Campaign Finance Question

[Duck Dog]

I looked up and read through a ton of web sites looking for the answer but came up empty.

When the POTUS or challenger hit's the road campaigning, who is left with paying the bills? I.e. all the troopers, cops, highway dept. personnel, etc. it takes for security and road closings?

This may not have anything to do with campaign finance, so maybe I'm looking in the wrong places.

Any help?

[DanT]

The cities typically foot the bill. Costs a lot, too. Here's a month-old article from the Detroit News. Michigan, being a battleground state, has had a lot of visits from the Kerry and Bush campaigns:

http://www.detnews.com/2004/politics/0408/19/a01-244682.htm

[DanT]

Here are the lead paragraphs from the article I cited in my previous post:

Cities foot the bill for local security

Bush, Kerry visits strap Michigan

By Francis X. Donnelly / The Detroit News


The frequent visits of presidential candidates to Michigan spew more than exhaust upon state highways. They leave a plume in the shape of a dollar sign.

The political trips have cost Michigan communities more than a quarter of a million dollars in the past year, and the cost will rise during the 11 weeks left in the campaign, according to interviews with law enforcement departments.

Even the shortest sojourn strains the finances of local, county and state police because their budgets are so lean to begin with, agencies said.

Many law enforcement officials don’t like to talk about the specific costs of security but a survey of 11 municipalities in Michigan and the United States shows the cost of appearances by President Bush, for example, have ranged from $5,000 in Bloomfield Hills last month to $57,000 in Denver in June.

Bush, Sen. John Kerry, their running mates and wives have come to Michigan 24 times in the past year.

“It’s great that homeowners have the connections to get them into town but that doesn’t pay our bills,” said David Piche, public safety director for Bloomfield Hills, where Bush appeared at a private fund-raiser. “Everyone in the city has to pay for that.”

If Piche and others want to be reimbursed for their expenses, they’ll have to hold a fund-raiser of their own.

That’s because the federal government and political parties routinely don’t compensate them for their work, which includes erecting barricades, directing traffic and providing security at the events.

And so the candidates’ motorcades of black SUVs are tended by a retinue of local paramedics, public works employees and police on the local, county and state level. Many are working overtime.

[Duck Dog]

The cities typically foot the bill. Costs a lot, too. Here's a month-old article from the Detroit News. Michigan, being a battleground state, has had a lot of visits from the Kerry and Bush campaigns:

http://www.detnews.com/2004/politics/0408/19/a01-244682.htm


Thanks, Dan. rep for you.