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Wednesday, February 11, 2009
ACORN May Get Bailout Money
By Michael Coleman
Journal Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON — A low-income advocacy group that became controversial in New Mexico's 2008 elections could qualify for federal funding under the economic stimulus bill pending in Congress, but not likely at the level some have suggested, Democratic staffers for New Mexico lawmakers said this week.
Last weekend, House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, issued a statement claiming that ACORN — Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now — could qualify for as much as $4.1 billion in federal stimulus money under the bill passed by the U.S. Senate. The money would be available to a wide array of community groups under a category called “neighborhood stabilization activities.”
Sen. David Vitter, R-La., introduced an amendment to ban ACORN from receiving the money, but Vitter's amendment failed. Vitter told Fox News last week that the money made available for ACORN and other groups in the stimulus bill was a “payoff” for their political activities in the last election.
“It's line after line of favorite liberal spending programs, and it amounts to a big-government bill, not a job-creation bill,” Vitter said.
Staffers for New Mexico's U.S. senators this week pointed out that ACORN is not specifically named as recipient of any money in the stimulus bill.
Jude McCartin, spokeswoman for Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., said it was inconceivable that the group would apply for and receive the entire $4.1 billion available.
ACORN, which registers voters and offers other community services, came under scrutiny in New Mexico and elsewhere around the country in 2008 for turning in some falsified voter registration forms to county clerks.
The nonprofit organization conceded that it had unintentionally employed some unscrupulous canvassers who falsified the forms to add to their numbers of registrations and increase their pay. But ACORN officials insisted the group never knowingly committed voter fraud.
McCartin told the Journal this week that Bingaman voted against the Vitter amendment because it would be “highly unusual” for Congress to ban a national organization from even applying for federal grant funds.
Marissa Padilla, spokeswoman for Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., agreed. “The legislation simply funds programs for which housing groups and nonprofits can apply,” Padilla said. “The amendment would set a bad precedent by prohibiting an organization from even making an application for federal funds.”
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