Image Credit: Sen. Rusty Crowe / Facebook & Canva
The Tennessee Conservative [By Olivia Lupia] –
A political organization responsible for roughly a half million dollars in attack ads against Republican State Senator Rusty Crowe over his support for a bill disallowing pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) to also own pharmacies in Tennessee is now officially subject of an ethics complaint.
Filed on Crowe’s behalf by Republican Caucus Chair Sen. Ken Yager, the complaint asks the Tennessee Registry of Election Finance (TREF) to investigate an organization called “Shaping Health Initiatives for Tomorrow” (SHIFT), alleging they spent an estimated $500,000 on the ads without filing any paperwork with the state.
The complaint says the ads were run in the Nashville, Knoxville, Tri-Cities, and Jackson media markets and claimed SB2040, which passed both chambers of the General Assembly and is set to become Tennessee law, is contrary to President Trump’s federal efforts to lower prescription drug prices.
Reportedly, the ads urged Crowe and other Republican senators, who also have primary opponents, to vote against the bill.
According to Bill Young, who directs the state’s Bureau of Ethics and its Campaign Finance Ethics Committee, complaints about “dark money” political spending are on the rise.
“We are concerned here at the bureau, both the Registry Board and the ethics commission, about folks bringing money into the state to be used to support or oppose candidates and there’s not transparency about who it’s coming from,” Young said.
He also noted that it is becoming increasingly difficult to trace who is funding political communication as the organizations are using loopholes to skirt reporting requirements, including non-profits like 501(C)3s and (C)4s which are not required to disclose their individual donors and are injecting large dollar amounts into political action committees (PACs) to buy ads.
Per Yager’s complaint, Oklahoma-based Shift has failed to file quarterly campaign financial disclosure reports and register its political treasurer and officers, a violation of campaign finance law for a PAC which spends more than $1,000 to support or oppose a measure or candidate. It also requests TREF “assess appropriate civil penalties” for each violation by SHIFT of the requirement to report its spending.
Young relayed that TREF will discuss their options for the case at their May 12 meeting, including ordering an audit or an investigation or setting the matter for a show-cause hearing which legally requires both parties in the complaint to appear.
But as SHIFT apparently has no physical address on its website and has been unresponsive to communications from the sole email address listed, Young also thinks TREF may ask the Tennessee Attorney General to investigate given the complexity of the matter.
Conservative advocacy group Tennessee Stands is facing a similar situation, filing their own ethics complaint after a secretive PAC based in Washington, D.C., appeared to be impersonating the organization and sending deceptive political mailers and texts to Tennessee voters.
Tennessee Stands announced their complaint submission in a press release last week calling for a full investigation, including coordination with the Sullivan County District Attorney. “Tennessee Stands looks forward to working with state and local authorities to ensure accountability and to protect voters from deceptive and potentially unlawful election activity,” said Executive Director Anne Lowrey.
About the Author: Olivia Lupia is a political refugee from Colorado who now calls Tennessee home. A proud follower of Christ, she views all political happenings through a Biblical lens and aims to utilize her knowledge and experience to educate and equip others. Olivia is an outspoken conservative who has run for local office, managed campaigns, and been highly involved with state & local GOPs, state legislatures, and other grassroots organizations and movements. Olivia can be reached at olivia@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
