Phil Matier: Bill To Limit Gifts To California Lawmakers Dies
SACRAMENTO (CBS SF) - A state Senate committee has killed a bill that would have prohibited lawmakers from receiving free spa treatments, sports tickets and rounds of golf.
Sen. Sam Blakeslee focused Senate Bill 18 on certain gifts lobbyists and special interests can currently give to lawmakers. The Republican from San Luis Obispo also included tickets to theme parks, concerts, gift cards, and skiing or fishing trips.
KCBS and Chronicle Insider Phil Matier Comments:
Blakeslee's bill was held in a Senate committee on Thursday.
Alicia Trost, spokeswoman for Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, said majority Democrats are waiting while the watchdog Fair Political Practices Commission considers its own rules on giving or accepting gifts.
A separate committee shelved another one of Blakeslee's bills. Senate Bill 17 would have required all budget bills be made public 72 hours before a vote.
"Things are getting rough up in Sacramento," KCBS and Chronicle Insider Phil Matier joked. "I mean, they cut their pay, they cut their per diem, they took away their cars. Now the goodies and bribes go!"
"Why take the job?" former San Francisco mayor and one-time state lawmaker Willie Brown chimed in, also tongue-in-cheek. "If all of the good things that are about the job are gone."
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