Untangling the South Carolina seat belt law

How primary enforcement became the law in 2005, and who profited by it

December 22, 2005 – Numerous press reports across South Carolina have indicated that the driving force behind the recently enacted, primary enforcement seat belt law was an organization called the South Carolina Public Safety Foundation.  According to information obtained from the Internal Revenue Service, the Chairman, President, and CEO of the SC Public Safety Foundation is Howell Donald McElveen of Columbia, SC. 

 

McElveen is credited with having formed a coalition of lobbyists who represented a wide array of clients, some of which were supportive of a primary enforcement seat belt law being passed in South Carolina.  The lobbyists under the McElveen umbrella have been identified as Mia Butler of McLeod Butler and Company, Alisa Mosley of the SC Law Enforcement Officers Association, Coretta Bedsole representing AAA Carolinas Motor Club, and Lynn Stokes Murray of the McNair Law Firm. 

 

Of these four lobbyists, Mia Butler is the only person listed with the South Carolina Ethics Commission as a lobbyist for McElveen’s SC Public Safety Foundation. Based on this information, it is assumed that only Butler was paid by McElveen to work towards the passage of primary enforcement in South Carolina.  Butler is also conducting business with an organization called the State Capitol Group, LLC, although research of the South Carolina Secretary of State web site could not verify the actuality of the State Capitol Group, LLC. 

 

Other key personnel of the SC Public Safety Foundation are David M. Anderson, Secretary / Treasurer, and Erik P. Doerring, the foundation’s attorney.  Doerring is also an attorney with the McNair Law Firm located at 1301 Gervais Street, Columbia, SC where lobbyist, Lynn Stokes Murray also works. 

 

David M. Anderson, in addition to his position as the Secretary / Treasurer of the SC Public Safety Foundation, is also the Vice Chairman of Chernoff Newman, an advertising agency with offices in Columbia, SC and Orlando, FL.  In an article, Ad crusade seeks end to Senate seat-belt stalemate, published by The State newspaper on March 28, 2004, the newspaper reported that the SC Public Safety Foundation was sponsoring a $28,000 Internet and newspaper advertisement campaign to break the deadlock in the SC Senate regarding primary enforcement.  The agency hired to produce and distribute the campaign was Anderson’s Chernoff Newman.  It is also of interest that Don McElveen’s South Carolina Public Safety Foundation and Anderson’s Chernoff Newman share the same address; 1411 Gervais Street, Columbia, SC. 

 

According to the SC Public Safety Foundation’s IRS form 990-EZ dated July 16, 2004, the non-profit SC Public Safety Foundation spent $10,100 in an attempt to influence public opinion on a legislative matter.  Presumably, this was the fee paid to Mia Butler, although this has yet to be confirmed.  What is of greater interest is the $28,100 that the SC Public Safety Foundation listed as “consulting fees”.  This sum was not included in the foundation’s accounting of how much money it spent to influence public opinion on the primary enforcement seat-belt legislative matter, although it is known that the South Carolina Public Safety Foundation paid Chernoff Newman to do just that; create the No Excuse South Carolina ad campaign and web site, which according Chernoff Newman’s sub-contractor, The Rackes Group was able to generate 3,000 unique communications to the South Carolina legislature within a 24-hour period. 

 

Whether the South Carolina Public Safety Foundation has jeopardized its non-profit, 501(c)(3) status is not known at this time.  The question of if any state laws pertaining to lobbying, non-profits corporations, and ethics have been violated, remains unanswered.  One thing is certain though, there is much more to this story.  More will be revealed as new information is uncovered. 

 

Will the liberal media darlings of 2005, the South Carolina Public Safety Foundation along with Don McElveen’s “safety chicks”, once again be the topic of discussion in South Carolina newspapers and on television newscasts?   If it is determined, through independent investigation, that the aforementioned players have in fact violated state ethic rules or federal tax codes, will that story ever see the light of day, or will these enemies of personal responsibility and freedom be allowed to work their not-so-magic craftiness once again in South Carolina during the 2006 legislative session?  Only time will tell.  Libertarians can only hope.