In a 4-0 vote, California's campaign watchdog agency approved new rules Thursday to limit how politicians can use ballot measure committees.
The accounts, which have grown increasingly popular and are now controlled by the governor and some dozen lawmakers, are not subject to contribution limits.
Current law only forbids spending the ballot funds on re-election campaigns and, in some cases, politicians have spent hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars on non-ballot-related causes.
Ross Johnson, chairman of the Fair Political Practices Commission, has called the accounts "open-ended slush funds."
On Thursday, Johnson's FPPC adopted several new rules for the accounts. Among them:
• All expenditures, beyond the upkeep of the PAC, must identify the particular ballot measure they are for or against.
• If a measure does not yet exist, the account must include a brief description of the potential measure the spending is for.
• Ballot committees controlled by politicians must identify the elected official in the name of the committee.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's political lawyer had lobbied the commission to broaden the rules to allow for spending for "grass-roots lobbying" on legislation, but the commission said no.
The new rules go into effect in approximately one month.
Call Shane Goldmacher, Bee Capitol Bureau, (916) 326-5544.
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