Ballot Measure Introduced to Stop League of CA Cities From Spending Taxpayers Dollars in Political Campaigns

An exclusive column penned for the Flash Report by Jon Coupal. Coupal is the President of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association.

November 16, 2007

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Yesterday, the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association , the National Taxpayer Limitation Committee and the California Alliance to Protect Private Property Rights introduced the "Taxpayer Protection Act of 2008," a ballot measure that strengthens existing laws that prohibit the use of taxpayer dollars for political activity by making it illegal for taxpayer financed organizations, such as the League of California Cities, the California State Association of Counties and the California Redevelopment Association to finance their political activities through anonymous campaign accounts.

This is needed because over the past two years taxpayer financed public agency organizations have used anonymous campaign accounts to contribute nearly $7 million to oppose eminent domain reform ballot measures. Unlike traditional political action committees, these so-called "non-public funds" accounts do not disclose the source of their financing or contributors, limiting the ability of regulatory agencies, the media and watchdog groups to determine whether taxpayer dollars are being used to finance political activities.

One would think that such organizations that accept taxpayer dollars would be held to a higher standard and that they would be required to disclose all the sources financing their political activities. But that is not so and as a result, the consequences have put your private property rights at risk.

In 2006, these taxpayer financed organizations contributed more than $4.7 million from their anonymous, so-called "non-public funds" accounts to oppose Proposition 90, an eminent domain ballot measure which was narrowly defeated. More recently, these taxpayer financed groups have spent over $2 million to oppose the California Property Owners and Farmland Protection Act, a ballot measure supported by proponents of real eminent domain reform. As evidence that these campaign accounts have become the taxpayer funded agencies' preferred method of financing their political activities, 81% of the money spent so far this year to oppose the Jarvis-sponsored eminent domain reform ballot measure has come from these anonymous accounts!

As former Senator Jim Nielsen and Chairman of the California Alliance to Protect Private Property Rights says, "This kind of political activity certainly explains why California is not among the more than 40 states that have reformed their eminent domain laws. These taxpayer funded organizations should not be financing political efforts that undermine private property rights."

Here is what the "Taxpayer Protection Act of 2008" would do:

• Require taxpayer financed organizations to fund political activities with non-taxpayer funds and through a political committee required to disclose receipts and expenditures like other committees.
• Ensure accountability by imposing fines and possible imprisonment for using taxpayer dollars for political purposes.

What we have learned is that while the League of California Cities publicly professes to be an entity that serves the "public interests," they claim that they are really a "business!" (Click here to hear it yourself) Can they really have it both ways? We don't think so

This is why organizations that accept tax dollars to advocate the interests of the public agencies and public at large (in theory, anyway), need to be held to the highest standard so that we can be assured that they are representing public interests and not private interests.

When 80% of the money financing opposition to eminent domain reform is coming from organizations which would not even exist without taxpayer funding, greater accountability and transparency is should be mandatory. Until we truly know whether these taxpayer financed organizations are truly serving the public interest, the law needs to be changed to protect California taxpayers.

(See a letter to the President of the League of California Cities from Coupal here.)

You can write to Jon Coupal at jon@flashreport.org.