Dunmoyer also played a role in an issue he was involved with as a lobbyist: the Seismic Safety Commission.
Insurance officials are unhappy that the commission's work is underwritten by a 7-cent-per-policy fee. Dunmoyer shared that view when he was a lobbyist, sending a letter to the administration and lawmakers in 2004 likening the fee to an "illegal, unfair tax." He takes much the same position now.
Sailaja Cherukuri, a legislative aide, met with Dunmoyer and others in the governor's office in March to talk about the future of the commission, which researches ways to help California withstand earthquakes.
Dunmoyer's position was that the commission's funding should come from "something other than the insurance industry," Cherukuri said.
Asked about Dunmoyer's role, some lawmakers said a lobbyist shouldn't be able to step out the door and into a job in the Capitol. A cooling-off period of some kind would be preferable, to discourage a revolving door between government and industry, they said.
"We as legislators have a waiting period where we're barred for one year" from lobbying former colleagues, Ortiz said. "There ought to be a comparable one-year waiting period for lobbyists."
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Webb was not a lobbyist for State Farm -- her job was legislative specialist. But part of her function was urging company employees to speak with lawmakers in hopes of swaying votes. Now it is the industry's job to sway Webb.
To date she has sent the governor's office written recommendations on 60 insurance bills. The governor's office declined to make the letters public.
Administration officials say Webb does not have the final word on whether Schwarzenegger should sign or veto insurance bills. Her recommendations go to one of his legislative liaisons.
But she confers often with the insurance industry. Calendar records obtained through the state's Public Records Act show that from January to July, Webb met 30 times with insurance lobbyists and officials -- and not once with consumer groups. At such meetings, she speaks with lobbyists about pending bills, among other matters.
The American Insurance Assn. bought her lunch in February and again in March. She had coffee with an association executive in June.
Webb has twice attended the private meetings that insurance lobbyists hold to strategize about bills. These sessions are at the headquarters of the Personal Insurance Federation.
