SLIPPING THROUGH REVOLVING DOOR; TECHNICALITY ALLOWS EX-STATE EMPLOYEES TO LOBBY PAST COLLEAGUES.

Byline: Dan Smith Scripps-McClatchy Western Service

When voters approved the state's ``revolving door'' law in 1990, they may have thought they were barring former state employees and legislators from lobbying former colleagues on behalf of paying clients.

But Gov. Pete Wilson's former chief legislative adviser, who resigned in December and started a lobbying firm a month later, is taking on clients with big business in the Governor's Office.

Armed with a legal opinion from the state Fair Political Practices Commission, Kevin Sloat is lobbying budget issues for the California State University system, oil issues for Chevron and assisting trade schools in their efforts to soften state regulation.

A consumers group involved in the trade school issue says Sloat may be violating the revolving door law, but Sloat says he is only following the FPPC guidelines.

``I'm just complying with the law,'' Sloat said.

The rules say, among other things, that Sloat can write advocacy letters to the governor on his clients' behalf, and display his name on the letterhead, as long as he doesn't sign the letter.

That interpretation, in particular, skirts the intent of the law, said Jim Knox, executive director of California Common Cause.

``That seems to be a somewhat artificial distinction,'' Knox said. ``The law says no written or oral communication and that seems to cross the line. It violates the spirit and intent of the law.''

FPPC spokesman Gary Huckaby defended the advice. ``The letter was given a great deal of thought, was carefully constructed and, in the commission's view, is legally correct,'' Huckaby said.

The revolving door law, which was signed by Gov. George Deukmejian in 1990 and subsequently triggered by voter approval of Proposition 112 the same year, was prompted by a rash of Deukmejian staffers leaving the lame-duck administration for the lobbying ranks, said Tim Hodson, the former legislative staffer who helped draft the law for retired state Sen. Milton Marks, a Democrat from San Francisco.

In general, the law prohibits administration officials from representing paying clients before their former agency for one year after leaving state service. The one- year rule also applies to lawmakers lobbying the Legislature.

The law was softened at the outset. To secure Deukmejian's signature, Marks agreed to change the effective date to Jan. 7, 1991 - one day after Deukmejian left office. That effectively exempted all administration officials from the revolving door provisions.

Today, Sloat is only the latest example of ex-legislators and high-ranking administration officials making the transition from public to private employment under the law. With Wilson out of office in 19 months and more and more lawmakers forced out by term limits, the revolving door law is becoming required reading at the Capitol.

``A lot more people are in the doorway,'' Knox said. ``It seems pretty likely we're going to see this more often.''

For instance, former Assemblyman Phil Isenberg, D-Sacramento, has been hired by the Metropolitan Water District to help the huge Southern California water agency deal with legislation to mediate a dispute with the San Diego County Water Authority. Isenberg conceded that a legislator walked in to one meeting he attended with MWD officials, but insisted that his presence did not constitute lobbying. Knox said Isenberg is misinterpreting the law.

After working for Wilson since 1991, Sloat resigned as deputy chief of staff for legislation in December and started Kevin Sloat and Associates in January. Questions were raised soon after, when a public relations firm associated with Sloat hosted a farewell reception for him in the Governor's Office at the Capitol.

Since then, he has been hired by, among others, California State University, Chevron, the Metropolitan Water District and the Educational Small Business Association, a group of 60 trade schools seeking to tone down state regulation of the industry. For the first quarter of the year, Sloat took in $38,010 from seven clients.

Sloat said he doesn't know if his contacts with Wilson's staff have helped him pick up clients in his new business.

CSU Chancellor Barry Munitz, who hired Sloat for $2,500 a month, said Sloat's familiarity with Wilson education adviser Marian Bergeson, for whom Sloat worked for six years in the 1980s, was a factor in his hiring.

Jack Coffey, manager of California state relations for Chevron, said Sloat was hired for his contacts in the Legislature. He said it marks the first time Chevron, which has two staff lobbyists, has hired a contract lobbyist.

``We've had a number of very complicated issues that we feel we needed advice on,'' Coffey said. ``Kevin just provides us more insight into that.''

Consumers Union on Wednesday filed a public records act request seeking all phone records, calendars and other communications between Sloat and Wilson's office and three other administration agencies regarding Sloat's contacts on behalf of trade schools.