A political action committee fighting Illinois equal marriage is facing allegations that it broke state election law in failing to disclose funds taken from the anti-gay National Organization for Marriage (NOM).
The Illinois Campaign for Political Reform (ICPR) has hit the African American Clergy Coalition with a complaint for not disclosing that more than a third of its funds came from NOM, ICPR announced.
The coalition has been responsible for thousands of robocalls against SB10, a bill that would legalize same-sex marriage in Illinois. Those calls, featuring the voice of former Senator Rev. James Meeks, have tended to target the districts of undecided Black lawmakers.
A statement released by ICPR claims that the coalition accepted $82,000 from NOM but failed to list the organization in filings with the State Board of Elections as a sponsoring entity.
"SuperPACs should not be allowed to be political sock puppets," said David Morrison, deputy director of ICPR, in the statement. "Political groups have a duty to the public to be honest about who they are."
The coalition did not respond to a request to comment. A Chicago Sun-Times report notes that the coalition disclosed in an April interview that NOM had contributed $75,000 for robocalls related to the marriage bill.