Another review of expenditure reports filed by lobbyists and the businesses and organizations that employ them confirmed what I initially noted two weeks ago–money spent on the gifts given to public officials by lobbyists are rarely publicly disclosed, despite the requirements of state law. This time I looked at reports filed by individual lobbyists, as [...]
Entries Tagged as 'lobbyists'
Why lobbyist’s gifts to legislators are so rarely reported and so difficult to track
July 30th, 2010 · 4 Comments · Ethics, Politics, lobbyists
Gift disclosures document unreported lobbyist expenditures
July 14th, 2010 · 12 Comments · Ethics, lobbyists
I’ve long suspected that lobbyists don’t fully comply with the disclosure requirements of the state’s ethics law, but it’s hard to find concrete examples. But after looking at the gift disclosures filed by state officials, I realized they offer a small opportunity to double check on lobbyists. The gifts that public officials report receiving from [...]
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I think I stepped on the “third rail” of ethics
June 22nd, 2010 · 11 Comments · Ethics, Media, Politics, lobbyists
I expected to get some reaction to Sunday’s entry about the State Ethics Commission’s firing of Dan Mollway, but I didn’t think it would include being accused of “hypocritical censorious self-righteousness” (at least that’s what the dictionary said about Warren’s fancy word), or of “making stuff up”, or pretending to “understand it all.” Are the [...]
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Ethics news from here and there
June 21st, 2010 · 1 Comment · Campaigns, Ethics, lobbyists
Here’s a brief look at ethics issues coming up elsewhere, which often provide needed perspective on issues here at home. • In California’s Santa Clara County, the chairman of a county water district is accused of mixing personal and public business by pushing projects that would increase the value of his family’s land holdings (MercuryNews.com). [...]
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State Ethics Commission deserves more credit for dealing with administrative problems
June 20th, 2010 · 11 Comments · Ethics, General, Media, lobbyists
An editorial yesterday in the Star-Advertiser calls the State Ethics Commission’s recent firing of its executive director “mystifying”, blasts the commission for not being clear and forthcoming about its reasons for the action, and urges the commission to quickly disclose the minutes of its discussions in executive session, implying that a failure to do so [...]
UPW tops list of high-spending lobbyists during second half of the legislative session
June 9th, 2010 · 15 Comments · Ethics, lobbyists
Lobbyists spent a lot of money during the latter half of this year’s legislative session, according to a preliminary review of expenditures reports filed with the State Ethics Commission. The five highest-spending groups, including two public employee unions, reported spending a total of nearly $250,000 during the March-April 2010 period. United Public Workers, the state’s [...]
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