[EL] Seattle is passing Measure I-122: $100 in vouchers to every voter, lower contribution limits, etc.

[Sean Parnell]

Well I guess it’s a good thing there’s no such thing as a single-issue candidate who might incorporate commentary about a  ballot measure into his/her own message. “I’m Arthur Dent, and I’d like to talk to voters about the importance of timely, adequate and appropriate notice of demolition related to expressway construction, such as proposed in ballot measure 42…”

 

Of course, you could prohibit candidates for office in Seattle who accept voucher funding from talking about subjects that are on the ballot, similar to what was proposed by former North Carolina Governor Beverly Perdue, which if I recall correctly would have limited candidates in their paid communications to speaking about issues on a list of approved topics. Might be a teensy little problem with the First Amendment, although I suppose if “money isn’t speech” then there’s no barrier at all to the government dictating what candidates can and cannot say with government-funded campaigns.

 

Best,

 

 

Sean Parnell

President, Impact Policy Management, LLC

571-289-1374 (c)

sean at impactpolicymanagement.com

Alexandria, Virginia

 

 

 

From: law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu [mailto:law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu] On Behalf Of Paul Ryan
Sent: Wednesday, November 04, 2015 10:41 AM
To: larrylevine at earthlink.net
Cc: law-election at department-lists.uci.edu
Subject: Re: [EL] Seattle is passing Measure I-122: $100 in vouchers to every voter, lower contribution limits, etc.

 

Your loophole-finding skills are impressive, Larry!  That’s a real gift.  Given how quickly you found your loophole, I’m surprised you didn’t find the answers to your questions as well. The measure makes clear in section 2.04.620(c) that the vouchers can only be assigned to candidates for the offices of mayor, city attorney or city council.  The measure makes clear in section 2.04.620(d) that the vouchers can only be assigned/transferred to candidates, not ballot measures. Both of these points are reiterated in section 2.04.630(a). The measure makes clear in sections 2.04.620(d)-(e) that each of the four $25 vouchers can be assigned to any eligible candidate and that “a person may assign any number of his or her Democracy Vouchers to the same candidate in a given year.”

 

Paul Seamus Ryan

Senior Counsel

The Campaign Legal Center, Recipient of the 2014 MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions <http://www.macfound.org/maceirecipients/79/> 

Ph. (202) 736-2200 ext. 222

Mobile Ph. (202) 262-7315

Follow me on Twitter @ThePaulSRyan <https://twitter.com/ThePaulSRyan> 

And follow CLC @CampaignLegal <http://bit.ly/j8Q1bg> 

 

From: law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu [mailto:law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu] On Behalf Of Larry Levine
Sent: Wednesday, November 04, 2015 10:15 AM
To: 'jboppjr'; 'Joe La Rue'; 'Dan Meek'
Cc: law-election at department-lists.uci.edu
Subject: Re: [EL] Seattle is passing Measure I-122: $100 in vouchers to every voter, lower contribution limits, etc.

 

It took me less than 30 seconds to figure out the loophole in this. I’ve said for decades: “Show me a limit and I’ll show you a loophole.” On a separate subject: are these vouchers applicable to any election in the city? Just city offices? Ballot measures? Can they be contributed to an independent expenditure campaign? Can they be divided among a number of candidates for different offices? 

I guess the reform industry has to keep coming up with new visions of corruption and new solutions to justify the fundraising operations that pay their salaries.

Larry

 

From: law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu [mailto:law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu] On Behalf Of jboppjr
Sent: Wednesday, November 04, 2015 3:58 AM
To: Joe La Rue <joseph.e.larue at gmail.com>; Dan Meek <dan at meek.net>
Cc: law-election at department-lists.uci.edu
Subject: Re: [EL] Seattle is passing Measure I-122: $100 in vouchers to every voter, lower contribution limits, etc.

 

Yes these measures are subject to challenge. Jim

 

 

 

Sent via the Samsung Galaxy Note® 4, an AT&T 4G LTE smartphone



-------- Original message --------
From: Joe La Rue <joseph.e.larue at gmail.com> 
Date: 11/4/2015 12:46 AM (GMT-05:00) 
To: Dan Meek <dan at meek.net> 
Cc: law-election at department-lists.uci.edu 
Subject: Re: [EL] Seattle is passing Measure I-122: $100 in vouchers to every voter, lower contribution limits, etc. 

Jim Bopp?  Jim Bopp?  Paging Jim Bopp ....

Sent from my iPhone using voice recognition software. Please excuse any mistakes. 


On Nov 3, 2015, at 22:31, Dan Meek <dan at meek.net> wrote:

Seattle voters by 60-40% are passing Measure I-122.  It requires the City to send $100 in political vouchers to every voter in January of every even-numbered year, to be paid from an increase in property taxes (about $30 million over 10 years).  It lowers the contribution limit to candidates for City office from $700 to $500.  .  It bans candidates from accepting or soliciting contributions from anyone having at least $250,000 in contracts with the City in the last two years or who has paid at least $5,000 to lobby the City.


Dan Meek

503-293-9021 

dan at meek.net 

855-280-0488 fax 

 

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