This story is the first in an occasional series by the New England Center for Investigative Reporting and WGBH-News.
This July, Republican Governor Charlie Baker vetoed $37.4 million in what are called earmarks – special amendments to the budget by legislators for particular projects and organizations they want to see funded.
Earmarks are a small part – less than 1 percent – of the state's almost $38 billion* budget, and no one on Beacon Hill was surprised when the Democrat-dominated legislature easily overturned all but a few of the governor’s vetoes.
Some of the organizations receiving that money, though, appeared to have barely met, or failed to meet, basic financial reporting requirements, a review by WGBH-News and the New England Center for Investigative Reporting found.
Earmarks are a time-honored way for legislators to favor their districts. But they also circumvent the state’s normal contracting and procurement procedures and can be subject to little internal vetting.
Take, for example an earmark, sponsored by state Sen. Anthony Petruccelli, authorizing $75,000 for a “job readiness program” at East Boston High School, to be implemented by the National Youth Development Council.
What exactly the program consists of – and who, exactly, will be implementing it, are less than clear.
Contacted by phone, East Boston High School headmaster Phillip Brangiforte was aware that funds had been approved, but didn’t know exactly what the program was or whether it would be implemented. After that conversation, Brangiforte did not return another call seeking clarification.
Explanations from Richard T. Smith, president of the National Youth Development Council, named in the earmark to run the $75,000 program were even less clear: In an interview with NECIR-WGBH-News, Smith claimed the program would not, in fact, take place at East Boston High, but he couldn’t say where it would take place, and declined to give details about what the program would consist of. Smith, who claims his program has been utilized in schools “all over the country,” declined to provide any examples, saying the information was “confidential.”
Smith represents himself on the organization’s website as a veteran who served two tours of duty as a United States Army pathfinder, as well as the “former news director of the United Nations New World News Network,” though nothing by that name could be found online.
The group’s website, until recently, listed WCVB television reporter Rhondella Richardson as the board of directors chairperson — but Richardson, in an email, says she has not spoken with Smith in years and had asked to be removed from the website and any paperwork. Attorney Charles Devine, listed as the group’s “legal counsel,” said in a phone call that he had helped Smith incorporate several years ago but hadn’t spoken with him in at least several years. Financial planner Michael Finer, listed as treasurer on the group's website and in corporate filings, says he did help Smith incorporate years ago but had not been in contact for several years and didn't know he was still listed as treasurer. Brenda Jones, listed as contact person for the organization, declined to speak to us on the phone.
Introducing @MassBudgetBot, a Twitter Bot tweeting earmarks from the 2016 Massachusetts budget for NECIR and WGBH News:
Tweets by @MassBudgetBot
In response to further inquiries, Smith said he was “not looking for questions” and that someone from his organization would provide an email address for further correspondence, though none was later provided.
Despite claiming tax-exempt 501(c)3 nonprofit status, the organization has neither registered nor filed annual reports with the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office, as generally required of nonprofit charities.
And documents submitted to the Massachusetts Secretary of State show that Smith submitted four years of required annual reports on a single day last March, just before the amendment to fund his organization was introduced.
Sen. Petruccelli’s office acknowledged the senator’s support but did not address questions about the organization itself.
The Attorney General’s office, responding to WGBH-News and NECIR queries, said that it is now contacting the National Youth Development Council about reporting requirements.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with earmarks, says Noah Berger, president of the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, an independent organization that provides research and analysis of state budget and tax policies.*
“Earmarks, like every other part of government, can be good, or can be bad – it’s a matter of judging the merits of each individual one,” said Berger. “The important thing about earmarks is that they should be subject to the same standards as everything else.”
But often, they aren’t.
Another earmark in the 2016 budget: $30,000 to fund a health awareness and diabetes prevention program in Springfield, to be implemented by “COGIC Family Services, Inc.”
The organization shares an address, and indeed the same phone number as the Spring of Hope Church of God in Christ (COGIC) in Springfield – raising the potential question of whether it crosses the fine line in the Massachusetts constitution prohibiting public funding of religious institutions.
Bishop Talbert Swan II is pastor of the church and also CEO of COGIC Family Services, Inc., as well as president of the Greater Springfield NAACP and the nephew of state Rep. Benjamin Swan, in whose district the church is located.
Bishop Swan says the programs are separate, and that the earmarked organization – COGIC Family Services, Inc. – is a tax-exempt nonprofit organization.
But it isn’t registered as a charity with the state attorney general’s office, nor listed as a tax-exempt organization by the IRS. A separate organization with an almost identical name, “COGIC Family Services Corp.” – which also lists Swan as its CEO – had its nonprofit status revoked last year.
And while COGIC Family Services Inc. has filed annual reports with the Secretary of State – the only paperwork generally vetted by Senate Ways and Means committee staff – it filed the last three years’ worth of reports on Aug. 24 and 25 – after the organization was contacted with questions for this report.
Bishop Swan did not return an email asking for clarification of the organization’s nonprofit status.
State Sen. James Welch, the Springfield Democrat who sponsored the earmark, said by phone that he understood the organization to be separate from the church, and that he thought Bishop Swan’s program deserved funding.
The state does fund social service organizations tied to religious organizations; Catholic Charities, for example, performs a wide variety of services with state aid. Those organizations typically are required to maintain a clear delineation between their religious and nonprofit services.
The Massachusetts Attorney General’s office is looking into whether the organization should have registered with its office as a charity, said a spokesperson.
Corrections
* Aug. 31, 2015: The story originally misstated the amount of the Massachusetts budget. It is $38 billion.
* Sept. 1, 2015: The story originally misstated Noah Berger’s place of employment. He is the president of the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center.