Major donor level to stay at $10,000

Gov. Schwarzenegger announced today that he has vetoed SB 1693, authored by Sen. Kevin Murray, which would have raised the state's major donor level from $10,000 to $30,000 in a calendar year. Interestingly, the bill, which would provide for less major-donor disclosure, was sponsored by the Fair Political Practices Commission, which tracks and regulates political donations in the state. Why would the FPPC sponsor such a bill? Because so many many donors don't file reports--or don't file them properly--that the office is inundated with deliquent donors. Plus, major donor contributions are tallyed by the campaign, so they made the argument that the donor filings are duplicative. Here's the key part of Schwarzenegger's veto message: By raising the major donor threshold to $30,000, this bill would effectively reduce the level of disclosure of campaign finance information. That is something I cannot support. While I am sympathetic to the burden imposed on major donors to file their reports, full and timely disclosure is a critical safeguard against abuse and corruption in the political process.