Orange County politicians are making a renewed effort to pass a bill that would prohibit public officials from voting on contracts that financially benefit their adult children. The bill was inspired by LAist's reporting.
Why now?
A new state legislative session starts Monday and the bill, SB-1111, faces several hurdles in the Assembly. State Sen. Dave Min, who authored the bill, along with Congresswoman Katie Porter and Orange County Supervisor Vicente Sarmiento, held a joint news conference Friday in support of it.
"There's a certain sense that corruption is just part of the political culture here in Orange County," said Min, who's running for Porter's congressional seat in November. (Porter took herself out of the race earlier this year by running for the Senate.) "In the new Orange County, we are here to say that political corruption is unacceptable," Min said.
What does the bill propose?
SB-1111 has been weakened during its journey through the legislature. Initially, it would have prohibited state and local officials from voting on contracts that would financially benefit their "adult children, spouse, parents, siblings, in-laws, or other relatives." In its current form, it would only apply to contracts involving their adult children.
How has the bill changed?
The bill was also narrowed in another way. It originally banned awarding money when the family member had any type of financial interest in the contract. The latest version limits that to when the child has an ownership interest of 10% or more in the potential recipient of a contract, or is an officer or director of the organization being awarded the contract.
How did an LAist investigation inspire this bill?
Min has said the bill was inspired by an investigation by LAist’s Nick Gerda into millions of taxpayer funds O.C. Supervisor Andrew Do directed to a nonprofit his daughter was listed as leading. Do did not disclose his family connection and the nonprofit has failed to fully account for how the money was used. LAist's reporting to date includes:
- November: O.C. Supervisor Andrew Do was involved in directing $3.1 million to a mental health center where his 22 year-old daughter, Rhiannon Do, was president.
- December: Records show missing audits for $4 million in taxpayer funding earmarked to provide meals for seniors and people with disabilities.
- January: County records show Andrew Do directed an additional $6.2 million in taxpayer dollars to his daughter’s group, Viet America Society (VAS), without publicly disclosing the family ties.
- February: O.C. officials say millions in funding were unaccounted for by the group and warned it could be forced to repay the funds.
- March: O.C. officials say they are scrambling to understand what’s happening at the county-funded nonprofit after layoffs were announced and then rescinded. The nonprofit misses repeated deadlines to provide proof about how funding for meals were spent.
- April: Rhiannon Do tells LAist she never held high-level positions at the nonprofit, despite public records listing her in top roles. An attorney for the group attributed the paper trail showing otherwise to “sloppiness” and negligence.
- July: Attorney for VAS says a long overdue audit will be filed within days.
- August: Orange County official demand repayment of millions earmarked for pandemic meals, saying VAS can't show they did the work.
Read LAist's full investigative series ▶
What's next?
SB 1111 has been re-referred to the Assembly Committee on Appropriations with a hearing set for Aug. 7.
