Who pays the travels to California politicians? Following a CalMatters report, the audit offers a legal decision

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A law intended to inform the public about who pays trips sponsored by California’s legislators is insufficient, According to a new audit carried out by the State Campaign Financing Agency.

Recommends simplifying the distribution requirements in order to meet more interest groups that lead conferences legislators on policies and International TravelsA change that only these same legislators can make.

The Commission’s Audit for Fair Political Practices followed CalMatters’ revelations that the 2015 law that requires these traveling organizers to disclose their main donors annually, has only been used twice in seven years Although interest groups paid millions of dollars when traveling to legislators during this time.

Researchers have reviewed the data of the highest -cost travel organizers, most of which have never submitted a distribution form and concluded that the rules followed, but that the report reporting was too high.

“This may create gaps in the reports, as some organizations with considerable activity such as donors may not reach the threshold and remain released from distribution,” the Commission Audit Division wrote in their conclusions.

Selected employees in California may accept Free trips to a non -profit organization, provided that the trip is related to political issues or that this is a speech or participation in a panel. Officials should declare that a trip is a gift in their Annual reports of economic interest Presented to the Committee on fair policies, but non -profit organizations (which are usually funded by corporations, alliances and industrial associations that press the legislature and the state) are not obliged to disclose how much money they receive or who.

These trips have a long generates criticism by opponents They believe that they are equivalent to the unofficial lobbying, which allows the interest groups to buy privileged access to legislators and regulators away from public control.

After that, in 2015 Reporting annually For each donor who donated more than $ 1,000 and also accompanied selected employees everywhere on a trip, provided that the non -profit organization meets certain cost criteria.

The groups usually meet the first threshold; Their travel donations to selected employees usually add more than $ 10,000, or at least $ 5,000 per employee a year. But almost no one responds to the second threshold, which requires distribution only if travel expenses, study trips, conferences, conventions and meetings related to the selected employees represent at least one third of the total cost of the non -profit organization, as reflected in your federal Tax statements.

The audit recommends that you change a system in which the travel organizers submit the distribution form if they exceed a fixed amount of travel payments in a given year. The Commissioner supported the proposal at his meeting on Thursday, where the findings were presented.

“I think it would be fantastic to do this much more pure,” said Commissioner Katarin Baker, who voted to support the law when she served in the Assembly in 2015. He also warned regulators who consider what other legal gaps could To be created: “Water goes where it can sneak, even with well -found people.”

In the end, however, any change in the law will need the approval of the legislature, which would actually mean requesting sponsored trips, which once again approve of more transparency. A bill submitted last year to harden reporting reports inspired by CalMatters history was Quickly rejected for unscrewed reasonsS

“After our audit, FPPC works to identify an effective distribution framework that guarantees significant and applicable transparency,” said Adam Silver, President of the Commission in a statement. “We hope to work with the legislature to fulfill this.”

Travel organizers and their sponsors do not like additional control. Several organizations have not voluntarily cooperated with the audit, according to the final report and the Commission has issued quotes to receive its financial records, which has been expanding the investigation for more than a year.

But at that time they appeared More forms of distributionIncluding several with a back date. There are now eight forms corresponding to the last three years.

The project for independent voters, which he told Calmatters during his original report, which has never reached the threshold of one -third of the expenses, represents half of them. The group is organizing an annual conference at a luxury hotel in Maui, paid by corporate sponsors, whose representatives then meet for a week to discuss policies and talk to legislators.

The new forms offer the most full vision that the public has received from whom it finances and attends the conference which This is usually a focus of worry about the close link between legislators and interest groups that have questions about the legislature. Almost 60 different businesses have been paid Visit the conference in 2023The most native for which a distribution form is presented, along with a bilateral cohort of 14 legislators; The sponsors are mainly large companies and sales organizations such as AT&T, General Motors, Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft, Pfizer and Walmart.

“It was too difficult to try to decipher the forms and provide all the information they want to be released,” Dan Hole, president and executive director of the independent electoral project, said in an interview. “Honestly, I was very angry. They sent me a quote. “

Howle said he has worked with the author of the 2015 Act to write requirements that will release an independent electoral project from the obligation to disseminate information as he was angry as his event became an example of sponsored trips for selected employees. But I no longer felt it was worth demonstrating that its organization was released, so it plans to present the form annually in the future.

“If the public wants to find this form and find out who was there, to do it,” he said. “I think everyone should do the same.”

This article was originally published by CalmattersS