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A bill proposed by state Sen. Sam Blakeslee, Republican of San Luis Obispo, to ban personal gifts made by lobbyists and their clients to state legislators died a not-so-quiet death yesterday in the Senate Appropriations Committee, chaired by San Diego Democrat Christine Kehoe.
Prohibited gifts would have included tickets to theme parks, sporting events, theaters, concerts, and racetracks; "spa treatments and other services of a personal nature"; golf, skiing, or fishing trips and other recreational outings or vacations; and gift cards.
The Blakeslee bill had already cleared one Senate committee without dissent. But because the ban would have cost an estimated $204,000 to enforce and administer, it was sent to the Appropriations committee, where it was put in the so-called suspense file.
No member asked that it be brought up for a vote, effectively killing it.
"The score is lobbyists 1, public 0," Kathay Feng, executive director of California Common Cause, told the Los Angeles Times.
A bill proposed by state Sen. Sam Blakeslee, Republican of San Luis Obispo, to ban personal gifts made by lobbyists and their clients to state legislators died a not-so-quiet death yesterday in the Senate Appropriations Committee, chaired by San Diego Democrat Christine Kehoe.
Prohibited gifts would have included tickets to theme parks, sporting events, theaters, concerts, and racetracks; "spa treatments and other services of a personal nature"; golf, skiing, or fishing trips and other recreational outings or vacations; and gift cards.
The Blakeslee bill had already cleared one Senate committee without dissent. But because the ban would have cost an estimated $204,000 to enforce and administer, it was sent to the Appropriations committee, where it was put in the so-called suspense file.
No member asked that it be brought up for a vote, effectively killing it.
"The score is lobbyists 1, public 0," Kathay Feng, executive director of California Common Cause, told the Los Angeles Times.