LOS ANGELES – Top aides to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger have skirted state regulations limiting gifts from special interest groups by spreading them around through their families, the Los Angeles Times reported Sunday.
California law allows officials to accept up to $340 in gifts in a year from any one special interest, but state officials have sidestepped the cap in several instances, according to a Times review of lobbying reports.
Five of Schwarzenegger’s senior aides and their families each accepted more than $340 in tickets to a Sacramento Kings basketball game on one night alone, sitting in luxury boxes supplied by phone company SBC and oil giant BP, the newspaper said. And last May, communications director Rob Stutzman, his wife and son were treated to $767 worth of tickets from SBC.
Under state law, gifts handed out directly to relatives rather than the state official aren’t counted toward the $340 limit, the Times said.
Schwarzenegger has railed against special interests since before becoming governor in last year’s recall election.
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