CA: Campaign donations add luxury to California politics

LA Times ^ | 2/9/09 | Patrick McGreevy and Eric Bailey

[NormsRevenge]

Reporting from Sacramento -- Some California lawmakers haven't let the state's financial calamity keep them from enjoying the good life; they've been using campaign cash for first-class travel abroad, expensive dinners, salon makeovers and visits to luxurious spas.

Spending reports filed with the state covering the last three months show:

* Several lawmakers checked into the Fairmont Hotel on Maui on donors' dimes two days after the start of an emergency session on the budget in November.

* The lead state senator on budget issues joined colleagues who left the fiscal crisis behind to go to India, where they toured the Taj Mahal and stayed at a Four Seasons and other luxury hotels.

* The former state Senate leader used campaign donations to pay $2,163 in membership fees to an exclusive Northern California social club.

"It's so stomach-turning," said Doug Heller, executive director of the nonprofit Consumer Watchdog. "There should be a self-imposed prohibition on living the political high life when California's budget is in such disarray."

State law says campaign money may be spent only on things related to political or government business, though it is permissible to take a spouse along on a trip. ...

The state's official ethics watchdog, the Fair Political Practices Commission, recently enacted new rules requiring politicians to better explain their expenses in public disclosures, after media reports of lavish voyages around the world got their attention. But the rules have not curbed spending on luxuries.

The lawmakers' Hawaiian trip was for a conference sponsored mostly by business associations and corporations. Half of each day was spent discussing public policy issues, according to the conference agenda; the rest was free for golf, tennis, snorkeling and shopping. Among those in attendance were state Sen. Ron Calderon (D-Montebello) and his wife.