By Joshua Cole Little
LUBBOCK, TX — State regulators are trying to crack down on big money in politics, but has the Texas ethics commission gone too far? The Lubbock-based Texas Home School Association sued the state because the group says our first amendment rights are at stake.
“In an association like ours, we focus on homeschooling, parental rights,” says Texas Home School Coalition President Tim Lambert. “Those are our main purposes, our main purpose is not campaigns or elections.”
Lambert says Governor Rick Perry vetoed proposed restrictions on political speech and the Texas Ethics Commission was not satisfied.
Lambert says the T.E.C. re-interpreted current state law to sidestep the governor’s veto.
“What we’re doing in a political way is a fraction of what we do,” he adds.
Only nine percent of the coalition budget goes to anything political in nature.
And yet under the new rules Lambert’s association is treated just like a full-time Political Action Committee.
“We see legislatures who don’t like the fact that some of these associations are opposing them and exposing their records are saying we want to know who your donors are,” says Lambert.
Now, if the coalition donates more than $25 thousand to a campaign or elected official then it must treat its yearly dues like campaign contributions.
Simply put, the expense and the red tape make it almost impossible to endorse candidates. They feel like they’re being pushed out of the arena of free speech.
“We’re on the road where an organization that is accountable to no one is able to say who can and cannot participate in the free speech in the political arena,” he says.
The Texas Ethics Commission has declined to comment on this matter at this time.
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