(from moneytrail.org)

Harold C. Simmons
Company(s): Valhi, Inc. - Dallas, TX
Industry: Diversified Manufacturing
Donation Record:
Candidate(s)
Total Contributions
Filings Included
Rick Perry
$100,000
June 1997 to present
Carole Keeton Rylander
$7,000
1994 to present

Simmons' Money Trail:

6/21/99 Simmons campaign gifts cross ethics line
In 1997, the Dallas Morning News reported that Harold Simmons was under investigation by the U.S. Justice Department for attempting to conceal contributions in excess of federal limits by donating in the names of family members and employees who were unaware that he was doing so.

In addition, the Justice Department found that PACs controlled by Simmons had received more money from the billionaire than legally allowed under federal election laws. The PACs had already donated the money to right-wing candidates and causes by the time the illegalities were discovered.

In many instances, Simmons funneled campaign contributions to the same politicians on the same day from multiple Simmons-controlled PACs, companies, relatives and employees. In addition to candidates, Simmons supported other right-wing causes in this way such as an Iran-Contra legal defense fund and Newt Gingrich's controversial GO-PAC.

These allegations of outright corruption emerged only through unusual circumstances -- two of Simmons' daughters sued him for making repeated political contributions in their names without their consent for the purpose of circumventing federal election laws.

Simmons acknowledged that he'd given hundreds of thousands of dollars in his daughters' names without their knowledge, but said he had the right to because as the head of the family trust fund, the business policies promoted by his political contributions would benefit his daughters financially. Simmons ultimately paid his two daughters $50 million each to settle the lawsuit.



6/21/99 Simmons pushes nuke dump
In 1995, Harold Simmons bought a controlling interest in Waste Control Specialists (WCS), a company proposing a controversial low-level nuclear waste dump in Andrews County, Texas. Texas GOP stalwart Kent Hance maintains a small minority interest in WCS and has personally lobbied on its behalf at state agencies and at the Legislature.

One of two sites proposed in West Texas for low-level nuclear waste disposal, the WCS project was originally the second choice of the nuclear industry for a Texas disposal site. But opposition by environmentalists and the Mexican government to both projects -- along with a world-class lobbying effort by Simmons' agents -- scuttled the state's primary proposed site, known as the Sierra Blanca site.

Then, Texas Natural Resources Conservation Commission (TNRCC) head Barry McBee surprised everyone by announcing in Fall 1998 that the state was abandoning the Sierra Blanca site. While press coverage portrayed the event as an environmentalist victory, perhaps more likely is that Simmons' back room connections to Perry and other Republicans simply paid off for him. McBee is a long-time political ally of Rick Perry's from the Agriculture Department who left his TNRCC post to work with Perry at the Lt. Governor's office after the latter was elected in November.

At the state and federal levels, Simmons' efforts to have his nuke dump approved amounts to one of the most aggressive ongoing corporate lobbying efforts anywhere. One D.C. lobbyist -- a former chief staffer at the Senate Energy Committee -- enjoys a contract that will pay him $18 million-plus if the Andrews County site is approved.

In 1997, according to the Dallas Morning News, WCS "waged a brash fight in the courts and through key Republicans in Congress to overcome state opposition" to letting a private company handle nuclear waste. "WCS's efforts [at lobbying] prompted allegations by two House members, Rep. Ray Allen, R-Grand Prairie, and Rep. Robert Tarlton, R-Pasadena, that Mr. Hance and a company lobbyist had offered Mr. Tarlton, who opposed [Simmons'] measure, campaign donations and a possible job."

During the 1999 Legislative session, Simmons spent more than $1 million on two dozen lobbyists to unsuccessfully push for the Andrews dump site.

Enabling the Andrews County nuke dump isn't the only reason Simmons has for aggressively promoting Republican candidates. He also stands to gain more than nearly anyone else from GOP efforts to limit lawsuit judgments through "tort reform."

As the owner of a defunct Dallas lead smelter in the Cadillac Heights area that is responsible for alleged lead poisoning of the surrounding neighborhood, Simmons' company N.L. Industries has been the target of numerous class action and other suits claiming damages from dangerous lead emissions. The Cadillac Heights facility is now a federal Superfund site.