profit organizations.
The complaints allege that since One Main Street does not disclose its donors, none of the lawmakers who attended the Vail event could ensure that only 5% of the group’s funding is from for-profit organizations.
The complaints argue that even if One Main Street gave money to the Opportunity Caucus to cover the costs of the event, that’s not allowed.
“The gift ban applies no less when an intermediary launders funds that impermissibly buy covered ‘things of value’ for legislators,” the complaints say.
State Sen. Lindsey Daugherty, an Arvada Democrat and chair of the Opportunity Caucus, said in a written statement on behalf of the caucus that the group has operated under legal guidance since its creation.
“We know we acted in full compliance with the law,” she said. “The state Ethics Commission has to perform their due diligence and when they do, we are confident the complaint will be dismissed as the political theater it is.”
Daugherty said the caucus “has been the target of coordinated attacks for following the standards and laws that have been in place for years.”
“Make no mistake, these are the exact same standards and laws that have been followed by every other legislative caucus. The people who oppose our focus on affordability and jobs with good pay — the basic kitchen-table issues facing Colorado families — will do anything to stop us,” she said.
Scott Moss, an attorney representing Common Cause in the matter, said the complaints will be filed Wednesday and Thursday against all but one of the Democratic lawmakers who attended the retreat.
Sen. Dylan Roberts, who attended the Opportunity Caucus gathering, did not stay at the Vail hotel where the retreat was held — because he lives in nearby Frisco — and therefore Common Cause doesn’t feel he violated the state’s gift ban.
Daugherty previously told The Sun that the lodging, food and beverage expenses of the lawmakers who attended the retreat were paid for by the Opportunity Caucus. She said the caucus followed all state ethics and campaign finance laws and that the group had an attorney present at the gathering to ensure participants followed Amendment 41
She said the lobbyists who attended were part of the “educational component of the retreat.”
The Democratic lawmakers who attended the retreat included Daugherty and Sens. Marc Snyder of Manitou Springs, Kyle Mullica of Thornton, Judy Amabile of Boulder, and Dafna Michaelson Jenet of Commerce City. Also there were Reps. Tisha Mauro of Pueblo, William Lindstedt of Broomfield, Michael Carter of Aurora, Jacque Phillips of Thornton, Meghan Lukens of Steamboat Springs, Matthew Martinez of Monte Vista, Katie Stewart of Durango, Sean Camacho of Denver, Rebekah Stewart of Lakewood, Karen McCormick of Longmont, and Cecelia Espenoza of Denver.
Common Cause also plans to file a complaint against state Rep. Shannon Bird, D-Wesminster, in connection with the Vail retreat. She didn’t attend the event and has not been a part of the caucus’ leadership since August, but Common Cause alleges that Bird, as a founding chair of the group, helped organize the retreat.
Eve Zhurbinskiy, Bird’s congressional campaign manager, called the complaint “baseless and dishonest.”
“Shannon Bird has not been a leader in the Opportunity Caucus since August, did not attend this event, and played zero role in planning it,” Zhurbinskiy said.
The retreat has led to a rift among Democrats at the Capitol, with those who aren’t in the Opportunity Caucus — namely more liberal Democrats in the legislature — worried the group will try to influence Democratic primaries in the way One Main Street Colorado has.
Some members of the Opportunity Caucus won their seats with the help of One Main Street’s spending.
The Opportunity Caucus is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit, giving it the ability to do political advocacy. That’s different from the legislature’s Democratic Hispanic and Black caucuses, which are 501(c)(3) nonprofits, meaning they can’t participate in political advocacy. Both of those groups shared their donor lists with The Sun when asked.
Daugherty has said the Vail event was “to talk about what the Colorado people really need action on and how to keep the state blue.”
Members of the Opportunity Caucus have sought to privately reassure their Democratic colleagues at the Capitol that they don’t plan to use their nonprofit to get involved in campaigns. They said they formed as a 501(c)(4) instead of a 501(c)(3) at the advice of advisers and to give themselves operational flexibility as a partisan — Democratic — organization.
Daugherty told The Sun that the Opportunity Caucus “will not engage in campaign activities.”
