Following the money

Jesse Unruh, the legendary state Assembly speaker, was famous for saying, ‘Money is the mother’s milk of politics.’ At latimes.com/calpolitics, we follow the money -- charting campaign donations, lobbying and the spending of public dollars. These items, which have appeared on the website in recent months, suggest that little has changed in the decades since Unruh ruled: In Sacramento, all money is political.

Your tax dollars at work

$200 million

State lawmakers don’t come cheap. The latest figures show it costs $200 million for 120 legislators to spend eight months in Sacramento. It costs almost as much to run the 40-member Senate -- $86.3 million a year -- as it does to run the 80-seat Assembly. The lower house gets by on $113.2 million.

$10.96

Californians pay more taxes, on average, than most Americans -- $10.96 of every $100 goes to the taxman, say the Legislature’s analysts. It could be worse. New Yorkers hand over more than $14.

79 cents

Incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has her work cut out if she wants to change what the state’s Washington delegation calls the Anywhere but California syndrome. Some states get $2 back for every dollar they pay Uncle Sam. Californians recapture only 79 cents on the dollar, reports the California Institute on Federal Policy Research.

$36 billion

Californians plan to borrow $37 billion to improve the state’s public works. But as anyone with a mortgage knows, borrowing costs money. Taxpayers will pony up almost $1 dollar in interest for every dollar spent to build a bridge or shore up a levee. The 20-year interest cost: $36 billion.

$4,960

Newly passed Proposition 83 bars released sex offenders from living near schools and parks. Parolees are scrambling -- and taxpayers are helping with the rent. In the Bay Area, the state pays $4,960 a month per offender.

$18,951

Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez (D-Los Angeles) flies often between Sacramento and Los Angeles. Taxpayers forked over $18,951 for his travel last year. The average lawmaker’s travel cost $4,824.

He’s our governor

$733,086

Schwarzenegger doesn’t fly coach. In just three months last fall, during his reelection run, he spent $733,086 on NetJets, an aviation firm run by friend and donor Richard Santulli. Treasurer Phil Angelides, Schwarzenegger’s Democratic foe, flew commercial for $85,025. And, his campaign said, he didn’t even eat the peanuts.

$269,600

As the Bakersfield Californian noted, Schwarzenegger has visited the Republican-rich city seven times this year. Maybe he’s a Buck Owens fan. Maybe the draw is a buck of a different sort. The governor has collected $269,600 from donors with Bakersfield addresses this year. Angelides’ take: about $5,000.

$259

Schwarzenegger’s equivalent of a bake sale: autographed “Collateral Damage” script, humidors, chessboard and more. He donated 12 items, estimated value $6,380, for an auction to generate cash at a Riverside fundraiser for his reelection. One woman bought a signed stein and “double bicep bronze sculpture” worth $259.

$154,400

Turning the tables on bill collectors, California politicians collected $154,400 this year from collection agencies and their political action committee. Schwarzenegger’s slice: $22,000. Collectors pushed various bills, including one signed by the governor requiring the state to better track unpaid debts.

He’s not our governor

$2,500

In the category: Why bother? Controller Steve Westly spent $43 million on his failed bid to win the Democratic nomination for governor. Four days before the general election, he came through with a donation to Angelides, the man who beat him. Amount: $2,500.

$24,950

Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown, recently elected attorney general, has been a governor, a presidential contender, a man in search of the meaning of life. He’s also a coin collector with a very rare 1909-S VDB Lincoln Cent. In politics, he collects from coin dealers -- $24,950 this year.

Really big spenders

$27 million

The Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians has spent more than $27 million on state campaigns since 1998. Its lawyers argued before the state Supreme Court that sovereign tribes are not bound by California’s disclosure requirements. A decision is expected soon.

$4,886,600

Univision Chairman A. Jerrold Perenchio is Schwarzenegger’s largest donor. The Spanish-language TV magnate and his wife, Margaret, have given $4,886,600 to Schwarzenegger’s campaigns. Perenchio gave $1.285 million to former Gov. Gray Davis, and $186,000 to Angelides.

$8 million

Local titans Eli Broad, Ron Burkle and David Geffen would like to buy the Los Angeles Times. They also put their money into politics, with $8 million in donations to state campaigns since 2000. Burkle and Broad, who gave $22,300 to Schwarzenegger recently, are bipartisan givers. Geffen sides with Democrats.

Really small spenders

$38,771

California’s Green Party fans put their pennies where their politics are. They donated $38,771 in amounts of $100 or less this year -- most of the $46,000 the party raised. Among the small spenders: a healer, environmental restoration specialist, laborer, winemaker, truck driver and gardener.

Always compartmentalize

$293,000

Schwarzenegger lauded his Department of Management Health Care for imposing a $200,000 fine on health insurance giant Blue Cross. Left unsaid: That’s $93,000 less than Blue Cross and its affiliates have donated to the governor since 2003.

$1.6 million

Bruce Karatz, ousted as chairman of KB Home for allegedly manipulating stock options, moved easily in California halls of power. Under Karatz, KB Home donated $204,000 to Gray Davis and $180,000 to Schwarzenegger. Altogether, KB Home has given $1.6 million to state and local campaigns since 2000.

Is this a great state, or what?

$94,600

She’s a prolific fundraiser with a string of election wins. But state Sen. Carole Midgen (D-San Francisco) failed to properly disclose almost $400,000 in donations. California election authorities have announced a $94,600 fine. She can use campaign funds to pay it.

The cost of lobbying

$62.4 million

While lawmakers were passing 1,172 bills and the governor was deciding whether to sign them, special interests were working, too. Corporations, unions, local governments and others spent $62.4 million on lobbying in the critical third quarter of the year, up from $58 million in 2005.

$518,000

Before they feasted at Thanksgiving, politicians may have given thanks to the California Poultry Federation. Pols have gobbled up $518,000 in poultry-related donations since 2000. This year, the lobbyists feted lawmakers at a capital steakhouse that features a glass-fronted cooler where chunks of beef age. The cost was not chicken feed: $6,162.

$2,599

Some say Sacramento is a circus. So perhaps it’s fitting that when Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey came to town in the fall, Capitol staffers got into the Big Tent for free. Lobby powerhouses AT&T; and BP-Arco spent a combined $2,599 hosting legislative aides and their families, cotton candy included.

Sources: Times staff writers Dan Morain, Nancy Vogel, Evan Halper, Jenifer Warren