Calif. Assembly rejects requests for more info on spending
By Jim Sanders, Sacramento Bee
The Assembly has balked at releasing additional information about the office spending of its 80 members.
The decision comes in the wake of an analysis by The Bee that concluded member expenditures released Aug. 26 underreported the amount of money spent to run legislators’ offices and overreported committee spending.
The gap was created partly by the use of committee funds to pay for legislators’ personal staff. Numerous employees were switched from legislators’ staff payrolls to committee, caucus or leadership payrolls this year, records showed.
The Bee requested documents identifying the employees transferred and specifying when those moves took effect. The Assembly declined this week, citing state law that permits it to withhold legislative medical, personnel, correspondence or draft documents.
More than two dozen Democratic aides were moved from office to committee or leadership ledgers, staff rosters showed. Transfer requests tended to be filed in the six weeks before the Assembly released its member expenditure records Aug. 26.