State Capital Awash With ‘Last-Chance’ Fund-Raisers

State legislators, looking ahead to the fall elections and new limits on campaign contributions that will take effect in January, are twisting lobbyists’ arms to buy tickets for a raft of “last-chance” fund-raising events being held during the final days of the 1988 legislative session.

It would cost a lobbyist $38,300 to buy one ticket to all of the 76 dinners, lunches, breakfasts and cocktail parties scheduled during August, according to an invitation list kept by one veteran lobbyist.

Meanwhile, hundreds of bills considered vital to these same lobbyists and their clients are awaiting critical votes in the Assembly and Senate. Any bill that does not pass by Aug. 31, the end of the two-year session, is dead.

And with 80 Assembly and 20 of the 40 Senate seats up for grabs in the November election, there is almost an insatiable need for campaign money.

“This is ridiculous,” said the lobbyist, who, like others interviewed for this story, asked not to be identified. “This is the most invitations that I can remember. If you don’t go, you risk adversely affecting your clients’ legislation at do-or-die time.”

Because of the voters’ approval last June of Proposition 73, the initiative that limits contributions, state lawmakers know this November’s election probably will be the last time they can raise money at will.

The approved ballot measure, which takes effect Jan. 1, limits the size of legislative campaign contributions to amounts ranging from $1,000 to $5,000 annually and bans transfers of funds between candidates.

The Fair Political Practices Commission, the state’s watchdog agency on campaign contributions, is scheduled to meet in early September to lay down detailed ground rules.

“This is a last-chance effort because the rules of the (fund-raising) game will change next year,” the lobbyist said. “So they (the legislators) are getting all of the money that they can now.

“Some of these people already have had two or three or four fund-raisers earlier this year.”

Asked how many of the 76 fund-raisers he plans to attend, the lobbyist said, “I won’t attend many, but I will buy tickets to about half of them. I have to do it.”

Those lawmakers who toss the fund-raising events are, as expected, less critical of the practice.

“We just mail out the invitations,” said Sen. Alfred E. Alquist (D-San Jose), chairman of the Budget and Fiscal Review Committee, a powerful force in drawing up the final state spending plan. Alquist threw a $1,000-a-person cocktail party earlier this month at one of the capital’s fancier restaurants.

“They (the lobbyists) are certainly free to use their own judgment to come or not to come,” Alquist said. “Their decision has nothing to do with my vote. All I know is I am campaigning for reelection, and campaigning is very expensive these days.”

Another unhappy lobbyist reacted squeamishly when asked whether legislators are “selling” their votes on bills in exchange for campaign contributions, which would be a violation of state law.

“I just say I believe the Legislature has found it very easy to raise money in Sacramento when it’s time to vote on important bills at the end of the session,” the lobbyist said. “But it’s not a quid pro quo thing.

“These guys are pretty careful not to say, ‘I’ll never vote for you again if you don’t buy a ticket.’ ”

Another lobbyist put it this way: “They’re trying to beat Proposition 73. August is a good month to do it. There are 9 million bills up over there (in the Capitol), and every lobbyist has a couple of them that he or she is vitally interested in.”

Still another lobbyist said the current system “almost constitutes legalized bribery. But how are you going to prove that someone voted your way because of a campaign contribution or against you because you didn’t make a contribution?”

Although most lobbyists feel obliged to contribute, some lawmakers still feel the need to come up with a gimmick to help attract a paying audience. Here are a few fund-raiser invitation examples taken from the lobbyist’s clogged August desk calendar:

- A $1,000 event to help celebrate Senate Democratic floor leader Barry Keene’s 50th birthday at a fancy restaurant.

- A $1,000 third annual “beach party” thrown by Assembly Republican leader Pat Nolan at a trendy restaurant in Sacramento, about 90 miles from the Pacific Ocean.

- A $200 concert and fireworks show at the Hollywood Bowl, hosted by Assemblywoman Cathie Wright (R-Simi Valley), complete with picnic baskets and wine distributed on the bus and featuring singer Patti Page.

- A $550 Sacramento River evening cocktail cruise with Dixieland jazz plus a chance “to spend some time” with Democratic Assembly Speaker Willie Brown. The money raised, however, is destined not for Brown but Assemblyman Dan Hauser (D-Arcata).

- A $1,000 breakfast hosted by the Senate Republican Caucus at the Hyatt Regency across the street from the Capitol.

The cheapest fund-raiser invitation listed was for a $35-per-plate barbecue dinner on behalf of Sen. John Garamendi (D-Walnut Grove). It will be held at historic Sutter’s Fort in Sacramento.

On the evening of Aug. 10 alone, eight fund-raisers were held within a mile radius of the state Capitol.

The campaign fund-raiser blitz will not end when the Assembly and Senate wind up the 1988 session on Aug. 31 either.

Speaker Brown already has sent lobbyists invitations to buy tickets for a $1,000-per-plate or $10,000-per-table “unity” dinner at Los Angeles’ Century Plaza on Sept. 10. The scheduled keynote speaker will be U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii). U.S. Sen. Alan Cranston (D-Calif.) is also slated to be there.

Under fire from a dissident group of Democrats known as the “Gang of Five” and Assembly Republicans who want to oust him from his leadership post, Brown is expected to make good use this fall of the soon-to-be-outlawed practice of transferring campaign funds to political allies. His aim, of course, is to elect more Assembly candidates who are loyal to him.

One of those legislators who tossed a $500 cocktail party at a capital watering hole was Assemblyman Ross Johnson (R-La Habra), a co-sponsor of the June initiative that will impose the new strict contribution limits.

“I never have apologized for playing the game under the existing rules,” Johnson said, “but no one has worked harder than me to change the rules either. I would have to be crazy to get into a fight with one hand tied behind my back. As of next Jan. 1, I will play the game under the rules as they are at that time.”