Friday, December 17, 2004
By Andrew Bird
The Times-Standard
North Coast Assemblywoman Patty Berg will become the principal coauthor of a state Senate bill that seeks to require nonprofit groups that run political ads to disclose who they are.
Berg signed onto SB 36, introduced by state Sens. Dean Florez and Martha Escutia, in the wake of an ad campaign that targeted Eureka City Councilman Chris Kerrigan in last month's election.
About a week before the election a group calling itself the Eureka Coalition for Jobs mounted an ad blitz critical of Kerrigan, laying the blame for the region's lack of jobs at the incumbent's feet.
To date, the Eureka Coalition for Jobs has not revealed its membership. The group's front man, influential Sacramento lobbyist Wayne Ordos, has maintained his clients are not required to follow campaign disclosure laws because the ads did not specifically advocate a vote against Kerrigan or for Kerrigan's opponent, Rex Bohn.
Bohn, whom Kerrigan soundly defeated on Nov. 2, said he has no connection with the Eureka Coalition for Jobs, and denounced the highly critical ad campaign against his opponent.
Ordos has said a 2002 California appeals court decision involving the re-election committee of former Gov. Gray Davis shields his clients from disclosure.
The Times-Standard has asked California's Fair Political Practices Commission to force Ordos and the Eureka Coalition for Jobs to file disclosure documents.
Florez, a Democrat from Shafter, east of Bakersfield, was targeted in a recent but less-direct ad campaign by a nonprofit group that has also failed to file campaign disclosure documents.
A registered nonprofit called Consumer Alliance for a Strong Economy ran ads in August and November that said Florez was not as moderate as the senator claims.
Florez, who is not up for re-election until November 2006, unveiled SB 36 at a press conference this week at the Capitol.
It would require all non-profit organizations with an Internal Revenue Service 501(c)(4) tax-exempt designation to file disclosure statements just like a campaign committee.
"Consumer Alliance for a Strong Economy should be held to the same standard as other political entities and reveal its financial backers so the public can make informed decisions about both the content and purpose of political ads," Florez said.
Berg Thursday said she has long felt campaigning should be conducted in the open.
"Secrecy and democracy don't mix," Berg said in a press release. "When you find a glaring loophole like this, you've got to try to close it."
The loophole Berg and Florez want to close revolves around the interpretation of issue-oriented versus direct advocacy ads.
Ordos, the front man for the Eureka Coalition for Jobs, and the front people for the Consumer Alliance for a Strong Economy maintain that because their ads don't directly advocate a vote for or against a candidate or ballot measure they qualify as issue-oriented advertisements.
The California appeals court, relying on past U.S. Supreme Court decisions, ruled in the 2002 Davis case that groups who run issue-oriented ads are protected under free speech freedoms.
However, the ruling does not specifically state that all ads not advocating a vote for or against a specific candidate or ballot measure qualify as issue-oriented.
Senate Bill 36 would clarify this distinction by requiring that an "advertisement that clearly identifies a candidate for elective state office, but does not expressly advocate the election or defeat of the candidate" be required to disclose under the rules set forth in California's Political Reform Act.
However, SB 36 would only apply to registered nonprofit groups.
The current language would not stop groups such as the Eureka Coalition for Jobs, which is not a registered nonprofit, from running clandestine ads like those targeting Kerrigan last month.
Will Shuck, Berg's press spokesman, said there will be plenty of time to amend SB 36 to make it more comprehensive.
"It's rare that a bill makes it through both houses of the Legislature without amendments," Shuck said.
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