Posted on 03/31/2008 7:49:41 AM PDT by SmithL
Sen. Carole Migden, D-San Francisco, is facing two formidable challengers in the June primary, Assemblyman Mark Leno of San Francisco and former Assemblyman Joe Nation of Marin County.
But long after the Democratic nomination for Senate District 3 is settled, the most significant legacy of this hotly contested primary may be what it does to some of the most well-established principles of California's campaign finance laws.
If Migden prevails, she could have an extra $647,000 to pour into the homestretch of her race against Leno and Nation. But to do so, Migden and her attorneys will have to blow up a 27-year-old state law that regulates what departing legislators can do with "surplus" campaign funds.
There seems little doubt that Migden did not follow the rules in her handling of more than $1 million in surplus funds when she left the Assembly in 2002. Her attorney attributes the violations to an unfortunate "series of clerical reporting errors."
The state Fair Political Practices Commission, which just fined Migden $350,000 in a separate case that included use of donations for personal expenses, has charged her with "a pattern of deliberate conduct" to conceal her surplus funds from regulatory scrutiny. The FPPC accused her of illegally spending hundreds of thousands of dollars from that account.
Tuesday's hearing will be on Migden's lawsuit against the FPPC, in which her attorney argues that the requirement that she needed to transfer the funds to a new account before leaving the Assembly was "arbitrary." She also contends that restrictions on the use of her surplus funds violate her First Amendment rights to communicate with voters.
Each argument is nonsense. As the FPPC noted in court documents filed against Migden's lawsuit, there are sound reasons for a law that imposes a deadline for departing legislators to transfer surplus...
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Fry her.
I am sad to say she is my state senator. Anyone would be better than her.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.