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Stop the Pledge Loophole Used to Dodge Disclosure

Consumer Group Calls For End To Contribution Pledge Loophole Allowing Lawmakers to Conceal Donations At Crucial Moment
Lobbyists and Special Interests Promise Contribution Before Session Ends, But Don't Pay -- And Pols Don't Disclose -- Until After Session Ends

Santa Monica, CA -- The state's political ethics watchdog, the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC), should close a loophole that allows politicians to conceal contributions from special interests and lobbyists in the final days of the legislative session, when the fate of hundreds of bills is on the line, the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights (FTCR) said today. The Orange County Register reports today that at least 14 lawmakers have held fundraisers yet reported no donations after August 9, 2006 when contributions to politicians were required to be disclosed within one day. Rather than writing checks to the politician hosting the fundraiser, the donors instead pledge to contribute later, exploiting an FPPC loophole that exempts such pledges from disclosure.

"Allowing politicians to conceal donations from special interests while deciding the fate of more than 1,500 proposed laws is convenient for lobbyists and lawmakers alike," wrote Douglas Heller and Judy Dugan of the nonpartisan, nonprofit FTCR in a letter to the FPPC today. "But it leaves the public in the dark about one of the most despicable and corrupting traditions in Sacramento: fundraising while legislating."

The letter can be downloaded at: http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/resources/FPPC083006.pdf.

The consumer group, which is supporting Proposition 89 on the November ballot to stop political corruption, asked the FPPC to rewrite its regulations to remove the exemption that creates the contribution pledge loophole. FTCR said that allowing the lobbyists and special interests to make undisclosed pledges to politicians adds a new layer of potential corruption in the Capitol.

"The lobbyist is dangling money in front of a lawmaker while withholding the contribution until after the key legislative decisions are made. At the same time, the public knows nothing of this pressure to vote a certain way. The pledge loophole makes the conflict inherent in fundraising while legislating even more pernicious," concluded FTCR.

FTCR has protested the extraordinary number of fundraisers occurring in the final weeks of August this year. At http://www.Channel89.org the group is presenting video reports from Sacramento about the fundraising blitz and the efforts by politicians and special interests to hide their fundraising activities from public scrutiny.

Special Interests Oppose Proposition 89

Big Business, Big Labor & Their Consultants Team Up To Kill Genuine Reform Of Special Interest Dominance in Sacramento-Prop

By Jamie Court, Carmen Balber

SANTA MONICA, Calif., July 31 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Two of the most prolific special interest campaign givers in Sacramento, the big business lobby and the California Teachers Association, gave up their usual enmity and teamed up today to announce their opposition to campaign finance overhaul, California Proposition 89, on the November ballot.

Both groups will have to file campaign finance reports today showing the scope of their political contributions to candidates, which Proposition 89 virtually eliminates.

"Only a genuine campaign finance reform overhaul like Proposition 89 could force big labor and big business onto the same team because no cash-rich special interest will be able to buy the legislature if Prop 89 passes," said Jamie Court, president of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights (FTCR). "Consultants like Goddard Clausen, that represent big corporations and Republicans, and Gale Kaufman, who works for labor unions and Democrats, see their gravy train ending under Prop 89. The fact that such large and incompatible special interests oppose Prop 89 makes the case for why it will work."

The League of Women Voters, California Common Cause, and Public Campaign have joined FTCR in supporting Prop 89, placed on the ballot by the California Nurses Association.

Excluding today's reporting, which has yet to be made public, the California Teachers Association's candidate committee has given $13,660,191 to candidates since 1999. The Chamber of Commerce's members have easily matched the teachers' spending.

Dirty Money Watch

DirtyMoneyWatch.org Reveals Calif. Politicians' Dirty Secrets, Shows Need for Prop 89, The Clean Money & Fair Elections Act

By Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights

SANTA MONICA, California - July 19 - The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights (FTCR) today launched a new web site to expose cash register politics in California that the passage of campaign finance reform Proposition 89 will end.

DirtyMoneyWatch.org follows the success of FTCR's Arnoldwatch.org in tracking the hidden hand of special interests in the capitol. The web site looks beyond the Governor's office, however, and offers a landmark solution to the corrosive power of special interests and lobbyists over all of California government - Proposition 89 on the November ballot. Get the RSS Feed at http://www.dirtymoneywatch.org/resources/dmw.xml

"Prop 89 is a recall of politics as usual in California and DirtyMoneyWatch.org is the list of grievances that shows the need for cash register politics' demise," said FTCR President Jamie Court. "DirtyMoneyWatch.org is a chronicle of the chronic corruption of political decisions by campaign cash." The initial weblogs reveal:

-- How Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez received a $50,000 political donation from Blue Cross, entitling the HMO to two world cup tickets, two weeks after Nunez helped the insurer defeat major patients rights legislation on the Assembly floor - see http://www.dirtymoneywatch.org/article/?storyId=788

-- The way in which termed-out leaders of the California Senate have opened 2010 candidate committees to continue shaking down donors for campaign cash - see http://www.dirtymoneywatch.org/article/?storyId=777 - and which other lawmakers have followed their lead - see http://www.dirtymoneywatch.org/article/?storyId=903

-- Why it pays to cheat in Fair Political Practices Commission filings now and pay little fines later -- see http://www.dirtymoneywatch.org/article/?storyId=771

-- How the threat of the prison guard union's $10 million campaign war chest prompted Governor Schwarzenegger to do an about face on prison reform - see http://www.dirtymoneywatch.org/article/?storyId=883

-- Just what perks the life and health insurance lobby bought for lawmakers and their spouses - including golf, spa treatments and in-room movies - at the exclusive Pebble Beach last fall - see http://www.dirtymoneywatch.org/article/?storyId=887

Proposition 89 establishes a system of public financing for candidates who reject private money and sets tougher limits on contributions from corporations, unions and private individuals. It also closes current campaign finance loopholes and strives to reduce the influence of professional lobbyists.

Proposition 89 cleans up the corruption of money in politics to enable elected leaders to focus on the wishes and needs of all its citizens rather than their campaign contributors, and to ensure that elections are about candidates' ideas and not about the amount of money they raise.

A summary of Proposition 89's main provisions:

-- Public funding for candidates who agree not to take private money for their campaigns. To qualify for the funds, candidates must collect a set number of $5 contributions.

-- Participating candidates may receive additional matching funds of up to five times the original amount of funding to compete equally with independent expenditures, or expenditures by wealthy and other privately-funded opponents.

-- Contribution limits that apply across the board to corporations, unions, and individuals: no more than $500 per election cycle to individual legislative candidates, $1,000 for statewide offices, $1,000 to so-called independent expenditure committees, $7,500 to political parties and aggregate total limits of $15,000 per year per donor to all candidates and committees that seek to influence the election of candidates.

-- A ban on contributions to candidates by lobbyists and state contractors.

-- Corporate treasury donations capped at $10,000 per ballot measure. Additional contributions from both unions and corporations on initiatives must be made through political action committees.

-- Funding generated by a 0.2 percent increase in the corporation tax rate from 8.84 percent to 9.04 percent - a figure lower than it was from 1980 to 1996.

-- Extensive public disclosure requirements.

-- Strong enforcement provisions, including removing those who cheat the system from office.