AIADA Pulls Plug on New PAC Amid Controversy

AIADA Pulls Plug on New PAC Amid Controversy

The Executive Committee of the American International Automobile Dealers Association (AIADA) decided late last week to [I]abandon[/I]its newly formed political action committee, according to [I]Automotive News[/I]. AIADA Chairman Don Hicks confirmed the decision Monday. Hicks said the full AIADA Board of Directors will ratify the decision in May. –It just wasn’t a good time,” Hicks said in a telephone interview with [I]Automotive News[/I]. Dealers contribute more than $3 million a year, mainly to congressional candidates, through political action committees. One is run by the National Automobile Dealers Association. Another, called the Automotive Free International Trade PAC, is independent. Critics of the plan said another PAC would confuse dealers and dilute their influence. Concerns were also expressed that a new PAC could cause dealers inadvertently to violate campaign finance laws.