Donors woo governor by funding pet causes
SACRAMENTO — Termedout Gov. Jerry Brown doesn’t have a campaign that political donors can contribute to in attempts to win his favor, but businesses, unions, foundations and wealthy donors have another way to try to attract special attention.
Casinos, telecom industry giants, oil interests and other well-funded groups — many with business before the governor — have contributed $1.6 million this year alone at Brown’s behest to two charter schools the former Oakland mayor founded: the Oakland Military Institute and Oakland School for the Arts. Those behested payments were among 350 donations worth $3 million that were made at the request of state politicians so far this year, according to the latest data from the Fair Political Practices Commission.
Behested payments are donations made at the request of a politician for a legislative, charitable or governmental purpose. When a group gives $5,000 or more in a year at the request of an elected official, that donation has to be reported to the commission within 30 days. Unlike campaign dona-
tions, there are no limits to behested payments.
Critics argue that the money politicians steer to charities indirectly benefits the elected official. For example, several of the nonprofit groups that received money at the request of politicians this year have then hosted events that help raise the politician’s profile. Lawmakers have also directed money to foundations that try to increase voter turnout among groups most likely to support them.
Assemblyman Sebastian Ridley-Thomas, D-Los Angeles, directed five behest payments this year to a nonprofit called Community Partners, which has close ties to his parents, including his father, Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark RidleyThomas, who is regularly a featured speaker at events put on by the nonprofit.
“When groups make these donations, I don’t think you have to be a cynic to see there is some political bent or favor or gain that may be part of it,” said Jay Wierenga, spokesman for the Fair Political Practices Commission. “A true cynic would say that’s the only thing, but I don’t think that. Some of these things do go to worthwhile organizations.”
While three dozen lawmakers and statewide officials reported behested payments this year, no one comes close to eliciting as much as Brown, who steers nearly all of that money to the Oakland Military Institute and Oakland School for the Arts, which he founded 15 years ago while mayor of the city. Brown also used the behested payments this year for donations to the Abbey of Our Lady of New Clairvaux in Vina (Tehama County) and to the California State Protocol Foundation, which pays for his travel so that taxpayers don’t have to pick up the tab.
Before Brown, then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger also used behested payments for his travel expenses as well as to raise millions for the AfterSchool All-Stars program for kids that he founded.
“These donations represent an opportunity for foundations, businesses and individuals to invest in their communities and help students succeed,” said Brown spokesman Evan Westrup. “The governor is very proud of the two schools he founded in Oakland more than a decade ago, which have served thousands of Bay Area students — many the first in their family to go on to college.”
To be considered a behested payment, the donation has to be solicited in some form from the elected official or someone representing them.
Among the donations Brown solicited:
The Tides Foundation gave $250,000 this year to the Oakland School for the Arts. The San Francisco foundation makes grants to groups that support progressive policies on the environment, health care, labor issues, immigrant rights, gay rights and anti-death-penalty measures.
Prime Healthcare gave $25,000 to Brown’s military charter school in February. That donation comes as the California hospital chain faces a U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit alleging that the organization’s management encouraged doctors to send Medicare patients to the emergency room to inflate reimbursements, regardless of whether it was medically necessary. A review of Fair Political Practices Commission data shows that Prime has not made any other behested payments to any elected official before this year.
The San Pablo Lytton Casino gave $200,000 in two separate $100,000 donations to the Oakland Military Institute and the Oakland School for the Arts this year. The Santa Rosa tribe that runs the casino has lobbied against Internet poker bills that have routinely surfaced in California’s Legislature.
Chevron donated $40,000 to the charter schools on Brown’s behalf over the past three years, including $10,000 this year. The most recent donation came after the California Democratic Party swore off contributions from the oil industry, saying their lobbyists had too much influence in Sacramento. In 2015, Brown railed against the well-financed oil industry after it helped sway moderate Democrats to block a bill that would have drastically reduced gas consumption in the state.
Pharmaceutical giant Gilead Sciences gave $175,000 over the past three years to Brown’s charter schools. The Foster City company is a member of the trade group Biotechnology Innovation Organization, which is fighting against a bill in the state Legislature that would restrict pharmaceutical companies from giving gifts and incentives to doctors.
Anheuser Busch has given $65,000 to the charter schools since 2015. The beer company has lobbyists in California working on a number of bills, including legislative efforts to fix the state’s recycling program.
Jamie Court, president of the advocacy group Consumer Watchdog, said behested payments are a way for special interests to give large amounts of money to causes that politicians care about. But, the donations come with expectations, he said.
“Special interests expect something in return,” Court said. “Why would Chevron or a drug company care about a military school in Oakland, but for the fact that the governor of California cares and directs them to donate money there?”
Sally Parsons, who oversees fundraising at the Oakland Military Institute, said behested payments are used to help the school increase its enrollment, which includes buying nearby properties to expand, and to provide college scholarships, laptops and programs that state and local funds otherwise could not cover. Parsons said most of the behested payments are made by interest groups, celebrities, large companies and others who attend the school’s annual luncheon in February each year.
The sixth- through 12th-grade school’s overall operating budget for its 750 students is about $8 million. Fundraising and the behested payments can provide $2 million to $3 million on top of that, Parsons said.
But the school is already preparing for that pot to decrease when Brown leaves office in 2018 and many interest groups turn their wallets to whatever the state’s next governor cherishes.
“Some will continue to give when Gov. Brown isn’t in office, but there will be some that won’t,” Parsons said.