California Senate leader defends bill, cites ethics reforms
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - Two weeks after turning the calendar on a year that saw four members of the state Senate face criminal charges, the body's new leader defended one of his own bills amid reports the FBI had questions about it.
Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon, D-Los Angeles, said Wednesday that his office has not been contacted by the FBI about a failed clean energy bill he presented two years ago.
"We have no idea why any authority would have questions about a bill crafted by respected environmental leaders to help low-income families afford energy efficient upgrades, which was then opposed by industry interests," he wrote in an email to The Associated Press.
Gina Swankie, a spokeswoman for the FBI in Sacramento, said the agency is "not confirming or denying that there's an investigation, we're not going to confirm or deny that we had a conversation."
The Sacramento Bee and Los Angeles Times quoted unidentified sources as saying agents were asking about SB37, which de Leon authored. It would have let consumers borrow money for clean energy or energy efficiency projects, then pay for the projects over time through an assessment on their monthly utility bills.
"The bill is really meant to spur clean energy, create jobs and save people money," said Mica Odom, the Environmental Defense Fund's U.S. climate and energy communications director. She said no one in her organization, which championed the bill, has been contacted by the FBI.
The legislation died with bipartisan opposition in the Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee. De Leon replaced key Senate employees on that committee after he became Senate leader in October, with aides saying he wanted experts with more experience in climate change policy, one of his key areas of interest.
"It's a problem he doesn't need, to put it mildly, but if the FBI went after every legislator who overruled subordinates on an issue, the Capitol would be quite empty," said Jack Pitney, a political science professor at Claremont McKenna College.
De Leon said in his email that "this was a good policy when I proposed it - and would still be good policy today." He said he will continue promoting clean energy and making California a leader on climate change policies.
Dan Schnur, director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at the University of Southern California, said de Leon was wise to issue a personal denial and defense.
De Leon took charge at the end of a year that saw one senator resign after being sentenced for lying about where he lived and two others suspended as they face charges in separate federal corruption cases. A fourth senator pleaded no contest to alcohol-related reckless driving.
"This current Senate had no connection with those activities of last year, but we all learned a lot and have redoubled our efforts to restore the public's trust," de Leon wrote. He said the Senate has made significant ethical and campaign finance reforms, but said the most important goal is to remain "focused on the job that voters sent us here to do."
De Leon's name was mentioned dozens of times in an FBI affidavit accusing then-Sen. Ron Calderon, D-Montebello, of accepting about $100,000 for himself and family members in exchange for promoting legislation seeking to expand Hollywood tax credits and to protect the financial interests of a hospital that benefited from a provision of California's workers' compensation law. Calderon has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial.
De Leon was subpoenaed by federal prosecutors but has a letter saying he is just a witness in the case and not a target. He is the third consecutive Senate leader to be linked to federal investigations.
Darrell Steinberg, who preceded de Leon as leader, also was named in the Calderon affidavit. Calderon alleges FBI agents wanted him to secretly record conversations with Steinberg and de Leon.
Like de Leon, Steinberg, D-Sacramento, said he has a letter from prosecutors saying he is not a target of the investigation.
Don Perata, D-Oakland, was the subject of a corruption probe during all four years he was leader before prosecutors decided not to bring charges in 2009, after he was termed out of office.
Pitney, the political science professor, likened de Leon's dilemma to the rumors that surrounded Assembly speaker Willie Brown during his tenure in the 1980s and 1990s: "There were always stories and rumors about Willie Brown, and he wound up being an historically effective leader."