Let’s Talk About PACs
A PAC, for anyone who doesn’t know, is an acronym for a Political Action Committee
Political action committees are groups that are registered with state or federal governments to advocate for policies and candidates. They cannot work directly with candidates; any collaboration is strictly illegal, but that is practically the only limit on their activities.
There are also very few, if any, caps on the amount of money they can receive, or from whom. The money can be used for virtually anything; nearly any kind of messaging is fair game, and most well-funded PACs hire experienced political consultants to run their campaigns. They can and generally do attack political opponents, as they aren’t constrained by public perception in the same way a candidate might be, and they can accept vast sums of money from corporations. In other words, they are often the source of negative mailers and political advertisements for the candidates they support.
When a PAC is registered in California, one of the only things they have to do is identify an area of work; this might be a city, county, or state. Other than that…it’s a free for all.
As a consequence, a lot of “dark” money enters the political arena this way. It’s an extremely effective route for big corporations or outside interests to influence local elections, and PACs tend to diminish local control and minimize local voices.
For all these reasons, we aren’t fans.
And yet. Stand Up for Chico is a PAC.
We went into this with misgivings. We would rather work directly on local issues and with local candidates. But the reality is, we have a local right-wing PAC that has raised nearly $200,000 to influence the upcoming local election. The only way to legally raise funds and work to spread the truth about what is happening in our community was to register ourselves.
We are committed to remaining a grassroots organization. Our steering committee consists of 9 local folks who have all been part of our community for many years. We will not hire outside political operatives; the messages you see come from us, people who live and work in this community.
We are committed to transparency in all of our work. If you have questions, please ask us. You can message us from the link at the top of the page.
Finally, if you are able to support this grassroots campaign, please consider donating to us. Every little bit helps as we work to reclaim our community.
Donate here to support our work and reclaim our community: Stand Up for Chico
