Campaign Cash Blamed for Privacy Bill’s Defeat

Opponents of a consumer financial privacy bill used nearly $5 million in campaign cash to sink the measure in the final days of the Assembly session last year, a watchdog group charged Monday.

At stake in pending legislation was how easily consumers could block financial and insurance companies from sharing private consumer information, according to California Common Cause.

During the 2000 election cycle and nine months last year when a bill limiting dissemination of the information was being considered, opponents gave $2.6 million to Assembly members, $1.3 million to senators and more than $800,000 to Gov. Gray Davis, the group said.

But insurance and financial companies gave to many supporters of the bill, including the author, as well as to opponents, said Dan Dunmoyer of the Personal Insurance Federation of California.