“Good Government Activists” Wrong Again in Attacking Fair Political Practices Commission Chair Ross Johnson

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Bill Cavala
A veteran of over 30 years in Sacramento

For more than two decades I had staff oversight responsibilities for the California Fair Political Practices Commission with the State Assembly. During that time I also represented, on my own time and without compensation, various targets of FPPC enforcement actions. And, as someone who used his vacation time as a manager of political campaigns, I often filed charges of violations with the Commission.

This background simply to say that I have some familiarity with the Commission’s enforcement actions over time.

Let me use that background to defend Ross Johnson, Chair of the Commission, as he’s skewered by “good government activists” on the charge of being soft to his fellow politicians (Johnson served in both the State Assembly and State Senate). The evidence of his “soft” policy is that fewer dollars in fines were exacted last year than the years prior to his service.

Nothing could be further than the truth.

In the Commission’s heyday, relatively few cases were pursued by the enforcement division – but they were heavyweight cases. The theory was to use the power of the press to punish political malefactors. The size of the fine was really only to get the attention of the press corps and to provide them with a ‘hook’ by which to evaluate how seriously the Commission took the offense.

Beginning with the Chairs appointed by Pete Wilson, a new policy was adopted. If Franchise Tax Board (FTB) audits produced evidence of error, then the Commission applied a strict liability theory of negligence and fined everybody who made a mistake. It resulted in more fines and less discrimination. The press corps ceased to report enforcement actions – other than those instigated by their own investigation.

Deterrence as a goal ceased to exist.

Chair Johnson is making an effort to return to those days when enforcement was taken seriously by the political community because of the threat of detrimental publicity.
He’s well aware that fines matter little to politicians who can pay the fines out of campaign treasuries filled with interest group contributions.