Political Campaign Committee

Having already, likely, violated state law known as the Little Hatch Act, Lenoir City Director of Schools, Jenny Barker, may need to register with the Loudon County Election Commissionas a Political Campaign Committee (PCC).

Below are the requirements for those wanting to be involved in supporting or opposing ballot measures found in Title 2 of the Tennessee Code governing elections.
 

If you and other individuals act together as a group to conduct activities to influence an election(s), the group may be a “political campaign committee.” Political campaign committees are generally defined as:

a. A combination of 2 or more individuals making expenditures to support or oppose any candidate for public office or a referendum.

b. A committee, club, corporation, association or other group of persons which receives contributions or makes expenditures to support or oppose any candidate for public office or measure during a calendar year in an aggregate amount exceeding $1,000.

Political campaign committees are required to maintain records and file campaign reports on the committee's activities with the Registry of Election Finance or a County Election Commission. Three types of political campaign committees exist in Tennessee:

a. Single-candidate committee - formed by a group supporting/opposing a single candidate.

b. Multi-candidate committee (PAC) - formed by a group supporting/opposing multiple candidates or referendums.

c. Single-measure committee - formed by a group supporting/opposing a single referendum.

If you are interested in  forming a group to participate in State or Local elections and you need more information you may contact the Registry of Election Finance (State Elections) or your County Election Commission (Local Elections). More detailed information on each of the political campaign committees described above is also available at the Registry's website, www.tn.gov/tref .

I think it's safe to say that Ms. Barker's plan to involve the schools, employees, parents and students to support the ballot measure of raising the property tax qualifies as a Political campaign committee and thus required her to register with the election commission. But if the law actually prohibits the use of school buildings, equipment, vehicles, computers, email systems and even teacher mailboxes for political campaigning, maybe Ms. Barker should just concentrate public education and let the voters decide on higher taxes. 

BACK
10/10/18