Givers
Barack Obama's Presidential Inaugural Committee released another round of donors today. The list included actress Halle Berry ($50K), Chicago media mogul Fred Eychaner ($50K) and philanthropist/gazillionaire George Soros ($50K).
More on the committee's searchable online database available after the jump.
New PIC Internet Tool Underscores Unmatched Commitment to Transparency
Committee Website to Feature a Searchable, Virtually Real-Time Database of Donors and Bundlers
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, in keeping with President-elect Obama's commitment to changing the way business is done in Washington, the Presidential Inaugural Committee (PIC) announced unprecedented standards of transparency in the public reporting of donors to a presidential inaugural committee.
"The disclosure guidelines we've released today set a new standard for openness for a Presidential Inaugural Committee," said John W. Rogers, Jr., Co-Chair of the 2009 Presidential Inaugural Committee. "This tool demonstrates the new administration's commitment to changing business-as-usual in Washington, DC."
Co-Chair Penny Pritzker added that, "From the beginning, we've said we're going to plan the most open and accessible inauguration in history and that includes using 21st century technology to give the American people access to information about donors to our committee."
For the first time, an inaugural committee's donor disclosure efforts will include a searchable, sortable, virtually real-time database of donors, available on the PIC website. Any citizen will be able to search for and sort donors who give more than $200 by name, employer, or hometown (city, state and zip code). Information on donors and donations will be updated regularly, with information on each new donation over $200 appearing online within 48 hours of its receipt.
The PIC website will also include, for the first time, information on donors who bundle contributions for the inaugural committee, including the amount they have bundled, which will be capped at $300,000 for individual bundlers.
The measures announced today are more stringent than federal law or the Federal Election Commission require. Under current law, an inaugural committee is not required to report donors until 90 days after the Inauguration, nor are donors to an inaugural committee required to disclose their employer when making a donation.
These new guidelines arrive on top of previously announced and unprecedented limitations on the PIC's fundraising policies. Unlike previous inaugural committees, the 2009 PIC will not accept contributions from corporations, political action committees, labor unions, current federally-registered lobbyists, non-U.S. citizens and registered foreign agents and will not accept individual contributions in excess of $50,000. Current law does not restrict the size of donations, which in past inaugurations have reached as high as $250,000.
The new database is available to the general public at www.pic2009.org/donors.
For the latest information on the 2009 Presidential Inauguration, please visit www.pic2009.org.
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