Posted on 06/15/2018 1:13:48 PM PDT by Jonx6
Austin tax dollars to city election campaign dollars has some concerned about the legality of so called "Democracy dollars"
An Austin commission is kicking around the idea of giving taxpayer dollars to residents who would then donate the money to local political candidates. Fred Lewis of the Charter Commission calls it the democracy dollars program.
The program was created in Seattle and is so far the only US city with such a program. The commission’s Fred Lewis explained its to combat major donors from dominating elections. Each voter could get 50 bucks for each city race they can vote in. For example, if you can vote for one mayor and one district councilmember, you would get $50 each. But there is a limit as to how much money a candidate can take per election:
District Councilmembers can get up to $75,000 Mayoral Candidates can get up to $300,000 The amount available is limited to $1.5 Million, and would only be available on a first come first serve basis. Some on the commission say the funds should come from the city's community outreach budget.
The program also has some dissenters on the commission, among them Roger Borgelt, who called it a waste of money and illegal.
Borgelt said this violates taxpayers freedom of speech because the money used could be donated to a cause they don't support, thereby becoming forced speech.
Commissioner Lewis retorts, the courts hashed out the legality in Seattle when it was first implemented, adding several supreme court rulings offer the same conclusion.
Totally illegal but the rule of law is dead.
Hey, it’s Austin. Sure, why not? /s
Uber lib treehugging freaks keepin’ Austin weird.
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