Lobbyists Say They Feel the Pinch of Late Fund-Raisers

As the Legislature rushes toward adjournment with the fate of hundreds of bills still hanging in the balance, some lobbyists are grumbling about the record number of political fund-raisers for which they are being pressured to buy tickets.

“I’m not going to say that it is extortion or blackmail,” one lobbyist said. “But it is generally understood that you should show your support and loyalty at the same time that you are asking a legislator to favor your client on some matter before the Legislature.”

So far, 65 legislative fund-raisers have been scheduled for the final four weeks of the session, slated to end Sept. 11.

Payoff and Threat

It would cost a lobbyist’s clients more than $32,500 to buy tickets for all the dinners, cocktail parties, lunches and breakfasts. Most tickets run $500 a pop. Trudging to the fund-raising events, often scheduled for the same night and usually at watering holes near the Capitol, would also give a lobbyist a case of sore feet.

For lobbyists, the potential payoff--and implied threat--is that hundreds of bills important to their clients are being passed, killed or placed into limbo during the final weeks of the session.

“This is an effort to capitalize on the last-minute crunch of crucial legislation,” charged one lobbyist, who, like like many of his colleagues, agreed to talk to The Times only on condition that he not be identified. “In the past, there were election years and non-election years. Now, legislators run a full-time campaign fund-raising operation all year long every year.”

‘Most . . . . Ever Seen’

James D. Garibaldi, the dean of the Capitol lobbying corps who has been walking the halls looking for votes for the horse racing and liquor industries for more than 40 years, said:

“This is the most invitations I have ever seen. It would be physically impossible for me to attend them all. There are a lot of nice folks that I would like to visit with, but I just don’t have the time, strength or money.”

Another major lobbyist, who asked for anonymity, said, “A big part of the problem is the more we respond, the more it encourages more invitations. And this is not the first time this year for many of them, either. Some legislators already have had two or three other fund-raisers this year.”

One of the most spectacular fund-raisers is scheduled tonight in Los Angeles. Speaker Pro Tem Mike Roos (D-Los Angeles) is throwing a $1,000-per-person dinner concert starring Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. at the Greek Theater. The affair is expected to net up to $450,000 to help Assembly Democrats next year.

Roos, who presides over Assembly floor sessions and thus has the power to influence a bill’s fate with the bang of a gavel, vigorously denied that there is any pressure being applied to lobbyists to purchase tickets to his fund-raiser.

He said he did not even realize that invitations had been mailed to Sacramento lobbyists.

“This is a Los Angeles event with invitations mailed to Los Angeles community leaders in business and other enterprises.” Roos said. “There was no conscious plan to mail invitations to any of the lobbyists up here.

“They have the capacity, the ability and the right to say no. They should say no if they don’t wish to participate. There is no pressure (to buy tickets). No, none at all.”

A key member of the inner circle surrounding Assembly Speaker Willie Brown (D-San Francisco) said one of Roos’ missions is to collect money to help the Democrats maintain or increase their 44-36 margin over Republicans next year.

“I am the Speaker pro tem,” Roos said. “Willie counts on a handful of us who occupy important positions to augment his (fund-raising) efforts. Remember, we are up against a governor (Republican Gov. George Deukmejian) who had the capacity to raise $13 (million) or $14 million when he was running for governor. And he (Deukmejian) has Ronald Reagan, a home-grown President, who can fly in at any time and raise a huge sum of money for the (Assembly) Republican caucus.”

Meanwhile, Sen. John Garamendi (D-Walnut Grove), saddled with a $400,000 campaign deficit from an unsuccessful run for the Democratic nomination for state controller last year, is seeking $1,500 lobbyist sponsors for his 7th annual barbecued chicken dinner to be held at Sutter’s Fort in Sacramento on Wednesday.

Garamendi, chairman of the powerful Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee, also denied he is putting pressure on lobbyists to whom his dinner sponsor invitations were mailed.

“If they come, they come,” Garamendi said. “If they don’t, they don’t. It’s as simple as that. The invitations have nothing to do with my vote. They never have and they never will.”

The Democrats enjoy a 24-15 Senate margin over the GOP. There is one independent.

Other scheduled big-money fund-raisers between now and Sept. 11 include a $1,000-per-foursome golf tournament at the Stardust Country Club in San Diego to be hosted by Assemblyman Steve Peace (D-Chula Vista) on Aug. 28 and a $1,000-per-person “beach party” hosted by Assembly Minority Leader Pat Nolan (R-Glendale) at the Alhambra Fuel & Transportation Co. restaurant in Sacramento on Sept. 1.

At the other end of the money scale, the cheapest legislative fund-raiser is a $40-a-ticket bash to help celebrate the 40th birthday of Assemblywoman Delaine Eastin (D-Union City) at the Sunol Valley Country Club on Friday night.

Meanwhile, two bills that would impose limits on the legislative campaign fund-raising system are pending in the Legislature. Final action is expected to be delayed until next year.

The Senate has passed a measure by Sen. Bill Lockyer (D-Hayward) that would impose limits on contributions and spending, implement partial public financing and prohibit transfer of campaign funds among legislative candidates.

A similar reform bill, authored by Brown, is in limbo in the Assembly Ways and Means Committee.

There also are four proposed initiatives to ask the voters to revise the legislative campaign financing system at the polls next year.

“There will be no solution of this problem in the Legislature,” one lobbyist said.