Posted on 04/05/2005 4:42:47 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
SACRAMENTO (AP) - An Assembly committee Tuesday joined the effort to clamp limits on how much candidates and officeholders such as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger can raise for ballot measure committees they control.
The Elections and Redistricting Committee approved a bill by Assemblywoman Lois Wolk, D-Davis, that would allow donors to give no more than $5,600 to those committees, although the limit would be adjusted for inflation every two years.
A Sacramento judge last month struck down a broader range of donation limits adopted by the state Fair Political Practices Commission, but Wolk predicted her bill could survive a court challenge if it becomes law.
The FPPC limits would allow donors to give no more to candidate-controlled ballot measure committees than they could give directly to candidates under Proposition 34.
For most donors, those limits are $22,300 for candidates for governor, $5,600 for candidates for other statewide offices and $3,300 for candidates for the Legislature.
Supporters said the limits were needed for candidate-controlled ballot measure committees to prevent powerful interest groups and wealthy individuals from circumventing the intent of voters when they approved Proposition 34 in 2000.
But Schwarzenegger, who is hoping to raise $50 million this year to promote ballot measures he supports, challenged the FPPC regulations in court.
And Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Shelleyanne Chang sided with the Republican governor, ruling that the FPPC exceeded its authority in adopting the regulations. She also said the rules unreasonably restricted the rights of candidates.
The FPPC hasn't decided yet whether to appeal the ruling, said spokesman Jon Matthews.
Wolk's bill would impose the same $5,600 limit on donations to any candidate-controlled ballot measure committee, no matter which office the candidate held or was seeking.
Wolk said that would remove the inequality that could be created by the FPPC regulations if a candidate for governor, for instance, had a committee supporting a particular ballot measure and a legislator had a committee opposing it.
Mark Krausse, the FPPC's executive director, said the commission strongly supports the bill.
"These limits are important to ensuring the integrity of the election system and to removing the dominance of monied interests in our state's politics," added Jo Ann Fuller, a representative of California Common Cause.
Tuesday's 4-2 vote sent the bill to the Appropriations Committee, the last stop before the Assembly floor.
Similar legislation passed the state Senate last year but fell two votes short in the Assembly.
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On the Net: Read the bill, AB709, at www.assembly.ca.gov
Who needs Free Speech?
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
But they don't have a 2/3 majority, and Arnold has a veto.
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