Free Republic

SACRAMENTO - From the North Coast to Southern California, local governments, environmentalists, business groups - even Indian tribes - are turning up the lobbying heat on state lawmakers and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger as they try to grab a share of what could be the largest bond measure in the state's history. Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders are negotiating a package of public works bonds that could help pay for projects ranging from highway expansions to rebuilt levees to new schools. Schwarzenegger proposed a record $222.6 billion infrastructure spending plan in January that would be partly funded by selling state bonds and...

October 7, 2003 was a bad day for Darius Anderson. A top fundraiser for Gray Davis, Anderson had counted ranking Davis administration officials, including then-deputy chief of staff Susan Kennedy, as friends. He founded his own lobbying firm in 1998, parlaying his connections to the administration into a thriving business. By 2003, Davis' last year in office, Anderson's Platinum Advisors pulled in $3.9 million in lobbying receipts, good for third best in the state. But when Davis was recalled in 2003, Anderson's influence diminished. His shop's lobbying receipts declined by more than $1 million as big name clients like Microsoft,...