State Panel Issues Prop. 73 Guidelines : Ruling Lets Wong Keep Rich War Chest

A state commission’s ruling on voter-approved restrictions on political spending apparently will let Councilman Daniel Wong--the council’s most diligent fund-raiser--keep his amply endowed campaign treasury for future use.

Passed by the state’s voters in June, Proposition 73 prohibits candidates from spending previously raised campaign contributions to run for office after Jan. 1.

But members of the Fair Political Practices Commission, who met last week to issue guidelines on the campaign reform measure, concluded that they would risk a constitutional challenge unless they allowed politicians to carry over some funds for future elections.

Consequently, they ruled that if contributions meet the proposition’s limits on campaign donations, the money can be used in a future election. Contributions exceeding the limits can be saved for other, non-campaign uses.

Wong, who spends and collects political contributions as if he were perpetually running for office, spent $32,000 during the first six months of this year. Much of it went into his successful spring campaign for a third council term. Yet he still had $25,000 in his campaign treasury at the end of June.

In contrast, none of the other four Cerritos City Council members had more than $1,200 in their campaign accounts as of the June reporting date.

Thinking he would have to empty his political war chest by the end of the year, Wong said he stopped soliciting donations this summer while continuing to spend money. He estimates he has about $16,000 left.

Wong, unfamiliar with the commission’s ruling, said he is unsure what it means for him. But if he can carry the money over, he indicated he will resume his fund-raising activities, which draw heavily from the Los Angeles-area Chinese community, particularly in the San Gabriel Valley.

When he is not paying for election mailers and advertisements, Wong funnels his political funds in diverse directions. For instance, he gives money to such groups as the Little League, to other political candidates, and to the small, community service broadcast companies that carry his television shows. He has appeared in health programs and mostly recently was host of his own, bilingual television talk show for a multilanguage station that broadcasts ethnic programs.

The contributions are tied to his council position as a community leader and therefore are legitimate, Wong says.

Wong, who has expressed interest in running for state or national office, says he likes to maintain a robust campaign treasury “for a rainy day. If I decide to run, I always have it.”

Contrasting Viewpoints

Saying he supported the Proposition 73 reforms because they diluted the fund-raising advantages of incumbents, Wong expressed ambivalence about the commission’s ruling last week. On the one hand, he said he was pleased that he apparently would not have to spend all his campaign money or return it to donors by the end of the year. On the other, he complained, the commission was almost ignoring the intent of the new law.

The voter initiative attempts to control the ever spiraling levels of political spending by, among other things, limiting the amount of money a candidate can take from supporters. Individuals and businesses can contribute no more than $1,000 a year to a candidate; small political action committees no more than $2,500, and broad-based political action committees no more than $5,000 a year.

Wong apparently will be allowed to keep contributions exceeding those ceilings for use on non-election expenses, such as his donations to community groups, a commission spokesman indicated.

Citing a federal court case, the commission decided a total ban on carrying campaign funds into the new year might be challenged as unduly broad. The commission’s ruling, which goes into effect immediately on an emergency basis, will be finalized this fall.