(BOSTON)—Yesterday, the state Superior Court scheduled a hearing for December 7th in the suit to close the union loophole in state campaign finance law.
Jim Manley, senior attorney for The Goldwater Institute, and Paul Craney, executive director of the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance, will be available on a conference call at 11 a.m. today.
The Goldwater Institute, a foundation helping with the legal challenge, recently won a preliminary injunction in a companion lawsuit filed in Kentucky. While not directly applicable in Massachusetts, the injunction speaks to the inherent unfairness of a corporate contribution ban. A copy of the Kentucky lawsuit and call-in instructions are available upon request.
The lawsuit, filed in 2015 by businesses owned by MassFiscal board members Rick Green and Mike Kane, seeks to close the union loophole in Massachusetts campaign finance law. The loophole bans political contributions from businesses while allowing unions, including out of state unions, to contribute up to $15,000 to a single candidate. Unions, under current law, may also contribute via Political Action Committees, while PACs supported by businesses are prohibited. Individuals are permitted to donate up to $1,000 to a single candidate. Massachusetts is one of only six states with campaign finance laws that advantage unions.
"With Boston City Hall at the center of a maelstrom of union extortion charges and a federal corruption probe, the environment has never been better to right this wrong," executive director of MassFiscal Paul D. Craney said. "The political process in Massachusetts is rigged to benefit union interests over the interests of everyone else."
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