Skip to main content
Donate

A Small Victory for the Public: The Assembly Must Disclose Lawmakers' Budget Records

By Jessica Levinson
December 5, 2011
Support Provided By
The Old State Court Building
The Old State Court Building

Last week the public got some good news, courtesy of a Sacramento Superior Court judge. Ruling on a lawsuit by a number of California newspapers against the California Assembly, the judge found that despite the Assembly's argument to the contrary, our state's lower house is required to disclosure lawmakers' budget records. The Assembly had denied requests by the Los Angeles Times, Sacramento Bee and Pasadena Sun for the budget records of members of the Assembly.

As I have previously written here and here, this lawsuit grew out of dispute between termed-out Assemblyman Anthony Portantino (D) and Assembly Speaker John Perez (D). Portatino claimed that Perez punished him for being the only Democrat to vote against the 2011 budget by cutting Portantino's budget. Perez countered that Portantino was a wasteful spender. In order to try disprove Perez's claims, Portantino requested budget and expenditure records.

The argument transformed into a much broader discussion about applicability of the Legislative Open Records Act and more generally of the transparency that the public can and should require of its elected officials.

It is important to note exactly what we're talking about here. We are not referring to lawmakers' private affairs. Instead, what we are referring to are taxpayer dollars spent by publicly elected officials. This is public money used by people who have asked for the public's vote in order to best represent them. Barring significant privacy issues which require budgetary information to remain private, budget records of lawmakers should absolutely be disclosed. This is the public's business.

It remains to be seen whether lawyers for the Assembly will appeal Superior Court Judge Timothy Frawley's decision. If the Assembly has any political acumen it will decline to appeal this sound decision. As Judge Frawley found, the public's interest in obtaining this information trumps any reason to keep this information about the use of taxpayer money private.

Jessica Levinson writes about the intersection of law and government every Monday. She is a Visiting Professor at Loyola Law School.

The photo used on this is by Flickr user Xavier de Jauréguiberry and was used under a Creative Commons License.

Support Provided By
Read More
Gray industrial towers and stacks rise up from behind the pitched roofs of warehouse buildings against a gray-blue sky, with a row of yellow-gold barrels with black lids lined up in the foreground to the right of a portable toilet.

California Isn't on Track To Meet Its Climate Change Mandates. It's Not Even Close.

According to the annual California Green Innovation Index released by Next 10 last week, California is off track from meeting its climate goals for the year 2030, as well as reaching carbon neutrality by 2045.
By Alejandro Lazo, CalMatters
A row of cows stands in individual cages along a line of light-colored enclosures, placed along a dirt path under a blue sky dotted with white puffy clouds.

A Battle Is Underway Over California’s Lucrative Dairy Biogas Market

California is considering changes to a program that has incentivized dairy biogas, to transform methane emissions into a source of natural gas. Neighbors are pushing for an end to the subsidies because of its impact on air quality and possible water pollution.
By Emma Foehringer Merchant, Inside Climate News
A Black woman with long, black brains wears a black Chicago Bulls windbreaker jacket with red and white stripes as she stands at the top of a short staircase in a housing complex and rests her left hand on the metal railing. She smiles slightly while looking directly at the camera.

Los Angeles County Is Testing AI's Ability To Prevent Homelessness

In order to prevent people from becoming homeless before it happens, Los Angeles County officials are using artificial intelligence (AI) technology to predict who in the county is most likely to lose their housing. They would then step in to help those people with their rent, utility bills, car payments and more so they don't become unhoused.
By Marisa Kendall, CalMatters