Contact: Ned Wigglesworth 916-446-4741

Press Advisory

Today the California Assembly passed AB 709, a bill which would apply a limit of $5,000 (adjusted for inflation) on contributions to ballot committees controlled by candidates for elective state office. AB 709 now goes to the Senate. If it passes the Senate, it goes to Governor Schwarzenegger. If he signs it, AB 709 is then referred to the June 2006 ballot.

AB 709 originally was slated to be a normal bill, not one referred to the ballot. Any changes to the Political Reform Act require a 2/3 vote by the legislature or approval by the people of California, so when AB 709 failed to get 2/3 vote in the Assembly, it was changed to a ballot referral, which passed today 43-29 with some votes outstanding.

AB 709 is a stronger version of FPPC Reg 18530.9, which applied candidate limits to the ballot committees which they control. 18530.9 was stricken by a Sacramento County Superior Court in March, a decision currently being appealed by the FPPC.

If AB 709 successfully passes the Senate, Governor Schwarzenegger will have to choose between his oft-stated political philosophy of letting the people decide and his predilection for raising money in enormous quantities into ballot committees he controls.

Florida Governor Jeb Bush recently commented that he knew nothing about Governor Schwarzenegger’s initiatives, although he participated in two of Schwarzenegger’s fundraisers in Florida. Bush’s statement highlights one of the concerns that TheRestofUs.org has about Governor Schwarzenegger’s fundraising: that donors give to Schwarzenegger’s ballot committees not because of the policies they propose, but because they are run by the governor. In essence, these donations to Schwarzenegger are campaign contributions, in many cases many times greater than the $22,300 limit for gubernatorial candidates in California.

AB 709 would go some ways towards restoring California’s ballot initiative process to its rightful owners – the people of California, not the millionaires and special interests that currently use it for political sport.

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Background: TheRestofUs.org is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization working to make democracy work for ordinary citizens. TheRestofUs.org is involved in campaign finance ballot measures in Oregon and Ohio and independent redistricting policy in California, Florida, and Ohio. We will soon file an amicus brief asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review and uphold Vermont’s mandatory spending limits. We also support federal efforts to eliminate the 527 loophole for soft money electioneering.