Shelving of UC regents bill has some thinking scandal
By Eleanor Yang Su Staff Writer
San Diego Union Tribune
August 30, 2006
Earlier this month, a high-profile bill that would have required University of California regents to consider the compensation of high-ranking executives in public was indefinitely shelved.
The list of supporters for AB 775 was long, including UC's council of faculty associations, UC's student association and several unions representing UC employees.
Opponents included UC's administration and a small group of business leaders, who argued that the bill would make it difficult to recruit talent and would be too costly to implement. Now, some are raising questions about the timing of the holdup, as well as the disbursement of more than $200,000 in contributions from UC regents and friends of the university to a political action committee run by Senate President Pro Tempore Don Perata. Perata sidelined the legislation.
Assemblyman Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, introduced the bill after media reports revealed that UC's administration had paid millions to executives in undisclosed perks and payouts. The reports, first published in November, prompted a state audit and legislative hearings.
Since November, 14 sitting regents have contributed at least $410,000 to mostly Democratic state legislators and candidates, as well as ballot propositions. That's not out of character for regents, who between 1999 and 2006 donated more than $3.8 million, according to state records.
UC Regent John Moores, who thinks Yee's legislation is too broad, contributed $200,000 to the Rebuilding California political action committee headed by Perata. Warren Hellman, a wealthy alumnus of UC Berkeley and former father-in-law to UC President Robert Dynes, contributed $25,000 to the PAC in February.
"There is the appearance of some kind of tit-for-tat deal," said Steve Levin, political reform project director for the Center for Governmental Studies in Los Angeles. "That's the danger of making large contributions, especially to Don Perata, who has the ability to puppet master what bills pass and don't pass."
For their parts, Perata, Moores and Hellman deny any quid pro quo. Perata, D-Oakland, said he held the bill because it's a bad policy that would make it difficult for UC to attract top administrators if their reputations and job performance are discussed in public.
"I just think it's wrongheaded policy," Perata said. "I don't care how much money anybody contributes to anybody."
Moores called the link "the mother of all stretches."
He said he supports Rebuilding California because it promotes the state's infrastructure bonds.
"I've generally supported bond issues that benefit the university," Moores said, adding that it would be a mistake to believe that regents wield undue influence in Sacramento.
"The regents are almost invisible," Moores said. "A more politically irrelevant group would be difficult to assemble."
Hellman, who wrote an opinion article signed by a dozen elite businessmen condemning the legislation, pointed out that his political contribution predates the legislation, which was introduced in May.
As it stands, the bill was placed in the "suspense file" of the Senate Appropriations Committee about two weeks ago, after passing the Senate Education Committee 8-1.
"No one was opposing this besides UC and the regents," said Tom Newton, general counsel for the California Newspaper Publishers Association, one of the sponsors of the legislation. "But the UC and friends of UC are powerful people in Sacramento."
Yee said he's not giving up on the legislation. If it remains shelved through the end of the session, which ends tomorrow, he'd like to introduce new legislation in December.
Staff writers Agustín Armendariz and Ed Mendel contributed to this report.
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