“Do what I say, not what I do,” might as well be the motto of many senators and Assembly members in the California Legislature. A recent Los Angeles Times analysis found a third of members reported a total of $14 million in stock investments, “But their stocks don’t always align with their political values,” in particular on energy and social media policy.
Two examples.
Assemblymember Gail Pellerin, D-Santa Cruz, is a major backer of environmentalist legislation. But her more than $2.1 million in investments include “stock in major oil, chemical and mining companies that have been criticized for their contributions to climate change.” The companies include Exxon Mobil, Chevron and Shell.
Assemblymember Josh Lowenthal, D-Long Beach, this year sponsored Senate Bill 1282, which would establish the Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission to study, in the bill’s words, “mental health risks associated with the use of social media by children and youth.” It will be heard again next year. Yet his more than $900,000 investment portfolio includes the stocks of Meta Platforms and Alphabet Inc., which respectively own the social media platforms Instagram and YouTube.
“I don’t see why anybody would be at least bit surprised by this,” said Kerry Jackson, a fellow with the Center for California Reform at the Pacific Research Institute. “It makes it look like what they’re doing is a lot of acting and virtue signaling. They’re in positions that the rest of us don’t have. We lack the information they have in the time they have it.”
As Gov. Gavin Newsom likes to boast, California soon will be the world’s fourth largest economy. After the U.S. Congress, the Legislature is the most powerful deliberative body in the country, enacting hundreds of laws every year affecting all areas of our lives.
Congress itself has been hit with similar charges of conflict of interest. In September, Sens. Jon Ossoff, D-Georgia, and Mark Kelly, D-Arizona, introduced the Ban Congressional Stock Trading Act, which would place members’ investments in blind trusts. A July poll by the Program for Public Consultation found 86% support from the public. For our state legislators, that sounds like a good idea for a ballot initiative.
