House Bill 120, Taxpayer Funded Municipal Elections was amended in the House to apply only to cities with more than 50,000 people.  This means that smaller cities will be able to use their tax revenue for police and fire protection, water and sewer, libraries and parks and those kind of services.  Larger cities will be using some of their tax revenue for politicians to run for city offices, paying for campaign expenses like yard signs, robo calls during dinner and video tapes, like John Edwards’ girlfriend made for his campaign. 

The bill is scheduled to be voted on in the Senate on May 27. Here is a list of the cities with more than 50,000 people that would able to use their tax money for campaign expenses (and the Senators who represent the citizens of those cities):  

Asheville (Sen. Martin Nesbitt and Sen. Tom Apodaca)
Cary (Sen. Josh Stein, Sen. Richard Stevens and Sen Bob Atwater)
Chapel Hill (Sen. Bob Atwater and Sen, Ellie Kinnaird)
Charlotte (Sen. Dan Clodfelter, Sen. Charlie Dannelly, Sen. Bob Rucho and Sen. Malcolm Graham)
Concord (Sen. Fletcher Hartsell)
Durham (Sen. Josh Stein, Sen. Bob Atwater, Sen. Floyd McKissick and Sen. Ellie Kinnaird)
Fayetteville (Sen. Tony Rand and Sen. Larry Shaw)
Gastonia (Sen. David Hoyle)
Greensboro (Sen. Phil Berger, Sen. Don Vaughan, Sen. Katie Dorsett)
Greenville (Sen. Clark Jenkins, Sen. Don Davis)
High Point (Sen. Katie Dorsett, Sen. Jerry Tillman, Sen. Pete Brunstetter, Sen. Stan Bingham)
Jacksonville (Sen. Harry Brown)
Raleigh (Sen. Dan Blue, Sen. Neal Hunt, Sen. Josh Stein, Sen. Richard Stevens, Sen. Floyd McKissick)
Rocky Mount (Sen. Clark Jenkins and Sen. A.B. Swindell)
Wilmington (Sen. Julia Boseman)
Winston-Salem (Sen. Pete Brunstetter and Sen. Linda Garrou)

Burlington (Sen. Tony Foriest) currently has 49,572.  Wilson (Sen. A.B. Swindell) is at  47,804.

The data is based on 2007 Population Estimates, U.S. Census Bureau and is expected to change when the new census is taken in 2010 so there may well be additional cities using public money for campaigns.

If you live in a small town and aren’t on the list for now, be assured they will try to expand the program.  They started this as a “pilot program” in Chapel Hill and are ready to expand it even though it is completely untested as Chapel Hill has yet to hold a publicly financed city election. 

You may also hear them say that there is nothing to fear since the program is completely voluntary – city officials are authorized to put it in place.  These are the same city officials who will be running for re-election.  What are the chances of them NOT authorizing the use of taxpayer money to fund their campaigns?  The taxpayer, the one who’s paying the bill, has nothing to say about it, who the money will go to, or what positions it will support. 

At least when John Edwards’ girlfriend was paid to make campaign videos, the money came from donations willingly given by his contributors. They may not have liked it later but they gave that money willingly to a cause they believed in. Imagine if that money had been forcibly taken, used in violation of the contributor’s principles and wishes, and with no available recourse.  Don’t imagine.   It’s exactly what will happen if House Bill 120 becomes law.  Your tax money will go into the pockets of politicians to use as they choose, whether you like it or not.