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Message from the Horse Council PAC's Chairman, Rob Burk
How
much is it worth to you to be respected? With
all the many and complicated interests and issues clamoring for
attention and solutions, the fact is, that to be recognized as a
legitimate force in American politics, you must wield power,
influence, and/or money. The State of Maryland is no exception. There comes a time when a politician must get elected,
re-elected, or must push a piece of important legislation. At those points, the politician often looks to groups that are
able to mobilize voters, such as the Maryland Horse Council, to
bolster their power and influence to get the job done. They will
also look to the clearly established Political Action Committee
(PAC) System in Maryland for financial support. PACs are private
groups, regardless of size, organized to help elect political
candidates or to advance the outcome of a political issue or
legislation.
In
late summer 2011, a new PAC – the Horse Council PAC – was
established in Maryland. Affiliated
with the Maryland Horse Council, the Horse Council PAC is a
separate entity whose sole purpose is to "Promote the
Maryland equine industry to the State government and the general
public." Through the Horse Council PAC, the Maryland equine
community can pool its resources to make sure that the State
government listens to the issues and concerns that impact us. Now
you may say to yourself, "I don't have any money to spare,
I pour every last dollar into my horse/pony/mule/four-hoofed
thing that eats me out of house and home!" Well, that may be true, but just think if you pooled $1 with
every other equine owner in Maryland … according to the 2010
Maryland Equine Census, that would mean that all of the sudden
you had a pot of money of worth around $30,000. That
is a significant amount of money in political terms and is
enough to garner the attention of any politician with an equine
owner in his or her district.
So
why would you want to give a politician your hard-earned money
anyway? While
politicians certainly are not held in the highest esteem these
days, most politicians are exactly like you or me. They
have families and, in the case of many State legislators, they
have day jobs. They
also have an internal drive towards helping society. They chose to be public servants to fulfill that drive. As
a practical reality, they must raise funds to get anything
accomplished. Politicians
will often look to wealthy individuals, corporations or groups
with enough money to spend to push forward certain candidates
and issues they support. Think
of all of the fundraising dinners you hear about that cost
hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars per plate. A
PAC provides another option, especially for people who do not
have vast resources at their individual disposal.
In
just over a month since the official establishment of the Horse
Council PAC, the Chairman (Rob Burk of Anne Arundel County) and
Treasurer (Win Hayward of Montgomery County) have received about
one dozen requests from Maryland legislators for financial
support for their candidacy, or to support a particular equine
issue. Horse
people, of course, can donate directly to a politician, but are
limited by campaign finance laws to $4,000 dollars per
politician or issue per four-year election cycle. However,
if they, plus others who don’t give directly, also give money
to a PAC, the PAC can donate up to $6,000 to a particular
candidate or issue. In
effect, this multiplies the impact on politicians willing to
support issues important to the equine community.
There
are approximately 300 PAC's currently registered in Maryland.
The Horse Council PAC is the only one representing all aspects
of equine interests in the State. So
the next time you hear of or experience a law or regulation that
impacts your equine interests, whether it be a trail closing, a
new regulation or a tax, to name just a few, think about sending
in a couple dollars to build up the war chest of the Horse
Council PAC. In the end, the respect that the equine community receives
from even the smallest donation will pay back by the trailer
load.
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