LDS Church spent about $190,000 on Prop. 8 campaign

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Mormon

church has revealed in a campaign filing that the church spent nearly

$190,000 to help pass Proposition 8, the November ballot measure that

banned gay marriage in California.The disclosure comes amid an

investigation by the state's campaign watchdog agency into whether The

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints violated state laws by not

fully disclosing its involvement during the campaign.While many church members had donated directly to the Yes on 8 campaign — some estimates of Mormon giving range as high as $20 million — the church itself had previously reported little direct campaign activity.But in the filing made Friday, the Mormon

church reported thousands in travel expenses, such as airline tickets,

hotel rooms and car rentals for the campaign. The church also reported

$96,849.31 worth of "compensated staff time" — hours that church

employees spent working to pass the same-sex marriage ban.Roman

Porter, executive director of the FPPC, confirmed that the agency was

investigating the complaint against the church but declined comment on

specifics.The Yes on 8 campaign filed its own expenditure

reports over the weekend revealing that the main arm of the campaign

spent more than $39.2 million. Total spending among the various

proponents topped $41 million.Opponents of the measure had not

filed their disclosure statement as of Saturday. The deadline for

year-end statements is midnight Monday.The Mormon church's involvement in Proposition 8 touched off controversy both during and after the campaign.Many

gay marriage advocates saw the church and its membership's efforts as

crucial to the passage of Proposition 8. The measure won with 52