Legislative Year Ending in Flood of Fund-Raisers

It is begging season in California’s capital.

In the midst of the state’s worst budget crisis, with the fate of hundreds of bills still undecided, lobbyists are begging lawmakers for favorable treatment.

And in return, politicians are doing considerable begging of their own--for contributions to their election campaigns.

Call it common purpose or mutual coercion. But in the sizzling heat of August, with the Legislature lurching toward final adjournment, politicians are holding what may be a record number of campaign fund-raisers here.

And, especially when faced with an invitation from Gov. Pete Wilson or a legislative leader, many lobbyists representing special interests believe they have no choice but to attend. They fear that if they don’t attend, the bills they are opposing will be enacted or the legislation they are backing will die.

That means using their clients’ money to pay $250 to $1,000 for a croissant and a cup of coffee or a chicken dinner or a cocktail and a handful of hors d’oeuvres. And this August, with the two-year session ending Monday, that means an opportunity to pay and pay and pay again.

One veteran Sacramento lobbyist, who opened his files to The Times, received invitations to attend fund-raisers for 119 candidates this month--more than in any year since he began tracking this late-summer phenomenon. It would have cost $69,375 to attend them all.

For a three-day period this month he had invitations to events for 44 candidates--so many that it would have been impossible to attend them all. On one of those days he could have bought tickets to fund-raisers for 18 candidates--another record, he says.

“The timing of these things, coming as they do when the Legislature is swimming in a sea of bills, makes them impossible to ignore,” said the lobbyist, who agreed to talk to Times reporters on the condition that he not be identified. “I am certain there has never been a month like this.”

Complaining of clients’ limited money for fund-raisers, the lobbyist said he could afford tickets to 30 August events--each carefully selected for maximum effect on behalf of his corporate clients.

Another veteran lobbyist of equal stature--someone who ignores all but a few fund-raisers--agreed that “the implied pressure on people (lobbyists) is horrendous.” He said many lobbyists--including others in his own firm--are telling themselves, “I’ve got a bill coming up and a guy is having a fund-raiser. It’s a chance for me to get his ear.”

California Common Cause lobbyist Kim Alexander deplores the timing of the fund raising and its heavy reliance on special interests.

“Every year there’s a flood of these fund-raisers right at the end of session, when many lobbyists feel coerced to attend,” she said. “I hear some lobbyists saying they are going to be attending three or four in one night. The trouble is for nonprofit lobbyists, we don’t have that kind of money. We can’t say, ‘Hey, Senator, make sure our bills get out.’ ”

Once fund raising in the state capital was limited to incumbents.

But now incumbent Democrats and Republicans, who are in the fight of the decade to win control of the newly redistricted Legislature, are also playing host at receptions, dinners and breakfasts for their party’s nominees to the state Senate and Assembly.

And when Gov. Wilson or Assembly Speaker Willie Brown (D-San Francisco) or other legislative leaders are in attendance, lobbyists find it difficult to say no.

Wilson’s appearance on the scene as a big-time fund-raiser for legislative candidates is in marked contrast to his GOP predecessor, Gov. George Deukmejian.

Wilson’s communications director, Dan Schnur, attributed the change to court-ordered redistricting, which is resulting in more election competition than before.

“In most years, you have a handful of truly competitive races, where the candidates of both parties have a legitimate chance of winning,” Schnur said. “This year, because of an honest reapportionment, there are a great number of those races.”

Because he wants Republicans to win as many of those as possible, Wilson, while grappling with Democratic leaders over the budget crisis, scheduled appearances at six fund-raisers for 14 Republican legislative candidates this month.

At one event, to raise money for Assemblyman David G. Kelley (R-Hemet), Wilson promised to show up with his appointments secretary and 10 members of his Cabinet.

At another he was scheduled to appear with all 13 Republicans in the state Senate in support of candidate Jim Ellis of San Diego, who has had no significant opposition in his race to regain a Senate seat.

Wilson has also been attending a series of more intimate fund-raising dinners in private homes for Opportunity ‘92, a campaign committee dedicated to achieving a Republican legislative majority. The invitation to one fund-raiser--at an exclusive estate in the town of Atherton--said the event would be limited to 30 couples, each to pay $5,000 for the privilege. The private dinner was organized by Bass Tickets, a firm that has been battling legislation that would limit service charges that ticket agencies add to admission prices.

Schnur insisted that Wilson was not influenced by contributions in making policy decisions for his Adminstration. “It’s absolutely irrelevant to the process of governing,” he said.

He said the governor has long been a champion of limiting the size of contributions, such as restrictions imposed by Proposition 73, which was struck down by the federal courts.

At many of the GOP events, Wilson was joined by Senate Republican Leader Ken Maddy or Assembly GOP Leader Bill Jones, both from Fresno.

