“RALEIGH, N.C. — A political action committee tied to GenX manufacturer Chemours gave a maximum contribution to House Speaker Tim Moore last month, one day after a company lobbyist made a small donation to the PAC.
The $5,200 contribution came from the Manufacturers Alliance PAC, which gave the same amount to Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger in December. These represent the PAC’s biggest donations in years, and Berger and Moore are the top leaders in the General Assembly.
Chemours’ head state government affairs executive, Jeff Fritz, who is based in Indiana, gave the PAC $500 on April 3. It appears to be his first donation to the PAC and the first time he’s donated to an entity that plays in North Carolina state politics. The next day, the PAC made its contribution to Moore’s campaign fund.
Fritz said Friday the donation was a personal one and that he didn’t ask the PAC to turn around and give to Moore…
Campaign finance database searches for key employee names haven’t turned up donations, and the company doesn’t have a lobbyist registered in North Carolina. Its last one, John Merritt, who was chief of staff for former Gov. Mike Easley, resigned last September after the GenX story broke.
Fritz was invited to testify before a state Senate committee on the matter last year, but did not appear. Legislative officials set out an empty chair and a placard with his name on it, then the committee chairwoman announced he would not attend.
Chemours is part of the North Carolina Manufacturers Alliance, which has a PAC that doesn’t keep a lot of cash on hand and tends to operate in four to low five figures in a given year. Fritz’s $500 donation in April was the PAC’s largest donation of the quarter.”
Read the full article by Travis Fain