Who Needs A Pension Plan When You Can Be A Lobbyist?

If you want examples of what is wrong with California, look no further than an article in today's Los Angeles Times that describes a proposed six figure lobbying contract for former Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez (the author of AB 32) under which he would advise the LA Department of Water and Power on compliance issues related to...

wait for it...

wait for it...

AB 32.

Yeah, I know this goes on all the time, in every state, in every industry-- and at the federal level the practice has been turned into an art form, but this just seems particularly unseemly.

The good news is that the contract got flagged and questions are being raised, but it could still go through:

"That effort hit a roadblock last week after the five-member panel that oversees the DWP asked its executives to explain the need for a contract worth up to $2.4 million with Conservation Strategy Group, which serves as a lobbyist and bond advisor to the utility. Under the proposed contract, the conservation group would retain Nuñez' firm, Mercury Public Affairs, as a subcontractor at a rate of $120,000 a year."

DWP proposes hiring former Assembly speaker Nuñez to help lobbyists [Los Angeles Times]