CA: Governor wants to exclude consumer group from campaign cash suit (CalPIRG)

Bakersfield Californian ^ | 3/2/05 | Tom Chorneau - AP

[NormsRevenge]

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Attorneys representing Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and some of his closest political allies are putting up an aggressive challenge to stop a consumer group from helping to defend a state limit on campaign contributions.

The California Public Interest Research Group, CalPIRG, has filed a request in Sacramento Superior Court to intervene in support of a state rule that limits how much money donors can give to a candidate-controlled committee.

With a hearing on the issue set for Friday, attorneys representing the governor and the Citizens to Save California, a political action committee organized by Schwarzenegger supporters, have filed briefs opposing CalPIRG's support of the California Fair Political Practices Commission.

"You've got to ask yourself why are they devoting so much energy to keeping this reform group out of the lawsuit," said attorney Lance Olson, who is representing CalPIRG. "And the answer is that they know they have an advantage. They've got the FPPC outgunned and they don't want them to have any help defending their regulation."

At issue is a regulation adopted by the Fair Political Practices Commission last summer that limits how much money donors can give to ballot measure committees run by officeholders. The limit was imposed to close a loophole in a voter-approved limit on fund-raising that Schwarzenegger has used to his great advantage since his entry into politics in the 2003 recall election.

Proposition 34 caps donations to gubernatorial candidates currently at $22,300 per election.

The governor's campaigns have in the past relied on the ability to raise unlimited funds from contributors because the money was being used to support ballot initiatives - not his re-election.

Schwarzenegger has said he needs to raise $50 million, for instance, to support his measures he wants to put before voters this fall in a special election.

Citizens to Save California and Schwarzenegger have said the $22,300 limit on contributions for ballot committee's illegally "restricts freedom of speech rights," according to a statement from one of its directors.

The governor's office referred calls for comment to Thomas Hiltachk, one of the governor's attorneys in the suit, who did not return phone calls. But in papers filed with the Superior Court, he argued that CalPIRG would add little to the debate.

"(We) believe that the FPPC has adequately addressed all these legal arguments and its position does not need CalPIRG's rather-lengthy "ditto," the brief states.

Olson called it ironic that the governor's camp wants to keep CalPIRG out of the suit given that Schwarzenegger asked for and received approval from the FPPC last month to intervene himself in the same suit.

"Schwarzenegger promotes himself as a reformer and he's trying to keep a reform organization with a long history in campaign finance issues from defending this regulation," Olson said.

Established in 1972, CalPIRG boasts a membership of about 20,000 and is perhaps best known in recent years for its efforts to improve protections against identify theft and privacy rules. In 1996, however, the group sponsored Proposition 212, an unsuccessful measure that would have banned corporate campaign contributions, and has a long tradition of interest in the issue, Olson said.

Tracy Westen, chief executive officer of the Center for Governmental Studies, a nonpartisan research organization in Los Angeles, said the move by the governor's attorneys should not have been unexpected.

"This is hardball," said Westen, who said he would be surprised if the court does not rule in favor of CalPIRG. "The courts will say no if they feel that the intervener has nothing to contribute or their link to the case is tangential or if there are already too many in the case. I don't see that here."

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On the Net

http://www.governor.ca.gov/state/govsite/gov-homepage.jsp

Gov.'s home page

http://www.pirg.org/calpirg/

California Public Interest Research Group

[calcowgirl]

I hope the limits stay. There is too much money in this game, giving us such memorable "reforms" as $20 Billion of debt.