Shotgun, Cinnamon Buns and Trip to Rio Were Among Gifts to Lawmakers in 1988

South Bay lawmakers received more than $54,650 in gifts and honoraria from special interests last year, according to annual economic interest statements filed last week with the state Fair Political Practices Commission.

The statements show that, in some cases, local lawmakers received thousands of dollars in speaking fees, travel, expensive meals and entertainment from a wide variety of corporations or lobbying groups with an interest in legislation.

Sen. Diane Watson (D-Los Angeles) received $23,328 in gifts and honoraria last year--far more than any other South Bay legislator.

Assemblyman Dave Elder (D-San Pedro) ranked second, with $10,505 in gifts and honoraria last year, primarily from speaking engagements.

Sen. Robert G. Beverly (R-Manhattan Beach) received $9,814 in gifts and honoraria, virtually all of it from special interests including tobacco companies, insurance interests, medical groups, utilities and a major oil company.

Assemblyman Gerald N. Felando (R-San Pedro), the vice chairman of the Assembly Health Committee, received $5,646 in gifts and honoraria, most of it from drug companies.

Assemblyman Richard E. Floyd (D-Carson) reported that he received $5,317 in gifts and honoraria, including gifts of a BB gun and a shotgun for carrying legislation on behalf of their manufacturers.

Sen. Ralph C. Dills (D-Gardena) reported just $46 in gifts, including $42 in free parking at Los Angeles International Airport and $3.65 in cinnamon buns from the California Restaurant Assn.

Assemblyman Curtis R. Tucker (D-Inglewood) died in office last October and his office does not have to file a statement for 1988, according to the Fair Political Practices Commission.

Unlike campaign contributions, which by law must be spent for political purposes, gifts and honoraria go directly to elected officials and can be used for personal purposes.

Until this year, there was no restriction on the amount in gifts and honoraria an elected official could receive in California. The only requirement was that the amount be reported annually.

That changed on New Year’s Day, when a voter-approved initiative took effect restricting gifts and honoraria to $1,000 from a single source each year.

Walter Zelman, executive director of Common Cause, a public interest group, said most donors are buying influence with lawmakers.

“They are in effect a cash contribution directly to the legislator. The money they receive can be used for their personal purposes.”

Zelman said there is not much doubt in his mind what the giver wants. “At a minimum, the giver wants access,” he said. “At a maximum, the giver wants influence and outright leverage over specific votes.”

Beverly agreed in an interview Friday that business groups which provide lawmakers with gifts and honoraria may receive better access. “It doesn’t influence how I vote,” Beverly said. “I have voted for and against people who have entertained me.”

Beverly said he believes business and lobbying groups provide gifts and honoraria to legislators who are “generally supportive” of their philosophy and approach to issues.

The veteran senator added that it is obvious to him that some legislators “seek out honoraria.”

Watson was not available for comment on Zelman’s remarks.

Diane Watson

Watson, whose district includes Westchester, Inglewood, South Central Los Angeles, Hawthorne and Lawndale, received $16,760 in gifts, including three trips to Bermuda and journeys to Africa and Brazil.

Pfizer Pharmaceuticals provided $2,746 in air fare, hotel accommodations, recreation and gifts during a five-day trip to Bermuda last April.

Llewellyn Peniston of Hamilton, Bermuda, provided a $3,250 trip to Bermuda last September. Watson said in an interview that she was a judge for the Miss Bermuda beauty contest.

She also received a $3,000 trip to the Bahamas and Bermuda last November from Ron Avery, president of California Institute, a Long Beach vocational school where Watson teaches classes.

Arco gave Watson a $1,602 trip to Rio de Janeiro last March.

The senator said she was a tour guide on a $3,000 trip to Kenya last October provided by Inter/Africa, a Los Angeles travel agency. Rorer Pharmaceuticals provided $1,500 in over-the-counter medical supplies given to African villagers during the trip.

Watson also received $684 in Jordache tote bags from Fred Meyer Inc., a Portland, Ore., retailer.

And Watson reported receiving a $500 “gift of love” last January from John Rupert of Los Angeles. Watson said the gift was a check enclosed in a birthday card.

The senator also reported receiving $6,568 in honoraria for 11 speeches last year. Watson said the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists gave her $1,035 for a speech in Palm Springs last February. She also received $1,000 for speeches at a health care conference in Seal Beach, at a luncheon meeting with Upjohn Co. at a posh Sacramento restaurant, from the Service Employees International Union and Sacramento attorney Melvyn J. Cohen.

Dave Elder

Elder received $1,255 in gifts, including a $780 membership in a Sacramento athletic club, $275 worth of parking at LAX and a $200 gift of golf and dinner provided by Johnson and Johnson.

The veteran lawmaker, whose district includes San Pedro, Wilmington, Harbor City and much of Long Beach, also collected $9,250 for a dozen speeches last year, four of them in one day last June.

Elder declined to be interviewed about his economic interest statement.

The Sunrise Co., a Palm Desert development firm, paid $1,500 for a speech June 3. The same day, Elder also received $250 checks from the Williams Co. of Palm Desert, Foothill Properties of Corona and Corcordia Development Corp. of San Bernardino.

