Details revealed on financing for governor's meal with legislators

By Steve Wiegand - swiegand@sacbee.com

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Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has released a partial list of guests to his closed-door lunch with legislators last month, and revealed who picked up the tab for their steak-or-salmon feeding.

Public notices filed by the Governor's Office show the California State Protocol Foundation, overseen by the state Chamber of Commerce, contributed $5,000, while the governor chipped in $3,036.

The foundation, a private nonprofit financed by business interests, has paid for numerous overseas trips taken by the governor.

Call Steve Wiegand, Bee Capitol Bureau, (916) 321-1076.

The lunch, held by Schwarzenegger at the private Sutter Club after his State of the State speech on Jan. 6, kicked up a fuss when questions arose as to whether it violated state open-meeting laws if a quorum of lawmakers were in attendance.

The list of 98 attendees included 19 of the state Senate's 40 members, and 41 of the 79 then serving in the Assembly.

The rest of the guests on the released list – which did not include nongovernment individuals – were administration and legislative officials and staff, and community colleges Chancellor Jack Scott.

In his invitation to the event, Schwarzenegger said he planned "to lay out some bold ideas for helping our great state through this troubled time." But aides to the governor and legislative leaders later characterized the lunch as a social gathering.

Unlike local governments, the Legislature isn't bound by the state's Brown Act, which guarantees the public's right to attend meetings of government bodies in most cases. The Legislature is governed by the Grunsky-Burton Act, which has looser provisions.

In an informal opinion, the Legislative Counsel's Office advised legislators before the lunch to avoid discussing policy matters.

Schwarzenegger spokesman Aaron McLear said the Governor's Office released the list and revealed who footed the bill as a matter of routine, since the office posts all the gifts it gets.

"It was a lunch, period," McLear said. "To suggest the governor can't buy lunch for legislators is absurd."