A new breed of political action committee may soon come to North Carolina.
Under a change in elections law being discussed at the legislature, PACs that do not work directly with candidates would be allowed to skirt the usual limits on individual contributions.
At the same time, they could advertise for or against specific candidates.
The omnibus elections bill, currently in a conference committee, includes a provision that would allow PACs that do not give to candidates or coordinate their efforts with political campaigns to receive unlimited funds.
Kim Westbrook Strach, deputy director of campaign reporting at the State Board of Elections, said the measure was designed to comply with a U.S. Court of Appeals decision in a long-running case filed by the N.C. Right to Life Committee Fund for Independent Political Expenditures.
Currently, Strach said it is the only PAC she is aware of that has not worked with candidates, although she said other PACs could start up by filling out a simple form if the bill passes.
Hat Tip: Francis De Luca
Blog RSS feed
Re: Bill would erase limits on some PACs
So much for the rumors. Here are the facts. This section of the Election Law Amendments Act is already the law, it is now Federal Case Law, and without the statute being changed, the VOIDED STATUTE had ALREADY become "a trap for the unwary."
This was a First Amendment, federal lawsuit won in 2003, and while it was appealed, and a countersuit was filed by the losers in that case, a STAY was ENFORCED on that counter action, which was sent back to the 4th Circuit, (and that stayed appeal was denied, essentially) by the U.S. Supreme Court on May 1 of this year.
"After a decade of litigation, North Carolina's defendants in NORTH CAROLINA RIGHT TO LIFE v. LEAKE, and a remand from the UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT, North Carolina Right to Life prevailed in the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in its challenge to 3 aspects of NC's campaign finance law.
"Section 6 of Senate Bill 1263 "would amend the law in those 3 places to COMPLY with the (BOYLE) court's decision in North Carolina Right to Life v. Leake, 525 F.3d 274 (May 1, 2008)"
- from the House Judiciary 1 committee Bill Summary, July 10
Considering how the win by NC Right to Life in 2003 was hailed as a victory by Conservatives and others protective of the First Amendment, it is simply appalling to hear "the unwary" now complain of having their eyes opened to what the status of the prevailing law already was, and more appalling still that honest people would not know that these free speech protections were also already well known to the Special Interest groups whose money they are complaining about.