Toxic Exposure: How Texas Chemical Council Members Pollute State Politics & the EnvironmentHome

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V. Chemical Council Political Releases 

In the last two election cycles covering 1995 through 1998, 20 political action committees (PACs) associated with the Texas Chemical Council filed Texas Ethics Commission (TEC) PAC reports. A bizarre loophole in Texas elections law exempts out-of-state PACs from having to file PAC reports in Texas unless they spend at least 20 percent of their overall expenditures in Texas.16 The PACs that did file Texas disclosure reports include 19 Chemical Council member PACs, as well as the Chemical Council’s own PAC, the Association of Chemical Industry of Texas Free Enterprise PAC (“FREEPAC”). Between 1995 and 1998, these 20 PACs reported $2.2 million in expenditures. Of this amount, more than $1 million went to current incumbent Texas legislators and statewide elected officeholders.

 

20 Chemical Council Member PACs Spend Millions, 1995-1998  
TCC-Linked PAC
Total Spending
Contributions to 
TX Incumbents
Coastal Employee Action Fund
$412,656
$263,100
Dow Chemical Co. Employees' PAC 
$216,420
$121,500
TX Amoco PAC
$115,600
$95,700
TX Chemical Council "FREEPAC"
$115,650
$95,300
Enron Corp. PAC
$423,452
$72,152
TX Phillips Petroleum Co. PAC
$79,050
$59,371
Fina Oil & Chemical Co. PAC
$105,850
$53,050
Exxon Corp. PAC of TX
$64,500
$52,700
Chevron Employees TX PAC
$65,475
$47,700
TX Mobil PAC
$58,750
$44,500
Celanese Ticona TX PAC
$52,537
$37,150
Shell Oil Co. Employees PAC
$32,300
$22,950
DuPont Good Government Fund
$216,850
$20,000
Ashland TX PAC
$18,250
$17,500
ALCOA Employees PAC
$23,075
$12,375
Lyondell Petrochemical Co. PAC
$24,750
$7,500
TX Oxy Employees PAC
$8,405
$6,000
Union Carbide Employees in TX PAC
$11,600
$5,400
Merichem PAC
$3,250
$500
BetzDearborn PAC*
$157,593
$0
Total
$2,206,013
$1,034,448
*Only gave to members of Texas' U.S. Congress delegation.
 

 
 

Stealth Chemical Council PACs That Do Not File PAC Reports in Texas 
Non-Filing TCC PAC Home Base
PAC $
Eastman Chemical Co's EASTPAC  Kingsport, TN
?
Rohm & Haas Employees Assoc. PAC  Philadelphia, PA
?
Marathon Oil Co. Employees' PAC  Findlay, OH
?
Zeneca, Inc. PAC  Wilmington, DE
?
Praxair, Inc.'s PRAXPAC Danbury, CT
?
FMC Corp. Good Government Program Chicago, IL
?
BP America PAC Washington, DC
?
Citgo Petroleum Corp. Tulsa, OK
?
Elementis Chromium London, GB
?
ARCO Oil & Gas Co.'s ARCO PAC Los Angeles, CA 
?
 

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