Cost of Playing Politics in LA Just Went Up

POLITICS-For lobbyists and contributors to Los Angeles city elections, the buy-in for playing the game is about to get more expensive. 

Where the city of Los Angeles limits once offered an out to the big donors — the most common phrase a candidate would hear is “I’ve maxed out” — the U.S. Supreme Court ruling last week in the McCutcheon case removes that excuse. 

David Tristan, deputy executive director of the city Ethics Commission, said they are reviewing the ruling and coming up with recommendations for the commission on what it will have to do to comply. 

“The way it works now, if there are five City Council races, the maximum amount that could be given would be $700 a race, or $3,500,” Tristan said. “But under the court ruling, if there are 25 candidates for those seats, they could give the maximum to each of the candidates.”  (The rest of Rick’s Tip Off column here.) 

 

-cw

 

(Rick Orlov covers City Hall for the dailynews.com. where this column first appeared. His Tipoff column appears Mondays. For a daily political fix, go to the Sausage Factory at insidesocal.com/politics. You can contact him at  [email protected] ) –cw

 

 

CityWatch

Vol 12 Issue 29

Pub: Apr 8, 2014