Some state lawmakers are spending part of their monthlong summer recess on international trips funded by special-interest groups that lobby them on various issues — but the junkets won’t come to an end when the Legislature returns to Sacramento on Aug. 1.
Shortly after business resumes at the state Capitol, lawmakers and select tech lobbyists will descend on a Napa Valley resort and spa for a two-day event dubbed the Technology Policy Summit, the Los Angeles Times reported. Lobbyists can win access by making a donation of at least $10,000 to the event’s sponsor, a foundation affiliated with the California Legislative Technology and Innovation Caucus. Democratic Assemblymember Evan Low of Cupertino, who leads the tech caucus, is under state investigation for having stopped disclosing donations made to the foundation at his request, as CalMatters reported in a series of 2020 investigations into lawmaker-affiliated nonprofits.
The donations may be a small price to pay for lobbyists looking to influence lawmakers’ positions on controversial tech bills facing do-or-die votes in August, the final month of the legislative session. One of the high-profile proposals aims to hold social media companies liable for deploying features they know will addict kids. Although the tech industry has already succeeded in watering it down, a prominent lobbyist told me last week the goal is to stop it entirely. Other contentious bills would strengthen kids’ privacy protections online and tighten regulations for the cryptocurrency market.
This article is an excerpt from a CalMatters report.
