A way to buy influence

To see how special interests continue to find ways around campaign finance laws, look no further than their contributions to politicians’ favorite causes. There are limits on individual campaign donations, but none on “behested payments” — donations made at politicians’ request for a legislative, governmental or charitable purpose. So wellfunded groups, be they casinos, unions or enormous telecom corporations, can contribute as much as they like to politicians’ special interests. According to the Fair Political Practices Commission, about 350 donations worth $3 million were made at the request of state politicians so far this year. Even though Gov. Jerry Brown is in his final term, he elicited the largest amount of money. Hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations have gone to the Oakland Military Institute and the Oakland School for the Arts, two charter schools he founded when he was the mayor of Oakland. Among the donors were Prime Healthcare, currently facing a U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit into its business practices, and the San Pablo Lytton Casino, which has lobbied against Internet poker bills.

In response, Brown spokesman Evan Westrup said the donations represent “an opportunity” for donors to invest in their communities.

Many behested payments go to perfectly reasonable causes, and the money is spent on perfectly reasonable charitable expenses. But the critics who feel this kind of spending is inappropriate are right.

The relationship between a politician and a favored charity is often mutually beneficial.

More to the point, special interest groups always expect something in exchange for their donations — even if it’s just positive attention from the politicians in a state where they do business.