Posted on 08/05/2008 9:12:11 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
SACRAMENTO -- -- The state's ethics agency announced fines Monday against former state Sen. Martha Escutia of Whittier for failing to properly disclose at least $340,000 in payments made by 17 special-interest firms and campaigns to her then-husband's political consulting firm.
The state Fair Political Practices Commission also announced fines against former Gov. Gray Davis, related to the campaign fund he used to fight the 2003 recall that removed him from office.
He failed to fully disclose $187,381 in unpaid expenses and a late contribution, and he did not keep some records required for donors who gave $5,000 or more, the commission determined.
Both Escutia and Davis signed settlement agreements with the commission's enforcement division admitting the violations and agreeing to pay the fines -- $2,000 for Escutia and $4,950 for Davis. Commissioners will meet Aug. 14 to approve the agreements.
The payments made to the political firm headed by Escutia's husband at the time, Leo Briones, when she was still in the Legislature, included one from a client who later had a matter pending before lawmakers. Escutia voted in 2006 to support a bill reducing fees for hospitals. A onetime Briones client, AltaMed Health Services, hired a law firm in 2006 to lobby on the bill.
Escutia admitted to two counts of violating the Political Reform Act.
--snip--
The state panel said Escutia should have reported payments to her husband's firm by clients, including Arizonans for Fair Gaming and Indian Self Reliance, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor and campaigns for current Sens. Edward Vincent and Alex Padilla.
Escutia, a Democrat, spent 14 years in the Legislature, ending when she left the state Senate in 2006. She represented a large area of southeast Los Angeles County.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Sounds like an incentive to continue to not fully disclose.
I propose 1 year mandatory jail sentence for every $100 in fines for any and Public Servants
eyeamok
It makes you mad, too, doesn’t it.
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