Legislators' outside jobs raise questions about conflicts of interest
Assemblyman Mike Eng, one of more than two dozen California lawmakers who hold outside jobs, was a steady vote for the Los Angeles Unified School District's interests this year at the same time his law firm was working for the district under a $550,000 contract.
A Democrat from Monterey Park who sits on the Assembly Education Committee, Eng voted multiple times for legislation sponsored by the district that allows it to obtain $267 million in extra state money.
His five-man law firm, meanwhile, collected $321,000 as part of its three-year deal from L.A. Unified, sometimes in payments made just weeks after Eng's vote. The payments were reported in district records as compensation for help in getting visas and processing paperwork for foreign teachers.
"Having legislators voting on bills that affect their sources of income raises questions of conflict of interest," said Bob Stern, president of the Center for Governmental Studies in Los Angeles. "Who is their loyalty owed to, the state or their income sources?"
Eng didn't violate any laws, Stern said. California allows legislators to cast votes affecting their industries or professions as long as the measures apply generally and do not affect only one company or agency.
But the assemblyman's actions highlight what some see as the state's failure to tightly govern moonlighting by lawmakers.
California's full-time lawmakers are the highest paid in the nation, earning $150,000 a year including salary and expenses (those in leadership posts make more). The salary is justified, lawmakers often say, because it enables them to live and support their families without outside income.
Yet 30 of the state's 120 legislators own businesses or hold other outside jobs, according to their most recent statements of economic interest, and some earn more income away from the Capitol than from the public payroll. They own such enterprises as car dealerships, farms, insurance companies, a plastics firm and a real estate appraisal firm. They work in law, agriculture, health insurance and other medical fields.
Some have routinely voted on legislation that affects their private income. Several lawmakers sit on committees that oversee legislation governing their professions or industries.
State Sen. Dave Cox (R-Fair Oaks), owner and president of Integrated Benefits and Insurance Services Inc., an insurance company doing business with large healthcare groups, sits on the Senate Health Committee.
