[August 29, 2011] A few California lawmakers release their budgets; others say they'll wait Tweet Aug 26, 2011 (The Sacramento Bee - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Assemblyman Roger Dickinson does not plan to release his office budget without a nod from Assembly leaders. The Sacramento Democrat, noting that Assembly Speaker John A. Perez is creating a task force to consider updating disclosure policies, said, "I'm going to respect that process." Republican Assemblywoman Beth Gaines of Roseville said she supports disclosing budgets for all 80 members. She doesn't want to release hers, however, unless the entire house does so. Meanwhile, tough luck for Californians who want to know if Assembly members are exceeding their budgets in a year of fiscal distress. None of eight capital-area Assembly members argued that office records should be kept confidential, but only one -- Dan Logue -- has agreed to join a handful of colleagues in bucking Perez by disclosing their spending immediately. "The bottom line is, it's the people's money," said Logue, R-Linda. Logue released his office's expenditures for the year thus far, $262,795. Unlike some colleagues, however, he did not release projections for coming months that would show whether he'll end the year with a surplus or deficit. The Assembly currently waits 12 months after the end of each legislative year to release a list of each lawmaker's expenditures by category. This year's statistics, for example, will be unveiled after Thanksgiving week of 2012. Bob Stern, president of the Center for Governmental Studies, said the Assembly's longtime practice of releasing year-old spending summaries each Nov. 30 curtails public interest. "It's past, it's old, and they do it at a time when they're out of session," he said. The year-old reports also separate member and committee spending, making it unclear exactly how much money each lawmaker controls. The Bee and the Los Angeles Times filed suit recently in an attempt to force the Assembly to release current-year office records of all members. The information could identify the biggest spenders, allow the public to compare expenditures and determine whether Perez has padded or slashed any member's budget in proximity to key votes. Staff salaries currently are posted online, but other expenditures are not. Assemblyman Anthony Portantino, D-La Canada Flintridge, claimed recently that Perez cut his budget as punishment for casting the lone Democratic vote against this year's budget. When Portantino, The Bee and others filed public-records requests for documents to prove or disprove his allegation, the Assembly balked, citing exemptions for the Legislature's "preliminary drafts, notes or legislative memoranda" and correspondence to member offices. A similar request for Senate records is pending. Assembly administrator Jon Waldie said at the time that projections of members' spending can change throughout the year, can contain personnel information and may be tied to private communications with legislators. Waldie and Robin Swanson, Perez's spokeswoman, said this week they no longer can discuss the issue because of the pending lawsuit. Others say disclosure of monthly records is politically sensitive because rivals in legislative campaigns might exploit an expenditure for political gain. "If it gets cast in the light that it's a waste of public resources, then it's going to become a political issue and it's going to be debated in the campaigns," said Wayne Johnson, a GOP strategist. Some Republicans, who as members of the minority party receive a smaller share of the budget pie, have been happy to buck Perez by releasing their records. Assemblyman Tim Donnelly, R-Twin Peaks, was one of the first, showing expenditures averaging less than $20,000 per month -- with a projected surplus of about $50,000 this year. Disclosures by Donnelly and eight other Assembly members shed light on which cumulative statistics are tracked monthly but kept confidential all year. Internal documents detail each lawmaker's monthly spending on items ranging from staff salaries to telephones and vehicle gasoline, identify the member's allocated budget and project a surplus or deficit for year's end. Larry Gerston, a political science professor at San Jose State University, said the public has a right to monitor legislative spending but that constantly releasing updated expenditures could spark more questions than answers. "You get to a point where you spend all your time defending what you've done, and why you've done it, rather than talking about what you want to do and how to benefit the state," Gerston said. "Frankly, I see both sides." Former Assemblyman Joe Canciamilla, D-Pittsburg, said he suspects the Assembly does not want to release office budgets because it does not want one lawmaker to know that a colleague's is larger. "It's a closed secret society," Canciamilla said of the Assembly. "Even the members don't know how it works." ------ Call Jim Sanders, Bee Capitol Bureau, (916) 326-5538. -- Read more articles by Jim Sanders ___ (c)2011 The Sacramento Bee (Sacramento, Calif.) Visit The Sacramento Bee (Sacramento, Calif.) at www.sacbee.com Distributed by MCT Information Services [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]