Case against state Sen. Yee raises fundraising questions

California state Sen. Leland Yee leaves the Phillip Burton Federal Building and United States Courthouse after a bond hearing on Monday, March 31, 2014, in San Francisco, Calif. California state Sen. Leland Yee leaves the Phillip Burton Federal Building and United States Courthouse after a bond hearing on Monday, March 31, 2014, in San Francisco, Calif. Photo: Lea Suzuki, The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Lea Suzuki, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 22 Caption Close Case against state Sen. Yee raises fundraising questions 1 / 22 Back to Gallery

Sacramento --

Hours after FBI agents finished a raid on state Sen. Leland Yee's office in the state Capitol on Wednesday, lawmakers emerged from the stately building to attend numerous campaign fundraisers around town.

The fundraisers, typical at this time of year, are where lawmakers raise thousands of dollars for their future campaigns - with much of the money donated by groups or individuals with pending business before the Legislature.

But concern about the Yee case has prompted several lawmakers to suggest that it's time to revisit the tricky issue of campaign finance reform to fix inadequacies in the law or to, at the very least, stop politicians from using campaign donations to pay for their legal defense following criminal charges.

'Awful' system

"We have a system in this country that is awful," said Sen. President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento. "People running for office, people who hold office, have to raise money to get elected and stay elected. And they have to raise money from the very interests that come before them and ask for their support or opposition on legislative matters. It's a bad thing. ... Maybe this ignites another real discussion about replacing (this) system."

What change looks like varies widely, from publicly funded campaigns that dissuade private donations to bans on fundraising while the Legislature is in session. And both of those proposals have several variations.

The average cost of a successful state Senate race in California is just over $1 million, or $1,400 every day for two years, according to research from the 2012 elections by MapLight, a nonpartisan Berkeley organization that analyzes money in politics. In the state Assembly, which has more members representing smaller areas, the average raised by a winning candidate was $700,000.

Those figures increase for candidates running for statewide office.

The race to raise funds was at the heart of allegations of wrongdoing in the Yee criminal complaint made public last week. Yee, who dropped plans to run for secretary of state after his arrest Wednesday, is described in the affidavit as desperate for donations, particularly to retire $70,000 in debt from his failed mayoral run in San Francisco so he could pump more into his 2014 statewide race.

Big numbers

Yee is charged with conspiring to traffic in firearms as well as with six counts of scheming to defraud citizens of honest services. The San Francisco senator is accused of accepting bribes, including $21,000 from an undercover FBI agent posing as a medical marijuana businessman for setting up meetings with two senators and $10,000 from an undercover agent posing as a software consultant to lobby the Department of Public Health for a contract.

Yee reported having $134,000 cash on hand in his secretary of state campaign account, although he reported spending an additional $518,000 on March 4 for television ads he intended to air before the June primary. It's unclear how much, if any, of that money will be returned to Yee's campaign. Yee's ability to use his campaign funds for his legal defense has some calling for immediate legislative action.

"We should ban legislators from using campaign funds for legal defense," said Dan Schnur, the former head of the Fair Political Practices Commission and a current candidate for secretary of state who advocates for in-session fundraising bans. "A lot of people gave Leland Yee money because they thought he would make a good secretary of state. He shouldn't be able to use it for attorneys."

Governor's view

On Monday, Gov. Jerry Brown called the Yee allegations "a tragedy for the Senate, for politics in general, for our democratic process." Brown has urged Yee - as well as Sens. Ron Calderon and Rod Wright - to resign.

Calderon, a Democrat from Montebello (Los Angeles County), was charged last month with bribery and corruption, while Wright, a Democrat from Inglewood (Los Angeles County), was convicted in January of perjury and voter fraud. The Senate voted last week to suspend all three senators with pay.

California's 40-year-old Political Reform Act requires candidates to disclose the true source of campaign contributions and explain how they spend the money. The secretary of state oversees campaign and lobbying disclosures, and the Fair Political Practices Commission enforces and fines violators.

Several efforts to overhaul the act have been rejected. In 2006, voters overwhelmingly defeated a publicly financed "clean money" system that would have paid all campaign costs for state and legislative candidates who agreed not to accept private contributions. Four years ago, voters rejected a model that would have made public financing available this year for secretary of state candidates.

'Best fundraisers'

"We have a system that attracts and elects the best fundraisers instead of the best leaders," said Daniel Newman, co-founder and president of MapLight. "Our system makes legislators grovel at the feet of those who contribute to campaigns."

Ron Nehring, the former head of the California GOP and now a candidate for lieutenant governor, said: "We have to keep in mind - it's lawmakers who are writing the rules concerning their own ethical guidelines, and there's an obvious conflict of interest."