LegiStorm: Transparency's Sidekick

Before he became a politician, Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) made at least $1 million a year salary as a comedian and author, according to his financial disclosure he filed when he first ran for the U.S. Senate. But Franken's first full financial disclosure as a sitting senator doesn't provide any insight into how much money he continues to take in royalties from television, film and book products.

The personal financial disclosure forms require all members of Congress to disclose any outside income. Franken appears to have gotten around that requirement because his income comes to a corporation, Alan Franken Inc., of which he is listed as president and joint owner.

The disclosure lists Alan Franken Inc. as "a multi media Professional Services Corporation including but not limited to writing, acting, producing and personal appearances in all film/video/digital/TV formats and all print media." Franken's stake in this corporation is listed between $500,000 and $1 million, and he does not report receiving any income from it in 2008.

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Kentucky's Lexington Herald-Leader has a story today about Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.) and a charitable foundation the Senator created in 1996, the year the former professional baseball pitcher was elected to that sport's Hall of Fame.

Due to his Hall of Fame status, Bunning can command fees signing autographs for baseball memorabilia collectors. As a Senator, his outside income is limited due to ethics rules, but he can put these fees into his charitable foundation.

However, as his personal financial disclosures available on LegiStorm show, most of the foundation's payouts have gone to Bunning himself. In 2001, Bunning received $15,000 in salary from his foundation. Every year since then, he's reported earning $20,000 in salary. Overall, the Herald-Leader reports that since Bunning's foundation was created, it has raised $504,000 and Bunning has been paid $180,000 in salary. The foundation's charitable donations have totaled $136,435 - with the largest donations going to churches Bunning attends.

The foundation was approved by the Senate Ethics Committee and the IRS when it was created, but several people raised questions in the Herald-Leader's story about the proportion of money that has gone to Bunning's salary as well as the board setup. Rick Robinson - a lobbyist who is one of three members of the foundation's board (along with Bunning's wife and a family friend of the Bunnings) - told the paper the foundation is trying to build a large enough cash reserve so it could give donations using only interest generated by investments. However, he could offer no plan to do so.

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