Section of Ethics Bill that would raise taxes and fees to fund political campaigns removed from bill after massive grassroots uprising
Taxpayers will save millions of dollars that would have been spent on political campaigns after a grassroots uprising lead by Americans for Prosperity along with Former Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory caused state senate democratic leaders to pull the controversial “welfare for politicians” section out of the ethics bill.
North Carolina State Director of Americans for Prosperity, Dallas Woodhouse, today praised the grassroots effort of its members and taxpayers across North Carolina for burning up the phone lines at the General Assembly in a successful effort to stop the tax increases and taxpayer funding of political campaigns that was in the bill.
“I want to thank the thousands of people from across North Carolina that have contacted their state senators to oppose the expansion of taxpayer funding of elections and the tax increases that would have funded the scheme,” said Woodhouse. “This is clearly a victory for taxpayers all across North Carolina and it would not have happened without the efforts of our grassroots members and the leadership of Mayor Pat McCrory. Mr. McCrory recorded phone messages to tens of thousands of voters across North Carolina in an effort to educate taxpayers about this bill. We thank him for this successful call to action that has spared taxpayers additional tax increases.
North Carolina State Senate Majority leader Martin Nesbitt (D-Buncome) is quoted in the Raleigh News and Observer as saying the AFP phone project created a “firestorm” at the General Assembly.
State Senator John Snow (D-Murphy) told the Associated Press his office received over 70 phone calls on the issue as well as e-mails from Americans For Prosperity members.
"Public financing is very popular with hard leftists in Raleigh, but when people back home found out about this, they reacted very viscerally and negatively," Woodhouse said.
“We knew our grassroots effort was working because thousands of people are calling and e-mailing their state senator and asking them to not support the part of the ethics bill that would raise taxes to fund political campaigns. While I support efforts to clean up state government and believe we need a strong ethics bill, House Bill 961 would have raised fees and taxes on job creation at the worst possible time,” said McCrory. “It was also a mistake to add this provision at the last minute in the middle of the night to what should be a bi-partisan ethics bill.
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Americans for Prosperity® (AFP) is a nationwide organization of citizen leaders committed to advancing every individual's right to economic freedom and opportunity. AFP believes reducing the size and scope of government is the best safeguard to ensuring individual productivity and prosperity for all Americans. AFP educates and engages citizens in support of restraining state and federal government growth, and returning government to its constitutional limits. AFP has more than 1,000,000 members, including members in all 50 states, and 30 state chapters and affiliates. More than 55,000 Americans in all 50 states have made a financial investment in AFP or AFP Foundation. For more information, visit www.americansforprosperity.org
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