FPPC requires politicians to justify their spending
If they use campaign funds for lavish meals or hotels, they'd better have an explanation, the ethics agency rules. Third-party payments for travel are also prohibited.
SACRAMENTO -- California politicians are no longer allowed to use campaign contributions to pay for rounds of golf, lavish hotels and expensive meals in the state without disclosing what purpose it serves to help them do their job, under rules adopted Monday by the state's ethics watchdog agency.
In an effort reduce the undue influence of special interests, the state Fair Political Practices Commission also voted to prohibit elected officials -- from state senators to city council members -- from having travel for paid by third parties through government agencies.
The requirement for increased disclosure follows the commission's vote earlier this year to require that politicians disclose the purpose of foreign trips paid for by campaign donors.
"Public officials don't need five-star hotels, haute cuisine and $100 bottles of wine to effectively govern the state of California," said Carmen Balber, political accountability director at Consumer Watchdog. "The new rules will require politicians to justify how they spend their campaign cash and, hopefully, rein in the kind of extravagant spending that has become more and more routine."
The proposal to have politicians document the political, governmental or legislative purpose of a visit to a spa or golf course was pushed by the FPPC after The Times reported last year that then-Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez (D-Los Angeles) and others had spent tens of thousands of dollars from political accounts to travel in Europe. Some state political officials used campaign cash to travel to resorts.
