AT&T. Pacific Gas & Electric Co. Chevron. Indian gaming tribes.

It sounds like a who’s who list of campaign contributors — and it is. But these groups also excel at another type of giving, one that’s often overlooked and is about to get a little less transparent: Behested payments.

It’s no secret to even casual political observers that politicians raise money for their own campaigns. But once they’re in office, elected officials in California can also use their clout to help raise cash for pet projects outside of state government. Gov. Jerry Brown has directed the bulk of his $30 million in behested payments to two Oakland charter schools. State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson has funneled most of his $3.7 million to the Department of Education and a nonprofit that supports the state department he oversees.

The amount they can raise for these private groups is unlimited — but officials must file reports when the donations top $5,000 from a single source in one year.

And the donations add up.

In all, politicians have directed more than $120 million to private groups since state ethics regulators started requiring disclosure in 1997 — $28 million this year alone.

Critics say the payments may go to good causes, but are simply another way for special interest groups — largely powerful corporations with business before state government — to curry favor.

“It’s not quid pro quo,” said Kathay Feng, executive director of the government accountability group California Common Cause. “But there clearly is an expectation that if I give this large amount of money, you are going to pay attention, and I am probably going to have an easier time being able to come into your office and talk to you than a local constituent who didn’t give a dollar.”

And with a swipe of his pen, the governor just severely limited what has to be disclosed. Last week, Brown signed Assembly Bill 1544, which removed a special category of lawmaker requests from disclosure requirements: Those that cover when an elected official lobbies a government agency to give taxpayer money to a private company.

These sorts of payments have ballooned in recent years as the available money for grants and tax breaks rose — this year, it topped $15 million, accounting for more than half of behested payments disclosed.

http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2015/10/16/behested-payments-let-corporations-curry-favor-with-politicians