Ease Up on Contributions

Longmont wants to put the kibosh on hefty campaign contributions by local organizations and special interests. The city council is exploring new limits that would cap individual campaign donations to $200 and those by organizations to $500. This would not effect campaign contributions for citywide ballot questions even though it appears one in particular served as motivation. In support of 2A, a measure that passed and allows the city’s cops and firefighters to unionize, the Longmont Fraternal Order of Police ($11,935) and the Longmont Professional Firefighters’ Association ($2,050) contributed hefty sums seemingly swaying the vote in their favor. There were a few other groups willing to pony that kind of cash for this fight.

What’s Next: Peace of mind will come knowing powerful groups won’t be able to pour thousands into the campaign coffers for city candidates.