Campaign Finance Initiative Launched Anew

Almost no one in the political establishment was in favor of Proposition 40 when Assemblyman Ross Johnson (R-Fullerton) managed to get it on the November, 1984, ballot.

“Proposition 40 was sort of ‘Ross Johnson against the world,’ ” Johnson said recently.

The Republican and Democratic parties, the legislative leadership of both parties, most of the members of the Legislature, special interest groups and even public interest groups opposed it for a variety of reasons. And no wonder. Prop. 40 would have drastically reshaped how campaigns are financed.

It suffered a crushing defeat at the polls.

Three years later, Johnson is trying it again. But this time he is not alone. In an effort to broaden support for the measure, he has acquired two allies--Sen. Quentin Kopp of San Francisco, an independent, and Sen. Joseph B. Montoya, a Democrat from Whittier. And his own Assembly GOP caucus has endorsed the measure.

System ‘Out of Hand’

“I believe that the system under which we finance political campaigns in California simply has gotten out of hand,” Johnson said.

Unlike Prop. 40, the new initiative, which will not be given a number unless 372,178 registered voters sign a petition by Jan. 8 to qualify it for the ballot, does not include the public-financing provision that Johnson said was responsible for the earlier measure’s defeat.

In fact, the new measure explicitly prohibits public financing of state and local political campaigns. The new initiative would limit private campaign contributions to $1,000 per individual, labor union or corporation; $2,500 per political action committee (PAC) and $5,000 per “broad-based” PAC or political party.

Another controversial provision calls for a ban on transfers of campaign funds from one politician to another. Currently, such transfers are widely practiced in both parties.

‘Both Parties Do It’

“Legislative candidates feel this enormous pressure to raise money out of fear of last-minute transfers being directed against them,” Johnson said.

“Both parties do it, and a large number of members do it, myself included,” he added.

According to Johnson’s office, the signature-gathering effort, which is expected to cost $350,000, is “doing very well.”

The measure is expected to have heavy opposition. Alan Hoffenblum, a GOP political consultant, said that if passed it would “be hard for us Republicans to get control” of the Legislature because money could not be poured into targeted races.

“Money is the power to communicate,” Hoffenblum said. “We’ve already won the easy ones, remember.”

The Johnson-Montoya-Kopp proposal probably will have company on the ballot, as petitions for two other campaign finance reform initiatives are being circulated.