Group, known as Florida Freedom Fund, launched in May and will also be involved in school board races

Group, known as Florida Freedom Fund, launched in May and will also be involved in school board races

The Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, has launched a political action committee that is targeting popular ballot amendments on abortion access and marijuana legalization that will be voted on in November.

The group, known as the Florida Freedom Fund, launched in May, Politico first reported. The committee is chaired by James Uthmeier, DeSantis’s chief of staff who was previously the Republican’s campaign manager during his unsuccessful presidential primary run.

In addition to targeting ballot initiatives, the committee will get involved in school board races, Politico reported, citing an individual who is familiar with the group’s plans.

Florida Republicans have attempted to maximize their political control of local school boards, especially amid book bans and far-right education laws banning discussions of race and sexual identity being passed in the state, WUFT reported.

  • Phegan@lemmy.world
    71·
    5 months ago

    I can tell you one legit reason for a PAC. Public employees can not take campaign funds directly, so if a teacher wanted to run for local office, it’s a campaign finance violation for them to accept money directly. That means they need a PAC to accept donations for them, and the candidates can use that money for campaign related things.

    PACs at their core are not bad. How they are used to influence our elections by the wealthy is.

    • IamSparticles@lemmy.zipEnglish
      1·
      5 months ago

      Public employees can not take campaign funds directly, so if a teacher wanted to run for local office, it’s a campaign finance violation for them to accept money directly.

      I don’t think that’s right. The main issue that PACs address is individual limits on campaign contributions. You, as an individual, can only legally give a candidate $X towards their campaign. X varies depending on the race. But you can give as much as you want to a PAC. They just have to disclose your name if you give more than $10K in a calendar year. The thing is, the FEC act used to make it illegal for a PAC to directly campaign for or against a federal candidate. The Citizens United decision overturned that clause and opened the doors to unlimited campaign contributions. Candidates aren’t supposed to coordinate with a PAC, but there’s a lot of nodding and winking going on.

      • Phegan@lemmy.world
        1·
        5 months ago

        I can confirm it is right because I am the chair of a small PAC for a public employee. They needed to form it to fund raise. It functions very differently than how national level PACs function. but it’s a legitimate use for them.

        • IamSparticles@lemmy.zipEnglish
          2·
          5 months ago

          Interesting. What state is this in? We don’t have any restrictions like that in my state and I’m a little curious about what the justification is.

          • Phegan@lemmy.world
            2·
            5 months ago

            I guess I should rephrase slightly. Public employees are not allowed to take gifts / money from individuals in any capacity, this relates to bribe and corruption laws. As a result, this makes it so they can not accept campaign finance donations, which requires an entity to act on their behalf, a PAC. Sorry if my explanation was a bit unclear. This is due to blanket corruption laws and not specific campaign finance laws.

            • IamSparticles@lemmy.zipEnglish
              2·
              5 months ago

              Ah, I think I understand. The potential problem here is that even a donation to a campaign fund could be seen as a bribe if the person running for office is a public official. “Sorry, I can’t accept your generous gift, but you cold contribute to my campaign for mayor!” Interesting, I’ve honestly never run across that info, but it makes sense. Thanks!