California legislators blur work, campaigns

SACRAMENTO — On almost any given weekday when the Legislature is in town, restaurants, bars and nightclubs near the Capitol play host to campaign fundraisers for lawmakers, with some places holding multiple, even simultaneous, events throughout the day.

It is a commonplace occurrence, but it doesn’t happen at all state capitals. In fact, 15 states including Florida, Illinois and Texas prohibit political contributions to lawmakers while they are in session and voting on bills.

“The line has been blurred between the work of the people and campaigning, and that should cause some concern for voters,” said Philip Ung, policy advocate for California Common Cause, a good government organization. He said the culture at the Capitol has become “a nightlife of fundraising,” adding, “they’re doing this on the

taxpayer’s dime.”

California’s Legislature is full time and technically in session the entire year, but officials track the days when lawmakers actually are at the Capitol. Those are called legislative session days. Last year, the Legislature had 130 such days, according to administrative officials in the Senate and Assembly.

Lawmakers mainly are at the Capitol from Monday through Thursday, which is when the majority of campaign money is raised, according to a Maplight analysis of campaign finance reports from the National Institute on Money in State Politics done for The Chronicle.

That analysis of campaign contributions to lawmakers from 2008 to 2010, the latest figures available for a detailed comparison, found that of the almost $162 million in campaign funds raised in that time, about $125 million was raised from Monday through Thursday.

During those years, 42 percent of all contributions were made on either a Monday or a Tuesday, according to Maplight, a nonpartisan organization based in Berkeley that analyzes the influence of money on politics. Just 6 percent of the contributions were made on a Saturday or Sunday.

Events draw lobbyists

Some recent fundraising events have included cocktail parties, spa days, vodka tasting tours, Champagne brunches, and professional basketball and baseball games. Lawmakers can receive only $3,900 annually from each person who contributes, and tickets to these functions range from that top amount to about $500, depending on the event.

The events attract lobbyists and others with interests in influencing policy at the Capitol. These fundraisers also are closed to reporters, and several event organizers holding campaigns for members of both parties declined The Chronicle’s request for a reporter or photographer to attend.

Lobbyists are banned from contributing their own money to a candidate’s campaign, but they are able to deliver checks on behalf of their clients.

Steven Maviglio, a Democratic political consultant who has worked for two Assembly speakers, said he does not think the current practice is a problem. He said fundraising did not use to be a yearround endeavor, but term limits and the cost of campaigns have made it so. The average amount of money candidates need to raise to win a seat in the Legislature is $705,000 (or $965 per day during the two-year term) for the Assembly and almost $1.4 million (or $943 per day during the four-year term) for the Senate, according to Maplight. Maviglio said he does not think changing the rules would make a difference anyway.

“For appearances’ sake, it sounds like a good thing, but at the end of the day, if someone wants to write a check to a legislator, I think the time they write it is inconsequential,” he said.

There would be an impact on the few dozen businesses near the Capitol that make money hosting the events, though.

“Sacramento would be a ghost town after 6,” he said.

Bans in other states

Many of the bans in other states were put in place in the late 1980s and early 1990s, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, which tracks the issue nationwide.

Peter Butzin, state chairman of Common Cause Florida, said the ban there is not a cure-all for problems associated with money in politics, but it helps.

“It makes for a system that is already bad a little less egregious,” he said. Florida has its legislative session once a year for 60 days in the spring and lawmakers there can raise money the remainder of the year.

In California, any change to campaign finance laws that impact the Legislature would almost certainly have to be done through a ballot initiative, said Robert Stern, former president of the Center for Governmental Studies.

‘Reality check’ needed

“It’s hard to pass a measure that restricts the Legislature because the Legislature would have to do it themselves,” he said. “They don’t want to make a change to a system in which they won.”

Stern said he’d like to see an effort to lower the contribution limit for candidates in California to that of federal elections, which is $2,500, and to ban all gifts to lawmakers.

Ung from California Common Cause agreed that any change would not come at the hands of lawmakers themselves, but said banning fundraising when they are in Sacramento would be a good move.

“Legislators need a reality check on why they are up here,” he said.