Rural and Migrant Ministry (RMM) began to aggressively lobby to change NYS labor laws in connection to agricultural labor soon after Richard Witt was hired to be the Executive Director in 1991. In the first brief portion of this video, taken from a documentary that appeared on RNN back in September 26, 1996, you hear Witt take credit for state legislation passed in 1996 pertaining to drinking water in the fields. Witt in fact states "after three years of working for this" his organization got the legislation passed. (By the way, Federal law under OSHA already required farmers to provide drinking water in the fields. The state law merely duplicated what federal law already required.) The next two brief snippets of this video are taken from a documentary produced in 2000 by an Episcopal priest named John E. Denaro entitled "WE GATHER: Ministry and Advocacy with Farmworkers." In the first portion you will see the list of 3 separate pieces of state labor law legislation RMM successfully lobbied the passage for, all prior to 2000. You then see a number of church people take part in 2000 in RMM's annual "Farmworker Advocacy Day." The day consists of a rally and legislative lobbying visits. According to RMM's website this annual lobby day had been going on since 1995 ( http://ruralmigrantministry.org/about/about_3.asp ). I point this out because prior to RMM's 2001 990 tax filing the organization claimed they did not lobby at all (I have returns from 1996 forward but it is safe to assume they claimed this prior to 1996 as well). Why did they suddenly claim to the IRS they were lobbying, starting in their 2001 filing, when they were obviously lobbying and didn't claim it beforehand? From late 2001 through early 2002 RMM was investigated by the NYS Lobby Commission for significant lobby law violations. They were fined and forced to register as lobbyists. Further, in their settlement agreement with the Lobby Commission they agreed to this statement: "whereas, it is clearly established that Richard Witt, Jr. and the Mid-Hudson Rural and Migrant Ministry, Inc., failed to file timely and/or accurate report(s) as a lobbyist and client in New York State for the years 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002...." This is a tacit admission they lobbied and incurred lobbying expenses from 1999 forward. They obviously were lobbying and had expenses prior to 1999 but prior to 1999 was beyond the scope of the investigation. Starting with their 2003 990 filing RMM began filing as an electing public charity. In statement 7 of their 2003 return regarding the 501(H) election RMM clearly and unequivocally states: "2001 WAS THE FIRST YEAR OF THE ORGANIZATIONS 501 (H) ELECTION. THERE WERE NO LOBBYING EXPENSES PRIOR TO 2001."
Why is this all important? Because for an organization classified as a 501(c)3 by the IRS, which RMM is, it cannot engage in lobbying beyond a "substantial part" of its overall activities. The fact is, by Witt's own admission in the video and on RMM's website, as well as in other written materials produced by them and in media stories they appeared in at the time, Witt and RMM had been engaging in lobbying activities as early as 1993. The video shows their elaborate lobby day held in 2000. Yet from 1996 to 2000 they claimed they didn't lobby at all to the IRS and in their 2003 return they actually made a definitive statement they incurred no lobbying expenses prior to 2001, despite the fact that in 2002 they acknowledged in a settlement agreement with the NYS Lobby Commission they had been lobbying and incurred lobbying expenses as far back as at least 1999. IF Witt and RMM were engaged in lobbying activities before they were forced to admit it on their 2001 return and did incur expenses prior to 2001 despite what they claimed on their 2003 tax return, then Witt and the organization, with the obvious support of the board of directors, has knowingly provided false information to the IRS over the years regarding lobbying. Tax documents are signed under penalties of perjury.
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Myths Vs. Facts About Farmworkers In New Yorkby NewYorkFarmBureau1,355 views
Regarding the second video here is one of my favorite parts of Witt's deposition before the Lobby Commission:
Q: Do you know if that video, We Gather, is sold?
Witt: It is not.
Q: It is not sold?
Witt: Well, I'm sorry. I think that the ministry makes it available. To cover handling and reproduction costs, if that is the definition of "sold", yes.
Yes Reverend, that is the definition of "sold." Somehow I think you knew the definition of "sold" long before the deposition.
ChrisPawelski 2 years ago
Yes, bringing them along I'm sure was a "helpful thing" to support the myth that theirs is a farmworker driven movement, not a self-appointed advocate driven movement.
ChrisPawelski 2 years ago
The truth, which Witt admitted during his deposition, is far removed. Witt admitted that though any farmworker who wants to be on RMM's planning committee could be on it, on average only two or three actually serve on the committee. Witt also admitted that the few farmworkers that were bussed into Albany for their annual lobby day were paid $40 at the end of the lobbying event for their participation.
ChrisPawelski 2 years ago
Oh, as a side point, in the final video, in talking about the legislative visits, Fred Wibiralske, a longtime RMM board member says: "bringing the farmworkers along with us was a tremendously helpful thing." Witt and his crew like to perpetrate the myth that this is a grassroots farmworker movement and the self-appointed advocates play a helpful role and are there because Witt claims (over and over and over again) a farmworker once asked him to "stand with them."
ChrisPawelski 2 years ago
Check out my comments under my name for details regarding this video.
ChrisPawelski 2 years ago