In the News
Florida Today: Sheriff Ivey to Belford: Deputies won’t enforce Brevard School Board speaking policies
By Bailey Gallion
The Brevard County Sheriff’s Office warned the Brevard County School Board in a letter that it will not be enforcing any “unconstitutional” speaker policies.
The letter from Sheriff Wayne Ivey, dated May 23 and addressed to School Board Chair Misty Belford, said in very terse language that his deputies were not at board meetings as “armed BPS forces.”
“While the major, his Lieutenant, and designated deputies are contracted services, responsible for providing security to Brevard Public Schools facilities to ensure the safety of our students, faculty, staff, volunteers and visitors, to include school board meetings, they should not be treated as armed BPS forces prepared to execute any potentially constitutionally violative request of the School Board,” Ivey wrote to Belford in the letter which was also sent to the entire board.
The letter follows a First Amendment lawsuit from parents and the conservative group Moms for Liberty, who claim their ability to speak before the board has been curtailed…
The School Board has filed an appeal in federal court to contest the First Amendment lawsuit from Moms for Liberty. The case is ongoing.
Ed. note: Read more about our case here.
The Courts
Orlando Weekly: ACLU points to SCOTUS’ Ted Cruz decision in fight against Florida’s ballot initiative contributions cap
By Jim Saunders, NSF
[American Civil Liberties Union lawyers] are pointing to a Cruz win in the U.S. Supreme Court to try to bolster a challenge to a Florida law that limits large contributions to political committees proposing ballot initiatives.
WSJ Podcasts: Potomac Watch: Is Florida’s Facebook Law Unconstitutional?
Federal courts are ruling on the laws that Florida and Texas passed last year to curb censorship on social-media sites. What are those judges saying about free speech and the First Amendment, and is this likely headed to the Supreme Court?
Congress
Wall Street Journal: The Jan. 6 Committee Is Weaponizing Majority Rule
By Kevin McCarthy and Jim Jordan
With no effective check on its power, the Select Committee is trampling on fundamental Constitutional rights. It is investigating the political speech of private citizens and demanding access to their personal records and private communications. When disputes over the requests arise, the committee refuses to engage and seeks to punish.
The Media
BPR: WaPo mocked for ‘big scoop’ that maker of gun used in TX school massacre donated to GOP
By Chris Donaldson
The intrepid muckrakers at WaPo breathlessly broke the story that the owners of Daniel Defense, the manufacturer of the rifle that was used by 18-year-old shooter Salvador Ramos during his killing spree, have donated money to the GOP, not exactly a stunning bombshell when considering that the Republican Party isn’t actively working to put gunmakers out of business.
Candidates and Campaigns
Salon: To keep winning, progressives must do more than grassroots organizing: We need money
By Maya Handa
In Pennsylvania’s 12th congressional district, in the Pittsburgh area, state Rep. Summer Lee overcame almost $4 million in spending from conservative and moderate super PACs to defeat her opponent, Steve Irwin, by just a few hundred votes.
Lee and her allies were quick to credit grassroots organizing for her victory…
It’s an inspiring narrative, especially for progressive candidates across the country who are facing historically unprecedented levels of super PAC spending on behalf of their moderate or centrist opponents. But it’s easy to overlook an important fact: Lee received almost $2 million of independent expenditure support herself…
[B]etween her own campaign operation and outside support from Justice Democrats, the Working Families Party and others, voters likely saw almost $3 million worth of ads and mailers supporting Lee’s candidacy…
[I]n the end she won by an exceedingly narrow margin, so it seems clear that every penny of that nearly $3 million was necessary to deliver a victory…
[E]ven the best organizing can overcome only so much spending.
I took a look at key House winners endorsed by Sen. Bernie Sanders and Justice Democrats over the past six years. With very few exceptions, notably Ocasio-Cortez’s ground-shaking upset victory in 2018, progressives can overcome about a two-to-one ratio of opposition spending, but not much more. In many cases, progressives have actually outspent their opponents to win.
By Madison Hall
Bo Hines, a Republican congressional hopeful in North Carolina, recently revealed that the majority of his campaign money appears to have come from his own trust fund.
As a young candidate without much political experience, Hines is self-funding the majority of his campaign. According to the Federal Election Commission, he’s loaned just over $775,000 of his own money to the campaign, or about 58% of his entire campaign war chest.
But in a personal financial disclosure first noted by Axios’ Lachlan Markay, Hines lists having no job, no bank account, no other earned income or compensation, and zero loans or liabilities.
The States
The Center Square: Lee signs Tennessee campaign finance reform bill into law with reporting requirements for nonprofits
By Jon Styf
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed a campaign finance reform bill on Friday that adds reporting requirements for political action committees, political candidates and some nonprofits.
Senate Bill 1005 went to conference committee before being approved by the Legislature on April 28 before being signed by both speakers and sent to Lee on May 18.
The bill will require 501(c)(4), 501(c)(5) and 501(c)(6) nonprofits to report expenses of more than $5,000 spent on communications with the image or name of candidates on them in the final 60 days before an election.
A 501(c)(3) nonprofit, such as the Salvation Army or Red Cross or Habitat for Humanity cannot engage in political activity. A 501(c)(4) nonprofit, however, can.
The bill provides exceptions to the rule for nonprofits including for communications to members, lobbying during a special session and communications to groups, such as Facebook followers, who have opted in to receive communications.
The bill will require political candidates to provide a report of all expenditures over $100 and set a cap on non-itemized expenses at $2,000 per statement period.