Lobbyists note that several of these Republican events are intended to raise money for as many as six GOP challengers. The invitations include cards encouraging separate contributions to each candidate. One flatly asks for $500 per person per candidate.

Meanwhile, Democratic leaders, struggling to maintain majorities in both legislative houses, are showing up at fund-raisers to help their candidates.

Speaker Brown and other Democratic brass, for example, invited lobbyists to a $750-a-plate breakfast for Assemblywoman Dede Alpert (D-Coronado) late this month. This week, Brown was scheduled to appear alongside Assemblyman Richard Polanco (D-Los Angeles) at a breakfast fund-raiser for Democratic candidate Joe Baca.

More and more, non-incumbent candidates like Baca are trying to tap into the Sacramento lobbying interests for campaign money.

Juanita McDonald, a Carson city councilwoman who defeated two Assembly incumbents in the June primary, held a “get-acquainted reception” for lobbyists in the capital early this month--charging $500 per ticket. McDonald has no Republican opposition in the fall but her primary campaign accumulated $120,000 in debts.

Professional fund-raisers, trying to market these new faces in Sacramento, sometimes arrange private interviews between a candidate and a lobbyist. Writing to a prominent Capitol lobbyist, one of the fund-raisers made it plain that the candidate wanted to hear “problems facing your clients.”

These candidates “are not even elected but they are going to wind up having friends in Sacramento,” said Common Cause’s Alexander. “Those elected are going to feel indebted to those who finance campaigns.”

A number of incumbent legislators, including some that were defeated and some that have no meaningful opposition in the fall, are turning to lobbyists and their clients to help pay off accumulated campaign debts.

Sen. Wadie P. Deddeh (D-Bonita) held a $1,000-a-ticket reception last week to pay off a $25,000 debt he incurred in an unsuccessful race for Congress.

Assemblyman Richard E. Floyd (D-Carson) and Assemblyman Nolan Frizzelle (R-Fountain Valley) lost reelection bids in the June primary and in their last days in office are trying to eliminate campaign deficits.

As lobbyists are quick to note, even a defeated incumbent, in the last, lame-duck days as a lawmaker, has the power to cast a vote on the Assembly or Senate floor.

The final days of a legislative session also prove to be a good time to invite lobbyists and their clients to fund-raisers that are scheduled later in the political season.

For example, this week members of the Sacramento lobbying corps opened their mail to find a gilded invitation to Speaker Brown’s black-tie “12th Anniversary Gala Celebration” in October. The response form noted that under California law “there are no limits to the amount of contribution to this committee that an individual or corporation may make in a fiscal year,” and suggests a check for $12,000 to reserve a table for 12.

Earlier in the month, Brown and Senate President Pro Tem David A. Roberti (D-Van Nuys) were among the Democrats who signed invitations to a pair of $1,000-a-ticket Democratic Party fund-raisers to be held in San Francisco and Los Angeles in October. For those with even more money to spend on politics, tickets for “a limited number of Gold Circle Patrons will be available for $25,000,” the invitation said.

Similarly, Wilson has been raising money this month for Proposition 165, his two-part initiative that would cut welfare benefits and increase the power of the governor over the state budget. Having already raised $1.3 million to qualify the measure for the ballot, Wilson is sending out letters asking for contributions of $1,000 or $1,500 to help win passage in November.

A Full Schedule

This month, in the final days of the 1991-92 legislative session, one lobbyist was invited to fund-raisers for 119 candidates. On a single day--Aug. 12--he could have attended 14 different events in Sacramento, contributing money for these 18 office seekers:

Candidate Cost per ticket Assemblyman Stan Statham (R-Oak Run) $500 Curt Pringle, Republican for Assembly, Garden Grove $500 Sen. Bill Lockyer (D-Hayward) $1,000 Assemblywoman Tricia Hunter (R-Bonita) $500 Assemblyman Ross Johnson (R-La Habra) $500 Sen. John R. Lewis (R-Orange) $500 Assemblyman Richard L. Mountjoy (R-Arcadia) $500 William J. (Pete) Knight, Republican for Assembly, Palmdale $500 Steve Baldwin, Republican for Assembly, El Cajon $500 Assemblywoman Barbara Friedman (D-Los Angeles) $500 Assemblyman Richard E. Floyd (D-Carson) $500 Sen. Quentin L. Kopp (I-San Francisco) $500 Sen. Nicholas C. Petris (D-Oakland) $500 Assemblyman John Burton (D-San Francisco) $500 Sen. Alfred E. Alquist (D-San Jose) $1,000 Martha M. Escutia, Democrat for Assembly, Huntington Park $500 Larry Bowler, Republican for Assembly, Elk Grove $500 Assemblywoman Barbara Lee (D-Oakland) $500 Total for one day $10,000

SOURCES: Invitations to events