Political Contributions by Amtrak employees?

[PaTrainFan]

This Detroit Free Press story says that Amtrak donated $7,000 to Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan's campaign. Does Amtrak have a PAC? I have never before heard thar Amtrak donates to politicians. I figured as a "quasi public" company it would be forbidden.

There relevant paragraph:
Since hitting the reelection campaign trail, Duggan has garnered financial support, small and large, from residents to top executives. According to campaign finance reports detailing contributions from Jan. 1 to July 18, executives at companies, such as JACK Entertainment, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Quicken Loans, Amtrak and more have poured about $7,000 each. or more into his campaign.

 

[danasgoodstuff]

Amtrak executives could presumably donate their own money to whomever they chose.

 

[zephyr17]

Hope like hell Amtrak itself isn't making political donations.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Hope like hell Amtrak itself isn't making political donations.

They're not allowed too, but with Amtrak Joe and Mayor Pete liking Amtrak, they have friends in High Places!

 

[Trogdor]

This Detroit Free Press story says that Amtrak donated $7,000 to Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan's campaign. Does Amtrak have a PAC? I have never before heard thar Amtrak donates to politicians. I figured as a "quasi public" company it would be forbidden.

There relevant paragraph:
Since hitting the reelection campaign trail, Duggan has garnered financial support, small and large, from residents to top executives. According to campaign finance reports detailing contributions from Jan. 1 to July 18, executives at companies, such as JACK Entertainment, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Quicken Loans, Amtrak and more have poured about $7,000 each. or more into his campaign.

The article does not say Amtrak donated any money. It says executives did. That/those executives may work for Amtrak. I think (but am not certain) that large donors must list their employer.

 

[zephyr17]

I am a small political donor, like $10 donations, and those forms require listing employer. I think it is a requirement irrespective of the size of the donation.

 

[MikefromCrete]

The story says that "executives" from Amtrak and the other firms made donations, not the firms themselves. Amtrak employees are free to donate to whomever they want.

 

[PaTrainFan]

I have never given a dime to any politician but my company is always begging for donations to our PAC, and that, too, I have never contributed to..

 

[Eric in East County]

Do the unions to which Amtrak employees belong and pay dues to donate money to political candidates?

 

[Anderson]

I am a small political donor, like $10 donations, and those forms require listing employer. I think it is a requirement irrespective of the size of the donation.

They require that because otherwise you could make a string of $10 donations and hit the reporting threshold ($100 or $200 or whatever it is), and if they're not tracking that then you could evade it that way (or, for that matter, make a bunch of small donations and go over a donation limit with nobody being the wiser).

 

[cirdan]

They're not allowed too, but with Amtrak Joe and Mayor Pete liking Amtrak, they have friends in High Places!

I hope that Amtrak Joe understands the needs of all of Amtrak, not just his NEC home ground.

 

[Cal]

I hope that Amtrak Joe understands the needs of all of Amtrak, not just his NEC home ground.

To my surprise, there have been infrastructure bills that have included things that would really help the long distance network. I don’t know which bill(s) these were on, but one example that comes to mind is that one included lifting the requirement for Amtrak to break even on food services.