The Center for Governmental Studies has issued this report, which analyzes the impact of Los Angeles’ twenty-year old campaign finance reforms on the 2009 city elections.
The LA Times focuses upon the report’s noting of the rise of candidate controlled ballot measure committees. The story quotes noted election law attorney Stephen Kaufman as stating that ballot measure expenditures cannot be limited constitutionally. That is correct, but I believe CGS was arguing for limits on contributions to candidate-controlled ballot measure committees. I’ve made a detailed argument on why limits on such contributions could be justified on traditional anti-corruption grounds.