Dirt Diggers Digest No. 43
October 15, 2003
Editor: Philip Mattera
1. Mounties launch database to fight corporate crime
2. Most state campaign finance disclosure systems not up to snuff
3. DOL releases final rules on union financial disclosure
4. New online directory of corporate social responsibility promoters
5. ECHO database is now a permanent feature of EPA website
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1. Mounties launch database to fight corporate crime
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police has launched an online
database to record complaints about corporate corruption as well
as other white collar crimes such as fraud and identity theft. The
database, called Reporting Economic Crime On-Line, or RECOL,
is being assembled by asking the public to file reports at the website
www.recol.ca. One must register in order to file a complaint. It is
not yet clear to what extent the Mounties will publicize the results
of this information-gathering system, but it seems like a useful tool
to use when engaged in a campaign against a socially irresponsible
Canadian company.
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2. Most state campaign finance disclosure systems not up to snuff
The Campaign Disclosure Project, based at the UCLA School of Law,
recently published a report <www.campaigndisclosure.org/gradingstate>
evaluating the adequacy of disclosure of campaign contribution data by
the states. Washington State's system, run by the Public Disclosure
Commission <www.pdc.wa.gov> was declared by far the best in the
country, followed by the system in Illinois. Thirty-one other states received
passing grades but none of them reached B or better. Seventeen states
received a failing grade.
Other state campaign finance disclosure news:
* The invaluable website <www.followthemoney.org> of the Institute on
Money in State Politics, which brings together data from across the
country, has been revamped.
* Data on contributions to Arnold Schwarzenegger and other major
candidates in the California recall election can now be found on the Cal-Access
website of the Secretary of State at <http://cal-access.ss.ca.gov/Campaign/>.
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3. DOL releases final rules on union financial disclosure
The U.S. Department of Labor has released final regulations concerning
the expanded financial disclosure requirements that have been imposed
on labor unions. Despite strong resistance from unions, the DOL is moving
ahead with plans to put the rules into effect on January 1. The final version
reduces some of functional categories that had been in the proposed rules;
for example, a union can now combine political and lobbying activities into a
single amount--a change that was criticized by the anti-union National Right
to Work Legal Defense Foundation. But unions are still unhappy with
the added disclosure requirements, which they believe will be used by
opponents to undermine labor's role in the public arena. The text of the final
rules can be found at http://www.dol.gov/esa/formsrevfinal.htm.
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4. New online directory of corporate social responsibility promoters
The Corporate Social Responsibility Newswire (CSRwire), which helps
publicize the efforts of big business to present itself in an ethical light, has
created an online directory <www.csrwire.com/directory/> of some 700
organizations involved in the field. The entries, which cover corporations as
well as non-profits, contain listings of key individuals and contact information.
A search screen allows one to search by name or geographic location.
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5. ECHO database is now a permanent feature of EPA website
We should have mentioned this when it happened in August, but it is still
worth noting that the Enforcement & Compliance History Online database
is now a permanent feature of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
website. Echo -- which can be found at www.epa.gov/echo -- represents
the first time the EPA has made extensive data on corporate environmental
compliance (or lack thereof) easily available to the public.
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Philip Mattera
Director of the Corporate Research Project
Good Jobs First