The Assn. of California Insurance Cos. paid Elder $2,000 for a speech last August. Variable Annuity Life Insurance Co. paid $1,000 for a speech last November as did the California Correctional Peace Officers Assn.

The Alliance of Trades and Maintenance paid $1,000 for a speech last October. The California Assn. of State Approved Colleges and Columbia Pacific University of San Rafael each paid Elder $500 for speeches on the same day last April.

Robert G. Beverly

Beverly, who represents the beach cities of Torrance, Lomita, the Palos Verdes Peninsula, San Pedro, and part of Long Beach, reported $4,814 in gifts, including meals for himself and his wife.

Like most lawmakers, Beverly received free parking at Los Angeles International Airport and a Sacramento athletic club membership. But he also received theater passes, and tickets to Disneyland, UCLA football and Los Angeles Raiders games.

The cigar-smoking senator, who has opposed efforts to restrict smoking, received gifts from three tobacco industry groups.

Phillip Morris USA provided $504 worth of hotel accommodations, dinner and a reception aboard a boat at the America’s Cup Races in San Diego last September.

The United States Tobacco Co. gave $200 worth of Long Beach Grand Prix tickets and dinner. And the Smokeless Tobacco Council provided a $296 dinner for the senator and his wife last December.

Beverly said Chevron USA paid $664 for food and beverage over three days at the Republican National Convention in New Orleans last August.

The Assn. of California Life Insurance Cos. provided $532 in meals and hotel lodging last September.

Southern California Gas Co., Southern California Edison and Pacific Telesis provided meals and beverages valued at between $172 and $284.

The investment firm of Smith, Barney, Harris Upham and Co. Inc. paid $494 for Beverly’s lunch, dinner, theater and transportation during a December trip to New York City.

Pfizer Pharmaceuticals gave $212 worth of dinner and theater tickets during the same trip.

Beverly collected $5,000 for participation in panel discussions last year, most of it over three days last October. The California Medical Assn. paid $3,000, the California Psychiatric Assn. paid $1,000, and the Assn. of California Life Insurance Cos. paid $500.

The California Employment Law Council paid $500 for a speech last January.

Gerald N. Felando

Felando, whose district covers the beach cities, Torrance, Lomita, and the Palos Verdes Peninsula, received $2,546 in gifts. Pharmaceutical manufacturer Burroughs Wellcome Co. provided $1,000 in dinner and tickets to “Hollywood’s Salute to Broadway” at the Hollywood Bowl last March.

Louisiana-Pacific Corp., a lumber and paper company, provided $365 in air transportation, meals, and lodging last June at the Still Water Sportsman Club in Northern California. Felando said he went quail hunting.

The six-term lawmaker also received a $1,130 membership in the Capital Athletic Club of Sacramento.

All but $100 of Felando’s $3,100 in honoraria came from drug companies.

The Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Assn. paid him $1,000 for a speech last February. And Glaxo Inc., a North Carolina-based drug company, paid him $2,000 for a speech last May. At the time, Glaxo was pushing legislation to get Zantac, an anti-ulcer drug, added to an approved list for Medi-Cal patients. Felando voted for the measure in committee, but the bill later failed to win passage.

In an interview, Felando said “of course, they lobbied me. They lobbied a lot of people up here.”

A dentist by training, Felando said he supports doing away with the Medi-Cal drug formulary, a list of drugs that can be prescribed to Medi-Cal patients. “I believe as a practicing physician or dentist you ought to be able to prescribe the drug that you feel is most beneficial to that patient.”

Richard E. Floyd

Among the $717 in gifts received by Floyd was a $285 short-barrel shotgun provided by Thompson-Center Arms of Rochester, N.H. Floyd said he carried legislation, vetoed by Gov. George Deukmejian, to legalize the gun in California.

He also received a $30 BB gun from Daisy, a gun manufacturer in Arizona. Floyd sponsored legislation last year to require BB guns to be treated the same as other firearms.

Floyd also received horse racing tickets to the Los Angeles Turf Club.

The five-term lawmaker, who represents Hawthorne, Lawndale, Gardena and Carson, also collected $4,600 for six speeches.

The California Applicants Attorneys Assn., which represents workers in workers compensation cases, paid $3,000 to Floyd for three speeches last July.

California Cable Television Assn. paid $1,000 for a July speech in Palm Springs.

Vending machine operators paid $500 for a speech in Anaheim last April and the California Council of Churches paid $100 for a speech last April.

“All of them were honest to God speeches,” Floyd said. He was referring to an on-going FBI political corruption investigation of other lawmakers, some of whom were allegedly paid by a phony company set up by federal agents for speeches they never gave.

1988 GIFTS AND HONORARIA

Legislator Gifts Honoraria Total Assembly Dave Elder $1,255 $9,250 $10,505 Gerald N. Felando $2,546 $3,100 $5,646 Richard E. Floyd $717 $4,600 $5,317 Senate Robert G. Beverly $4,814 $5,000 $9,814 Ralph C. Dills $46 $0 $46 Diane Watson $16,760 $6,568 $23,328

No report has been filed for Assemblyman Curtis R. Tucker, who died in October.

Source: Statements of Economic Interest