CA: Lobbying stalls bill to rein in lobbyists

Mercury News ^ | 4/6/05 | Kate Folmar

[NormsRevenge]

SACRAMENTO - A measure backed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to rein in registered lobbyists who also work as political consultants stalled Tuesday in the Legislature after lobbying from a prominent Democratic consultant who is a key target of the bill.

The bill, AB 40, sputtered in the Assembly elections committee when no one moved it for a vote. The committee is chaired by former federal prosecutor Tom Umberg, D-Santa Ana, who used campaign consultant Richie Ross in his race last November.

Ross, who is also a registered lobbyist for farmworkers and two large Indian tribes, said Tuesday that he had talked to Umberg and the other three Democrats on the elections committee about the bill back in January.

``I said I think it stinks that, of all the things in politics that need to be reformed, we're ending up with a bill that focuses on me,'' Ross said. ``I don't know what is being reformed here. A lot of political consultants work for a variety of people. Should they register to lobby? That's the question. I'm meeting the strictest standard of public disclosure.''

AB 40 would tighten the rules on registered lobbyists who are political consultants by barring them from lobbying a client for six months after they have had any financial relationship with the elected leader's campaign.

A similar bill sailed through the full Assembly with bipartisan support last year, including from two elections committee members who did not support it Tuesday. It was later killed by then-Senate President John Burton.