Hearing Set on Campaign Spending Restrictions

With millions of dollars in campaign funds at stake, a Superior Court judge on Thursday ordered a formal hearing on Feb. 8 to determine whether the state Fair Political Practices Commission overstepped its authority in adopting new finance regulations that appear to conflict with restrictions imposed by the voters in June.

Judge Kurt J. Lewin, however, refused a request by California Common Cause to impose an immediate stay on the new fund-raising standards. As a result, “we could see a rash of campaign spending in January” before the hearing takes place, said Walter Zelman, executive director of California Common Cause.

At issue is how much stockpiled campaign money politicians will be allowed to carry over and spend when Proposition 73, the campaign reform law approved by voters, takes effect Sunday.

Proposition 73 provides that no money be carried over after Jan. 1. But in September, the five-member FPPC, after hearing arguments that the ban on carrying over contributions is unconstitutional, revised the guidelines to allow politicians to carry over contributions that do not exceed $1,000 each, the new single contribution limit under Proposition 73. For example, if a candidate received a $2,000 donation in 1988, he would be allowed to carry over and spend $1,000.

Although watered down by the FPPC, Proposition 73 already has had a profound impact on many statewide officeholders. Atty. Gen. John K. Van de Kamp and Controller Gray Davis, for example, donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to November initiatives after Proposition 73 restricted their ability to use it on their own or others’ election campaigns.

Josephine Powe, an attorney for Common Cause, said the FPPC’s regulations clearly conflict with Proposition 73. Questions of constitutionality, Powe said in an interview, “should be decided by the courts, not by a regulatory agency. They’re not supposed to write regulations that contradict the language of the statute.”

Zelman likewise said Common Cause is more troubled by the process under which the FPPC adopted its guidelines than by the guidelines themselves.

Attorneys for the FPPC said the agency, which is responsible for implementing Proposition 73, acted properly in modifying the carry-over provision.

Despite requests of reporters, Judge Lewin refused to open Thursday’s pretrial hearing to the public.

Zelman said the possibility that the FPPC guidelines will be thrown out in February could encourage candidates to spend carry-over money before the hearing. If Common Cause wins and all carry-over funds are banned, Zelman said he expects that a candidate sitting on a large campaign war chest would probably initiate a new court challenge.

The potential impact on the Los Angeles mayor’s race in April is uncertain. Both incumbent Tom Bradley and expected challenger Zev Yaroslavsky are carrying over more than $1 million each into the race.

“I’m very, very doubtful that a judge would make a ruling in February that would have a big impact on an April election,” said Deputy Mayor Mike Gage. “We see no problem.”