Newsgroups: alt.etext From: kiddyr@gallant.apple.com (Ray Kiddy) Subject: CA Common Cause rpt available Message-ID: <1993Jul27.021254.25368@gallant.apple.com> Date: Tue, 27 Jul 1993 02:12:54 GMT Organization: Apple Computer Inc. Lines: 188 CALIFORNIA COMMON CAUSE NEWS CITIZENS WORKING FOR BETTER GOVERNMENT FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Kim Alexander Wednesday, July 7, 1993 Ruth Holton (916) 443-1792 CALIFORNIA COMMON CAUSE RELEASES REPORT ON 1991-92 TOP TEN CONTRIBUTORS An electronic version of this report is now available on the Internet! to retrieve: % ftp sunnyside.com user> ftp password: your name ftp> cd ccause - and there you are!!!! if you have problems reaching this site, mail me at ray@ganymede.apple.com. thanx - ray kiddy and now on to the summary.... California Medical Association PAC is Largest Contributor in the State Prison Guards PAC Ranks #2 New Conservative PAC Ranks #4 A California Common Cause study, "Deep Pockets", released today, reveals that the California Medical Association was the top contributor to legislative campaigns in the 1991-92 election cycle, followed by the California Correctional Peace Officers Association. The study also revealed a historic new entrant, Allied Business PAC, the first ideological PAC to rank among the Top Ten. The 1992 Top Ten are: 1. California Medical Association - $1,338,314 2. California Correctional Peace Officers Association - $1,017,972 3. California Teachers Association - $992,695 4. Allied Business PAC - $915,745 5. California Trial Lawyers Association - $716,722 6. California Real Estate PAC - $649,800 7. Association of California Insurance Companies - $604,980 8. Atlantic Richfield Company - $529,449 9. California Dental PAC - $515,241 10. California Optometric PAC - $497,271 "These special interests dump millions of dollars into the river of campaign money that floods the Capitol and drowns out the voice of the public," said Kim Alexander, author of the report and Policy Analyst for California Common Cause. "Without campaign financing restrictions, the public should - and no doubt will - question the Legislature's ability to remain independent from the special interests that contribute generously to their campaigns," Alexander added. -more- The study also found that: % The Top Ten's contributions comprised ten percent of all funds raised by 1992 legislative candidates. % The typical Top Ten donor gave to 88 members of the 120-member Legislature, with a median contribution of $3,000. % The total amount of money contributed by the Top Ten increased by 28 percent since 1990, when contribution limits were in effect. % The Top Ten spent a total of $33 million on state political activities in 1991 and 1992, including campaign contributions, independent expenditures, lobbying expenditures, contributions to political parties, initiatives, local candidates and measures, and other political committees. % The California Teachers' Association ranked number one in terms of total political expenditures, and spent $7.4 million on state political activities in 1991 and 1992. % The Top Ten's lobbying expenditures of $18.1 million comprised eight percent of all 1991/92 lobbying expenditures in the state. "Most of these interest groups are 'access donors' that give campaign money as part of a multi-pronged strategy to gain support from the Legislature on their issues," Alexander explained. "Their contributions buy precious access to busy lawmakers who solicit campaign funds year-round." Legislation that is sponsored by monied interests frequently moves easily through the legislative process. When the FBI conducted an undercover investigation into corruption in the State Capitol, federal authorities later said they couldn't believe how easy it was to move their phony sting bill through the legislative process. "The FBI's bogus bill moved easily through the Legislature because it was not unlike many other pieces of special interest legislation that pass out of the Legislature every year," Alexander said. The Top Ten includes interests that are regulated by the state, engaged in professional turf battles, or targets of legislative reform efforts. The second and third largest donors represent state public employee groups - prison guards and teachers - who have an enormous stake in how the state budget is crafted. In the 93/94 budget, no cuts were made to K-12 education funding, and prison funding increased by almost eleven percent over the 1992/93 appropriation. Meanwhile, funding for health and welfare, higher education and local government decreased. "It is no coincidence that the lobbying organizations that work on these issues contribute little or no money to legislative campaigns," Alexander said. The study also found that special interests' generosity is no longer confined to incumbents. In 1990, 92 percent of the Top Ten contributions went to incumbents. By contrast, in 1992, 59 percent went to incumbents, and a record 31 percent went to candidates in the 24 open seat Assembly races. While the high number of open seats in 1992 was due largely to redistricting, the election provides a glimpse at how contribution patterns will be affected by the open seats that will result from legislative term limits. "Proponents of term limits argued that the influence of special interests could be reduced by removing incumbents from office, since special interests contributed almost exclusively to incumbents," said Ruth Holton, Executive Director of California Common Cause. "This study shows that the deep pockets who traditionally have funded California's campaigns will no longer limit their giving to incumbents and ignore open seat races," she added. "Now, more than ever, we need campaign finance reform to level the playing field between interest groups in the Capitol. If the Legislature refuses to enact comprehensive campaign finance reform, we will go to the voters directly with an initiative," Holton said. Common Cause also released today an in-depth profile of the fourth largest donor in the state, Allied Business PAC. Allied was created in 1992 and received its funds from four wealthy Southern California businessmen who believe that by pooling their resources they can more effectively support candidates who advocate their conservative agenda. Most of Allied's candidates ran for open seats, and on almost identical campaign platforms: anti-gay rights, anti-abortion, anti-tax, anti-gun control, anti-government regulation, support for a school voucher system, pro-business, and promotion of the family unit. Most of the Allied-backed candidates received strong grassroots support from Christian political activists. Common Cause's Donor Profile found that Allied's four donors gave over $2.2 million to legislative candidates and state political causes in 1992. Specifically: % The largest contributor to Allied Business PAC was Howard Ahmanson, who gave $565,000 to the PAC. The heir to the Home Savings of America fortune, and a self-described "evangelical Episcopalian", Ahmanson contributed a total of $1,144,484 to state candidates and political causes in 1992. % The second largest contributor to Allied was Rob Hurtt, who gave $520,242 to the PAC. Hurtt, who is now a state senator, contributed a total of $765,387 to candidates and political causes in 1992. % Allied contributed more money to open seat candidates than any other Top Ten donor. % Allied and its donors contributed a total of $404,695 to the California Republican Party, which comprised nine percent of the total money raised by the party in 1992. Allied contributed to only 26 candidates; by contrast, the California Teachers' Association contributed to 126 legislative candidates. Allied's median contribution of $16,000 was also far larger than the median contributions of the other Top Ten. While other donors contributed the bulk of their money to incumbents, Allied gave its money almost exclusively to challengers and candidates running in open seat races. Nine of the Republican Assembly freshmen - one-third of the freshmen class - received major funding from Allied and its donors. "The absence of contribution limits allowed Allied's candidates to receive unlimited amounts of money from only a handful of sources," said Alexander. "For many of Allied's successful candidates, the deep pockets of Allied's donors - especially Hurtt and Ahmanson - were key to their victory, " Alexander noted. "With contribution patterns that are radically different from those of the other Top Ten donors, Allied's strategy represents a new model for campaign financing in the era of term limits," said Alexander. "No other PAC had a greater impact on the outcome of the 1992 legislative races than Allied Business PAC," Alexander concluded. Common Cause plans to release a series of in-depth profiles on each of the Top Ten donors. Copies of "Deep Pockets" and the "Allied Business PAC Donor Profile" are available from the Common Cause Sacramento office. Common Cause is a non-profit, non-partisan, membership-based organization that promotes political reform.