CALPIRG's Legislative Director, Steve Blackledge

A newspaper headline in the San Francisco Chronicle this spring read: “Governor wants to exclude consumer group from campaign cash suit.” That consumer group was CALPIRG, and although the headline told a story of a clash between us and Gov. Schwarzenegger, the real issue was whether California should rein in the influence of big money in political elections.

The story starts when Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante ran for governor during the recall election of 2003. He was the key spokesman for a ballot committee working to oppose a ballot measure, and the committee featured him prominently in its TV ads.

When big contributors hit their legal maximum in contributions to Mr. Bustamante, they could then give unlimited contributions to the ballot committee, which would in turn run new television ads featuring him. And all of this obviously boosted his recognition during his campaign for governor.

It was such a handy (and legal) loophole in California’s campaign finance laws that the Fair Political Practices Commission adopted new rules in the summer of 2004 to close it.

The new rules state that when a candidate controls a ballot committee, contribution limits that apply to the candidate also apply to the committee.

Fast forward to early February, and it was becoming increasingly apparent that Gov. Schwarzenegger was controlling a business-led ballot committee called Citizens to Save California. He was raising its money and determining which ballot measures it would support. Thus, the donors should have been limited in how much money they could give to the committee. They weren’t.

A campaign finance watchdog organization called TheRestOfUs.org filed a complaint to the Fair Political Practices Commission, charging that Citizens to Save California was in violation of the law. Rather than fighting the complaint, Citizens to Save California responded by filing a lawsuit to strike down the newly adopted contribution limits, and the governor intervened on their behalf.

That’s when CALPIRG entered the picture. Not wanting big corporations to have even bigger sway in our elections, we stood up for the Fair Political Practices Commission and its new contribution limits. We first attempted to intervene on behalf of the state, and when the governor and Citizens to Save California blocked our efforts, we filed an amicus or “friend of the court” brief on the state’s behalf.

Unfortunately, a judge sided with Citizens to Save California and struck down the important new rule. To its credit, the Fair Political Practices Commission has since appealed, and we’re hoping for the best.

Whether or not there’s a happy ending, I can safely predict two things. First, big corporations will continue to look for new ways to use big contributions to influence California’s elections.

Second, CALPIRG, an organization that stands up for California’s consumers and in so doing stands up to many powerful special interests, will continue our work to prevent big money from having an undue say in our elections.

Steve Blackledge
Legislative Director