Lobbying group forced to reveal donors: Mayor Bloomberg gives $200K in support of Idaho ed reform
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He made his billions providing financial-data services. As mayor of the largest city in the country, he took on soda pop. And now – for his next feat – Michael Bloomberg’s buying votes in Idaho. Video by IdahoOnYourSide.com
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He made his billions providing financial-data services. As mayor of the largest city in the country, he took on soda pop. And now – for his next feat – Michael Bloomberg’s buying votes in Idaho.
Gotham’s mayor donated hundreds of thousands of dollars ($200K) to a non-profit supporting Idaho’s education reform laws. So too did the grandson of the grocery store mogul Joe Albertson ($250K).
Idaho Secretary of State Ben Ysursa forced Education Voters of Idaho to disclose those two names and dozens of others, who all together raised a total of $636,160.
That sum brought the Vote Yes-money to an estimated more than $1.7 million – still nearly $1 million behind the money raised for the Vote No campaign.
Many of those dollars – now on both sides – arrived from out of state: nearly 40 percent for Yes (approximately $638,890) and more than 80 percent for No (an estimated $2.1 million).
Wisconsin classrooms stole the national spotlight last year. But in 2012, with more than $4 million lobbying dollars vying for your vote, it seems Idaho has officially joined the education-reform discussion in this country. And Gem State voters and spenders apparently aren’t the only ones invested in the result.
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