ELECTIONS / 24TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT : No PAC Cash for Beilenson, but Some Find Ways to Give

More than 100,000 voters from Sherman Oaks to Thousand Oaks opened their mailboxes in recent days to find envelopes printed with a provocative question: “Have you heard about the Congressman who won’t take their money?”

Inside were letters touting Rep. Anthony C. Beilenson (D-Los Angeles) for his longstanding refusal to accept campaign contributions from political action committees, which give money to candidates on behalf of corporations, labor unions and other special interests.

The letters, sent by Beilenson’s campaign, hail him as “one of only 4 members of Congress who has never accepted money from lobbyists, political action committees (PACs) or special interest groups of any kind.” They praise him for having “the kind of integrity, independence and courage we wish all legislators had.”

In an election year when voters seem increasingly angry at the political influence of special interests, Beilenson has repeatedly cited his no-PAC policy. Aides say it may prove decisive in his race against Assemblyman Tom McClintock (R-Thousand Oaks), who has relied heavily on money from PACs representing car dealers, oil companies, gun owners and others.

But despite Beilenson’s refusal to take special-interest cash, the liberal congressman is benefiting from the political activities of at least three special-interest groups that are longtime allies: unionized teachers, environmentalists and abortion rights activists.

And one group said it is giving Beilenson assistance that may be considered a non-monetary PAC donation under federal law.

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Beilenson said he did not ask the groups for help and two of them--the United Teachers-Los Angeles and a local Sierra Club chapter--are apparently conducting their campaigns independently of his.

But a top official of the third, the California Abortion Rights Action League PAC, told The Times she met in August with two Beilenson campaign staffers to discuss how her group could aid him with volunteers and other services.

The official, Robin Schneider, CARAL PAC’s associate director for Southern California, estimated the value of the group’s help at $5,000, an amount equal to the legal maximum that PACs can contribute to a candidate. Among other activities, CARAL PAC raised money for a pro-Beilenson mail brochure targeted at 40,000 voters after his campaign turned down an offer to have his name placed on the brochure for free, Schneider said.

In an interview Friday, Beilenson said UTLA, the Sierra Club and CARAL are old allies and it is natural for them to help him against McClintock.

“I can’t prevent that, nor do I want to. Nor do I see this as the slightest compromise of the principles that I adhere to,” he said. “How can you tell them not to be involved in the campaign? That’s what campaigns are all about.”

But McClintock accused Beilenson of hypocrisy, saying that the congressman wants to create the image of being unsullied by special interests at the same time he benefits from their political activities.

“We’ve been honest and upfront about it and we’ve said all along we’ll take PAC money and report it. The difference is, he’s not being honest about it,” said McClintock.

Besides the help of the three special interest groups, Beilenson reportedly has been offered up to $55,200 in mail brochures and other assistance from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which does accept PAC money.

Going beyond his pledge not to take direct PAC cash, Beilenson told The Times in August he would do everything he could to discourage independent expenditure campaigns by PACs or other interest groups backing his candidacy. Under the law, such efforts cannot be coordinated with a candidate’s campaign.

Interest groups can urge their members to vote for or against a candidate without reporting it as an independent expenditure, said Federal Election Commission spokesman Fred Eiland. The efforts by Sierra Club members and the UTLA appear to be internal communications among members rather than independent expenditures, which are targeted at the general public.

CARAL, however, said its pro-Beilenson mailer will be sent to both members and non-members who support abortion rights. As such, it may qualify as either an independent expenditure or--if deemed to have been coordinated with the Beilenson campaign--a non-monetary PAC contribution, which would have to be reported as such under the Federal Election Campaign Act.

Schneider said she met with the two Beilenson campaign staffers to discuss “what they wanted us to do.”

“They wanted us to help with phones, wanted us to help with volunteers,” she said. CARAL volunteers have worked at Beilenson phone banks for several weeks and the group plans to deliver 75 activists to hand out his campaign flyers in the race’s final days, she said.

Schneider said CARAL also offered to waive a $3,600 fee to place Beilenson’s name on a brochure listing CARAL-endorsed candidates. CARAL is mailing the flyer to 40,000 pro-abortion rights voters in the 24th Congressional District, where Beilenson is battling McClintock.

Schneider said Beilenson’s campaign aides refused the free ad, but asked CARAL to raise money so the lawmaker could be on the mailer. She said CARAL then telephoned supporters who sent checks to CARAL to underwrite the ad. Beilenson’s campaign paid $500, she said, and CARAL made up the difference.

Asked if these steps amount to a non-cash PAC contribution, Schneider said they do not.

“He didn’t take our money directly . . . If they don’t like Tony Beilenson, they don’t write a check for him,” she said.

Beilenson said he urged campaign staffers not to meet with abortion rights groups and that he was unaware of any contact with Schneider. He angrily said his staffers “were not authorized to say anything” to CARAL about assisting him.

Told that Schneider said CARAL raised money for the ad, he replied: “I would never agree to such a thing . . . I’m not at all sure that occurred.”

Referring to the campaign staffers Schneider said she met with, Beilenson said, “A couple of those guys at the office have made a lot of mistakes . . . Obviously, I take responsibility, but I didn’t know about it” until a Times reporter asked him about it late Friday.

He pledged to return any money contributed by CARAL supporters for the brochure “if someone can give me a list of their names.”

Beilenson also has benefited from mailers sent by Sierra Club activists to the club’s 5,500 members in the 24th District. The club’s letter urged environmentalists to work in Beilenson’s campaign and asked friends to do so, too. A club official, David Brown, said the mailing produced several dozen volunteers for Beilenson and that the club was sending a second mailing.

He said these efforts were sponsored not by the Sierra Club as an organization but by local club committees. Brown estimated the cost of both mailings at $2,500.

Brown said the brochures were not coordinated with Beilenson’s campaign, “other than checking information like what the headquarters phone number is, what information we should put in.”

“Beilenson did not tell us not to do it. The office knew we had done it when they got all these volunteers and they were grateful for the volunteers,” said Brown. “They have neither encouraged us at this point nor have they discouraged us.”

UTLA sent out a similar mailing last month to its 5,000-6,000 members in the district, urging them to help Beilenson by “volunteering, taking a lawn sign or writing a small check.”

Inola Henry, UTLA’s political director, said the union also began telephoning members recently to urge them to vote for Beilenson. “We knew he wouldn’t take PAC money. We had to figure out some other process” to help his campaign, she said.

UTLA’s efforts yielded few volunteers for Beilenson, she said, because many teachers are upset by his support of a proposed constitutional amendment to deny U.S. citizenship to U.S.-born children of illegal immigrants.

The congressman also will have available to him up to $55,200 in campaign aid from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee--the legal maximum--said committee spokeswoman Laura Nichols.

“Given how important the race is to the party, and the fact that Mr. Beilenson doesn’t accept PAC money, he can expect as much of our time, attention and money as he needs,” Nichols said. “It’s his call.”

Beilenson said he has not yet taken assistance from the DCCC but has no problems doing so because “it’s clean money.”

“If they do end up helping us, all I will ever know . . . is that I got money from the DCCC. I’ll have no idea in the world who gave the money to them,” he said.