Citizen Advocates Urge Key Senate Panel to Ban Agencies from Using Tax Dollars to Influence Elections
(Alexandria, VA) — Legislation before the Senate Judiciary Committee to re-authorize a federal drug policy agency should follow the House's lead and draw a line against using federal resources to affect elections, according to a statement from four leading citizen advocates released today by the National Taxpayers Union (NTU).
"Simply put, regardless of the issue, taxpayer money should never be allowed to influence election outcomes," the letter to Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Ranking Member Patrick Leahy (D-VT) warned. "[T]he role of government -- and by extension government officials -- is to respond to the will of the American people, not influence the American people." Signatories to the letter included John Berthoud, President of NTU; David Keene, Chairman of American Conservative Union; Jill Lancelot, President of Taxpayers for Common Sense Action; and, M. Dane Waters, an expert on the direct democracy process who founded the Initiative and Referendum Institute.
The immediate issue outlined in the letter concerns the Senate's version of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) Reauthorization Act (S. 1860). Although language in the House's version of the ONDCP bill (H.R. 2086) prohibits the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign from being used to support or oppose "any clearly identified candidate, ballot initiative, or legislative or regulatory proposal," the Senate bill does not contain this restriction.
Unless the Senate moves to adopt the House provision, the signatories warned that "the precedent of allowing for campaigning by ONDCP officials will inevitably lead to campaigning by IRS officials, EPA officials, and other officials from myriad agencies that have a direct stake in the electoral process." This is even likelier since the U.S. Office of Special Counsel ruled last year that Hatch Act restrictions on public officials' electioneering do not apply to state or local ballot measures.
This situation particularly alarmed the signatories, who noted that "the problem of federal officials campaigning on the taxpayer's dime is real and it is bipartisan." As just two examples, they cited the Clinton Administration's campaign against a state ballot initiative permitting "concealed carry" for handguns, and the Bush Administration's 2002 involvement in a Nevada measure, whose intensity of opposition prompted the state's Attorney General to file a public complaint with the Nevada Secretary of State.
"In addition to adding provisions [barring electioneering by] the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign, we urge you to put such provisions in bills reauthorizing other agencies," the letter concluded. "Forcing taxpayers to fund the salaries of public officials to campaign, not to mention the costs of campaign advertising and other activities, is unconscionable."
NTU is a non-partisan citizen group founded in 1969 to work for lower taxes, less wasteful spending, and accountable government. Note: The full letter is available at www.ntu.org.
