Is The Victory Fund Skirting Campaign Finance Laws To Help Christine Quinn's Troubled Campaign ?

Some government watchdogs are raising questions about a national PAC paying for Christine Quinn's out-of-town trips. online.wsj.com/article/SB1000…

— Michael Howard Saul (@MichaelHwrdSaul) June 13, 2013

Is the Victory Fund deliberately violating Campaign Finance caps on in-kind contributions to Speaker Christine Quinn's troubled mayoral campaign ? The Wall Street Journal reports that, "The Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, which endorsed Ms. Quinn and had collected $165,000 in contributions for her mayoral campaign as of last month, paid her to travel to the PAC's fundraising events in Houston, San Diego and Chicago. Records filed with the city's Campaign Finance Board show Ms. Quinn's mayoral campaign accrued more than $20,000 in contributions from dozens of donors in those cities around the same time as the PAC's events." The reporter, Michael Howard Saul, added that, "At issue here is whether Ms. Quinn's campaign is benefiting directly from these events by not recording expenses associated with the trips."

Read more : New York City Mayoral Candidate Quinn Raised Money on Paid Trips (subscription may be required)

Quinn Weakens Campaign Finance Laws For Corporations

New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn thinks that corporations are people, too, and that they deserve to be counted as member organizations in order to allow corporations to use corporate money to influence the outcome of elections.

New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn achieved a life-long dream to weaken campaign finance laws yesterday. A new bill, which was passed with almost unanimous support through the New York City Council, was nominally promised to help unions, but the dark side of the bill is a backdoor loophole that exempts corporations from disclosing election-related communications with their employees, stockholders, directors, and other stakeholders about activities that corporations undertake to endorse and support corrupt candidates.

. @chriscquinn weakens campaign finance rules for corporationscityandstateny.com/city-council-p… @opensecretsdc @moneyinpolitics @ows_getmoneyout

— Stop Christine Quinn (@stopchrisquinn) January 24, 2013

Read also :

"City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, facing accusations that legislation she championed opened a 'gaping loophole' in New York City's campaign-finance system, backed off her proposal and oversaw the passage of a watered-down bill Wednesday that reduced the reporting requirements for unions, corporations and advocacy groups." (Council Eases Finance Rules * The Wall Street Journal)

Quinn Retreats on NYC Version of Citizens United-Like Law

Christine Quinn Delays Hearing on Campaign Bill

From The New York Times :

Christine C. Quinn, the speaker of the City Council, has delayed action on a bill that would loosen regulations on spending by unions and advocacy groups in New York City elections, as Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg denounced the measure as “a terrible idea” and “really not good for democracy.”

... The measure would allow advocacy groups like unions to work directly with candidates on political communications with their members, who often make up influential voting blocs in city races. The costs for those activities would not be counted against a candidate’s spending limit, leading critics to argue the bill would unleash a torrent of unchecked spending by outside groups. ...

Tom Allon, a candidate for the Republican mayoral primary, said he was opposed to Speaker Quinn's weakening of the city's campaign finance laws, and he sharply criticized Ms. Quinn in an interview with The New York Times.

Read more : Christine Quinn Delays Hearing on Campaign Spending Bill