Citizens to Save California v. FPPC

In February 2005, ballot measure committee Citizens to Save California challenged a California Fair Political Practices Commission regulation establishing a presumption that all contributions to a candidate-controlled ballot measure committee are contributions to a candidate for elective state office subject to candidate contribution limits. The trial court granted plaintiffs’ motion for preliminary injunction. Defendant appealed and in December 2006 the Court of Appeal of the State of California, Third Appellate District, affirmed the trial court’s holding that the regulation conflicted with multiple provisions of the state’s Political Reform Act and thereby exceeded the FPPC’s authority; the court deemed it unnecessary to rule on the constitutional claims in the case.