Comments of Ned Wigglesworth
FPPC Meeting, March 21, 2005

Good morning.

My name is Ned Wigglesworth. I am an analyst for TheRestofUs.org, a nonpartisan watchdog group that works on campaign finance and other related issues.

I'm here today to ask and encourage you to join us in our legal efforts to stop the illegal fundraising by the Citizens to Save California committee and Governor Schwarzenegger.

On February 7, we filed a complaint with the FPPC asking you to investigate the fundraising by the Governor and the Committee, which seemed to be under the Governor's control. The next day, the Committee filed a lawsuit against this Commission and FPPC Regulation 18530.9, which this Commission passed to prohibit the evasion of contribution limits for candidates with unlimited donations to candidate-controlled committees.

Since then, the Governor's control of the committee and its fundraising over the legal limit for a candidate-controlled committee have become ever more clear. Each passing day, played out in the newspapers and news programs across this state, the Governor and the Committee have thumbed their nose at this Commission and the laws of this state. For this reason, TheRestofUs.org filed suit last week to stop the illegal fundraising.

Despite their lawsuit to overturn Regulation 18530.9, both the Committee and the Governor continue to protest that the Governor does not control the Committee. The facts say otherwise. The Political Reform Act states that a candidate controls a committee if, among other things, that candidate has significant influence on a committee's actions. That the Governor has a significant influence on the Committee is more obvious each passing day.

To the extent that there was conflict within the Committee about what initiatives to support, that conflict has been resolved at the Governor's behest in favor of the Governor's agenda:
- On education, some members of the Committee expressed doubt that a merit pay initiative would be viable. Just last week, at the behest of the Governor, the Committee added merit pay to its list of initiatives that it supports.
- On state spending, the Committee endorsed the Governor's plan over another plan strongly preferred by members of the committee.
- On redistricting, despite pressure from members of California's Congressional delegation, the Committee endorsed the plan favored by the Governor.

Not only does the Governor's control seem clear, but the Committee's fundraising over and above the limits is now a matter of public record. Twenty-five corporations and individuals have made contributions to the Committee which exceed Prop 34's limits for candidates for governor, including one for $1.5 million.

The Commission is now battling in court to support its Regulation 18530.9, despite opposition from the Governor, who appoints two members of this Commission and controls its budget. But your efforts to defend the campaign finance laws of this state will be undermined if candidates and committees are allowed to violate the law, especially if done in such a flagrant and disdainful manner, especially if done by a governor.

We believe that this Commission was right to prevent the evasion of the campaign finance laws by passing Regulation 18530.9 and right to fight efforts to overturn that regulation in court. We now ask you to continue that fight by joining our case against the blatant illegal fundraising currently underway across California and across the nation.

Thank you for your time and attention.

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TheRestofUs.org is a nonpartisan political watchdog dedicated to alerting citizens to the problems of big money in politics.