Sacramento, USA - A California lawmaker plans to return more than $6,000 that two Buddhist temples and a related research group donated to his campaign in violation of their tax-exempt religious status, the lawmaker's staff said Tuesday.
The donations to freshman Republican Assemblyman Curt Hagman were made over 18 months starting in June 2007 from the Buddhist Temple of Chino Hills, the Bu-Sha Center and the Buta Buddhism Research Center. All three claim nonprofit, tax-exempt status as churches.
The Internal Revenue Service sent reminders to political parties last April, during the presidential primaries, that direct and indirect campaign activities by churches and other tax-exempt charities were banned.
Hagman, a former mayor of Chino Hills, said he was unaware of the temple contributions until they were pointed out by The Associated Press, which noticed them in fundraising reports his campaign filed to the state.
He said he had nearly 700 donors and most of his fundraisers were group gatherings where individual donors were invited. He raised more than $1 million altogether for his 2008 campaign.
Hagman's chief of staff, Mike Spence, said a campaign committee would have to raise money to refund the banned donations. "We're trying to get this done as soon as we can," Spence said.
Representatives of the three contributors said they were not aware of the ban.
"They don't have that kind of knowledge...," said Tina Chiang, an accountant for the Bu-Sha Center and the Buta Buddhism Research Center. "They don't understand English very well."
Leamthong Silpanone, chief executive officer of the Buddhist Temple of Chino Hills, also said he was not aware of the donation ban.
"I should have given my own money," he said. "We don't know the law. Next time, we don't do it."
The donations are reminiscent of a fundraising event at a Buddhist temple in Hacienda Heights in 1996 that raised more than $100,000 for the Democratic National Committee. Then-Vice President Al Gore attended the event and was criticized for it during his 2000 presidential campaign.
In that case, the temple agreed to pay federal fines to settle an IRS investigation of its political activity.