FRESNO (KMJ) — Fresno City Council has approved a change to the municipal code, allowing year-round fundraising for candidates seeking local political offices.
The motion was approved by district representatives Thursday, but further discussion on the issue is expected at a future meeting.
A ruling by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in February (Zimmerman v. City of Austin Texas) established time limits violated the First Amendment.
According to Fresno City Attorney, the previous rules only allowed contributions from the election filing date until the end of that calendar year. This change in federal case law lifts that restriction.
“Theoretically then, without the time restrictions, somebody now could be raising money for the 2020 election,” explained City Attorney Doug Sloan.
The court did allow restrictions on a maximum dollar amount: an individual in Fresno can contribute $4,400 per election.
“Dollar limits – they can see how that would help to limit corruption, but the time limits don’t make any sense.
“In other words, are you limiting corruption by allowing fundraising on February 12th but not on February 11th? It makes no sense. That was the reasoning of the court.
“Since we have a charter provision in that would be inconsistent with that court holding, in my opinion our provision would be unenforceable.”
Sloan said the City of Fresno has a legal obligation to make sure what it enforces is constitutional.
Hear the report from KMJ’s Dominic McAndrew as it aired:
