For our purposes a political committee¹ is a:

A PAC or political committee is an organization formed to raise money for political activity. It consists of a group of people with similar interests and concerns that pool their resources to elect candidates to public office, or to pass measures. PACs can play a positive role in strengthening representative government by getting more people involved in the political process. PACs provide the public, including many individuals who have never been politically active beyond voting, with a convenient and meaningful way to exercise their citizen rights.

Donations to Oregon PACs can be used for full dollar-for-dollar credits against Oregon income taxes up to $100 per couple or $50 per single taxpayer. Donations that are tax credits are painless, ultimately not costing you a penny. Here’s how.

This type of contribution is not a deduction, it is a tax credit — almost free money. For example, if your 2003 year state income tax liability is $350 filing jointly, and if you contribute $100 to a PAC, your tax liability after the credit would be only $250. In this example, if you had already paid the state $350 through payroll deductions, you actually get a $100 refund.

This dollar for dollar tax credit is taken on your Oregon Individual Income Tax Return (line 40 on Form 40 and line 21 on Form 40S for 2002 taxes), which means you receive the total amount back in the form of a tax credit when you file your Oregon tax return next year. This credit has nothing to do with federal taxes.

A separate organization that all citizen advisory committees (CACs) and neighborhood associations (NAs) should consider establishing are ongoing PACs that will exist for more than one year. Set up your PAC to have the same mission as your CAC or NA. For example, the Hugo and Quail Lane PACs are ongoing committees (miscellaneous committees) that will exist for more than one year. They were established to build alliances and reward candidates who are helpful with their missions as identified on their statements of organization filed with the Josephine County Clerk’s Office.

Each year the boards of directors for the Hugo and Quail Lane PAC s determine if there are any ballot measures and/or candidates in Josephine County that they want to support with their funds. The PACs mission elements are used to determine that support. We believe PAC resources give our candidates and ballot measures more chance of winning, e.g. purchasing signs, ads, etc.

How do you feel? If you agree with us please make your interests known to your neighbors and become a co-sponsor of this issue paper.