Campaign Reform Bill Approved in State Senate

A Democratic-backed campaign reform bill that would partially finance legislative candidates with taxpayer funds while restricting campaign contributions and spending won narrow approval Wednesday in the state Senate.

A 22-12 vote, one more than necessary, sent the measure to the deeply divided Assembly, where its future is unclear. Last year, Republican Gov. Pete Wilson vetoed a similar bill on the grounds that it represented a gift of tax funds to politicians at the expense of struggling government services.

The author of the measure, Senate President Pro Tem Bill Lockyer (D-Hayward), said his latest bill represented an attempt to apply the brakes to the skyrocketing cost of running for the Legislature.

But he conceded that his bill (SB 752) faces another uphill battle to win over Assembly Republicans and Wilson. Even so, Lockyer told the Senate he senses favorable “new feelings stirring” about the merits of public financing.

He said these include the fears of some opponents that one day they may face an extremely wealthy challenger who is capable of financing a campaign with personal funds, in the manner of Republican U.S. Senate candidate Michael Huffington.

Huffington last year spent a record $28 million in a close but unsuccessful effort to defeat Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-San Francisco). Almost all of the money was from his personal fortune. He has said he may run for governor in 1998.

Under the Lockyer bill, which was opposed by the state Department of Finance, taxpayers could designate $5 on their tax returns for use in financing Assembly and state Senate candidates in the general election. Public financing would not be available in primary contests.

To qualify for tax funds, state Senate candidates would have to raise at least $45,000 in private contributions and Assembly contenders would have to collect $30,000. Under a distribution formula, a private contribution of $1,000, for example, would bring the office seeker $2,700 in taxpayer funds.

Candidates seeking public funds also would agree to accept fund-raising restrictions in both the primary and general elections. Political action committees and other organizations could contribute up to $5,000 per candidate in the primary and general campaigns. Individual donors would be limited to giving $2,000 per election cycle.

Direct transfers of funds between candidates would be outlawed, although party caucuses and organizations could contribute up to 33% of the cost of a candidate’s campaign. Transfers currently enable Lockyer and other legislative leaders to serve as major conduits of campaign funds for candidates.

Lockyer said that under his proposed reform, a taxpayer-financed candidate in a competitive state Senate race could spend approximately $800,000 in the general election, while an Assembly candidate could spend about $560,000.

Last year, the typical winning candidate for the state Senate spent $676,000 during the primary and general campaigns, according to Common Cause, a watchdog organization. Assembly winners spent about $299,000.

Common Cause lobbyist Ruth Holton said her organization supports the Lockyer bill as a “huge step in the right direction,” but does not believe it goes far enough. “We would prefer to have lower spending and contribution limits,” she said.

The bill was endorsed by Democrats, state Sen. Lucy Killea (I-San Diego) and one Republican--GOP Senate Leader Ken Maddy of Fresno, who has broken from his party in the past on the issue of public campaign financing. All the votes against the measure were cast by Republicans and state Sen. Quentin Kopp (I-San Francisco).