By BY YUE STELLA YU | CalMatters
Described by its author as the “most significant political reform” in decades, a 2022 law designed to limit businesses’ and contractors’ attempts to sway local elected officials with campaign contributions cleared the California Legislature without a single “no” vote.
Two years later, some of the same legislators who backed the measure want to water it down — and they have the backing of developers and labor unions.
Sen. Bill Dodd, a Napa Democrat, is championing a bill to loosen restrictions on how much — and when — local elected officials can accept in campaign cash from interest groups who would benefit financially from those officials’ pending decisions. The bill would also exempt certain industries — such as some labor unions and housing developers — from those restrictions to prevent “pay to play.”
“It has become very apparent that there are problems,” Dodd said of the existing law. “The law essentially freezes out a sector of the community from donating anything directly to candidates.”
Senate Bill 1243 cleared the Senate Elections Committee 4-1 on Tuesday despite concerns from the committee’s chairperson, Sen. Catherine Blakespear, who criticized the bill as “unworkable” and “problematic.”
“I would argue this bill is not worth moving forward. It has too many problems in it,” said the Encinitas Democrat, the lone “no” vote.
Because the bill would change the voter-approved 1974 Political Reform Act, it needs a two-thirds majority in both the Senate and Assembly to reach Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Dodd and other senators who voted for the bill Tuesday also supported the 2022 law. When asked why he voted in favor two years ago, Dodd told CalMatters: “I don’t think anybody really read into the details.” Prompted by a staffer, he then changed his answer: “I don’t think we understood the implications.”
The 2022 law passed after several local “pay-to-play” scandals. Between…
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