| AO-99-20 |
A PAC and people's committee may pay for reasonable and necessary expenses incurred by its chair, vice-chairs, and secretary-treasurer attending a Public Affairs/Grassroots Conference. Committee funds may also be used to pay expenses of members if the members are serving as agents of the committee. For example, a member attending the conference may be required to provide the committee with a summary of the sessions attended for publication in a newsletter to be issued by the committee. |
| AO-99-19 |
Individual should not be reimbursed with public funds for a town newsletter advocating support for a ballot question. If public funds or resources were spent, the opinion noted that disclosure should be made in accordance with M.G.L. c. 55, s. 22A and encouraged restitution. |
| AO-99-18 |
Public funds should not be used to distribute flyer printed by School Committee and School Building Committee regarding a proposed school construction project, if the flyer referred to the dates of a scheduled election to secure funding for the project. The opinion also noted that, in accordance with section 22A, disclosure should be made of funds already spent to distribute the flyer and encouraged restitution. |
| AO-99-17 |
OCPF strongly advises against a political committee having a fundraising event in a municipal building, even if funds are not solicited or received in the building. In light of the guidance provided in the Anderson opinion, and consistent with OCPF's consistent "cautious" advice, OCPF advises against the holding of such events. Solicitation and receipt may be considered to be part of a process leading up to the event itself. In addition, ensuring that solicitation and receipt would not take place in the building during a fundraising event would be difficult. |
| AO-99-16 |
A political committee may enter an agreement to lease space from a corporation for use as a political headquarters. Payment for such space must equal the fair market rent of the leased property. Although not required by law, the Committee should execute a written agreement with the corporation. |
| AO-99-15 |
A city may provide space on the city's Web site to candidates. Candidates may request a link to the City's Web site or submit information to be included on the Web site on a disk or in printed form. The proposal would involve only minimal use of public resources and would ensure that equal access is provided to all candidates. See AO-99-14. The city should specify that although candidates have the opportunity of either having a link to their Web site or having space provided on the city's Web site, they do not have the opportunity for both. |
| AO-99-14 |
A city may provide links from the City's Web site to candidate's Web sites if candidates provide Web addresses. The city should not, however, train candidates on Web page development or make unusual expenditures to advertise the links in newspapers or on television. |
| AO-99-13 |
Lieutenant employed by a municipal fire department is a public employee. Therefore, the lieutenant's political committee may not solicit or receive contributions from fire fighters whom he supervises. The committee may, however, receive contributions from the fire fighter's union. |
| AO-99-12 |
Incumbent city councilor/candidate may be reimbursed by committee for expenditures to pay for legal expenses in connection with the Ethics Commission review and a criminal action pending in the District Court arising from city councilor's performance of official duties. In addition, if the candidate makes expenditures to defray costs in the District Court proceeding he may accept reimbursement from the City for legal expenses. |
| AO-99-11 |
A PAC organized to promote "low taxes, small government, Constitutional government, and the Bill of Rights" may not be called "the Liberty Tree Political Action Committee" or "the Freedom Train Political Action Committee." It may, however, be called, for example, "Liberty Tree: the Small Government, Limited Taxation Political Action Committee." A candidate may contribute to a PAC or be involved in fundraising activities for a PAC, without necessarily "financing" the PAC. If an individual contributes more than $108 to the PAC the PAC may not later become a people's committee. |
| AO-99-10 |
A billboard company may provide one-month of free billboard use to a candidate owning the land where billboards exist as an inducement to continue a lease agreement. The arrangement is consistent with that offered other landlords who are not candidates and would not be made for the purpose of aiding or promoting the nomination or election of the candidate who owns the land where the billboard is placed. |
| AO-99-09 |
A group organized to educate the electorate on issues and consequences of their vote in an election is an "issues advocacy group," not a political committee, even if the issues "tend to be associated with the Republican Party." Using the name of a political party in an organization's bylaws does not necessarily mean that the organization is a political committee. If the organization does not raise or spend money to influence the nomination or election of candidates or support or oppose ballot questions, it is not a political committee. |
| AO-99-08 |
A business corporation may not adopt a program to encourage employees to make political contributions by making a matching charitable donation in the employee�s name for each political contribution made by the employee. |
| AO-99-07 |
A political committee may organize a book drive to benefit public school libraries. The committee would need to emphasize when soliciting donations of books that the municipality does not endorse the book drive or candidate and that the municipality is not conducting the book drive. In addition, public employees may not solicit book donations and may not be compelled to provide services to the Committee. Finally, if contributions to the Committee are solicited or received at the collection event, the event may not take place in a building or part thereof which is "occupied for municipal purposes." |
| AO-99-06 |
School district may put information, which does not reference an anticipated election, on its web site pertaining to the conditions of school buildings, proposals regarding the construction of a new K-8 facility, tax rate impacts, and schematics. In addition, it may post a "video tour" of the school buildings, even if public resources are used to make the video. [Overruled in part by AO-00-12] |
| AO-99-05 |
An "S Corporation," like other business corporations, may not contribute to candidates. A shareholder of a restaurant which is an "S Corporation" may make an in-kind contribution to the campaign in a sum less than $500 by paying the restaurant for the costs incurred in holding an event held for a candidate. The in-kind contribution must be reported as received on the date of the event, not the date the shareholder makes payment to the restaurant. |
| AO-99-04 |
The law requires each political committee to have a treasurer, who must maintain records and file campaign finance reports. Although the law recognizes that a committee may be without a treasurer temporarily, it does not contemplate an indefinite vacancy in that office. If a committee has no treasurer, the law restricts absolutely the committee's campaign finance activity. A treasurer may be paid for his services. Generally, any person 18 years of age, who is not public employee, may fill the position. However, a candidate may not be the treasurer of the candidate committee organized on his or her behalf. |
| AO-99-03 |
A city committee may create a sub-committee and the treasurer of the city committee may also be treasurer of the sub-committee. The sub-committee may not, however, call itself "the Freedom in 2000 Committee" without reference to the city committee. A sub-committee may, however, describe itself (for example) as the "Freedom in 2000 Campaign of the Cambridge Libertarian City Committee" or "Freedom in 2000, a sub-committee of the Cambridge Libertarian City Committee." |
| AO-99-02 |
A newspaper company that has an online program may allow elected (and appointed) officials to post, free of charge, constituent service sites using the program. In addition, the company may sell online advertising space to candidates for political office, if such space is sold at market value and is available on the same terms to any candidate. |
| AO-99-01 |
A union may raise funds through a voluntary dues check-off in which two-thirds of the total funds received would be distributed to a federal PAC and one-third to a Mass. PAC. Prior to allocation between the PACs, the funds must be placed in a separate transmittal account. Distribution to the state PAC must take place promptly. |
