Judge issues temporary injunction blocking enforcement of Kansas campaign finance law

BY: TIM CARPENTER
Kansas reflector

TOPEKA — A federal judge has granted an Overland Park nonprofit’s request for a temporary injunction barring the Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission from enforcing a campaign finance law until a lawsuit challenges the constitutionality of the state’s definition of a political action committee.

U.S. District Judge Daniel Crabtree issued the order Wednesday on behalf of Fresh Vision OP, which clashed with the state commission in 2021 after it sent out a mailer supporting the candidacy of Faris Farassati, an Overland Park City Councilman running for mayor. Fresh Vision OP posted similar information on its website. The organization also opposed the use of “tax giveaways,” economic development incentives and tolls on U.S. 69.

Attorneys for Fresh Vision OP, including attorneys for the Institute for Free Speech, filed a lawsuit challenging the state’s definition of a PAC. The plaintiffs’ attorneys argued that the law could be interpreted to cover groups like Fresh Vision OP that were organized primarily for the good of a neighborhood but also periodically endorsed candidates. The lawsuit sought to protect the free speech rights of Fresh Vision OP and similar organizations, the plaintiffs said.

Crabtree’s temporary restraining order would allow Fresh Vision OP to resume its community advocacy activities without being regulated by a PAC.

The judge said the state’s definition of a PAC would likely conflict with the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Buckley v. Valeo, which held that explicit advocacy had to be an organization’s “principal purpose” to be considered a PAC. The order said the law at issue was written in a way that applied PAC requirements without first determining whether an organization’s explicit advocacy was “a single, principal purpose” or its principal purpose.

“After considering the statutory scheme and the arguments and motions of the parties, the court grants a limited temporary injunction,” Crabtree wrote in the order.

A hearing on the plaintiffs’ request for a preliminary injunction and a substantive hearing of the case is scheduled for September.

“The court applied existing precedent that prohibits imposing burdensome political committee requirements on groups that engage only incidentally in explicit advocacy,” said Charles Miller, an attorney at the Institute for Free Speech. “Those requirements temper and penalize potentially protected political speech.”

Plaintiffs James Muir and Chengny Thao, who worked as officers of Fresh Vision OP, sought through the federal court to block the state’s Governmental Ethics Commission from enforcing laws and regulations that appeared to violate their First Amendment right to free speech.

They have alleged that Fresh Vision OP engaged in public activism and education to promote healthy neighborhoods, local small business growth, public safety, and responsible land development. In July 2021, the organization endorsed Farassati’s candidacy for mayor on its website and in a mailing.

The state ethics commission responded by informing Fresh Vision OP that the approvals were tantamount to operating as a political action committee and that the organization would need to register with the state.

The letter advised Fresh Vision OP that it could face civil fines and criminal penalties for failing to comply with state campaign finance law. Fresh Vision OP suspended operations to avoid regulation as a political committee and disclosure of donors to the organization.