Gavin Newsom bans his paid consultants from lobbying in new ‘ethics memo’

A month after he caught heat for attending the not-so-socially-distanced birthday party of a prominent California lobbyist, Gov. Gavin Newsom is instituting a lobbying ban among his campaign and political consultants.

In a memo to the governor’s staff, agency and department leadership on Friday, Chief of Staff Ann O’Leary said Newsom is barring any paid campaign or political consultant from directly communicating on behalf of a client with the governor, members of his staff, or the agencies under his control for the purpose of influencing legislative or administrative action. He is also barring any registered lobbyists from serving as paid campaign or political consultants.

“To protect the public’s trust, it is important that those who are not officially part of the Governor’s team, but whom the Governor consults for campaign or political advice, also meet a high ethic bar,” O’Leary wrote. “The Governor has determined that this Administration will exceed the already strong California legal requirements in this regard.”

The ban is effective immediately.

Furthermore, the governor has directed his legal affairs secretary to appoint a chief ethics advisor to advise him and his team on all ethics matters, the memo said. Deputy Legal Affairs Secretary Rei Onishi will serve in this role.

The measures will “ensure that the Governor’s paid campaign or political consultants cannot lobby the governor, members of his staff, or agencies under control,” the memo said.

It’s unclear whether the new ban applies to lobbyists who advise the governor but aren’t currently on his payroll.

The French Laundry party in November highlighted Newsom’s close relationship with key Capitol interests, including one with his longtime friend and consultant Jason Kinney, who invited Newsom to the party. Two representatives of the influential California Medical Association, CEO Dustin Corcoran and lobbyist Janus Norman, also attended the celebration.

The announcement also follows news this week that Jim DeBoo, a lobbyist with a long legislative history in Sacramento, will join the governor’s team in January in an as yet unnamed capacity.

DeBoo runs his own communications firm, whose clients include the California Medical Association, California Apartment Association, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc., and T-Mobile, according to state lobbying records.

The governor’s office issued a statement from Ann Ravel, former chair of the Fair Political Practices Commission, applauding the governor’s new policy, calling it “groundbreaking for California.”

“Not only does it go beyond what’s legally required, it meets the spirit of upholding public trust, which is vital to our Democracy,” Ravel said.

Dan Schnur, a longtime political operative and government ethics expert, said the policy is both the right thing to do and the political savvy thing to do, given Newsom’s recent gaffes.

“It’s always a good thing when an elected official moves so strongly to eliminate potential conflicts of interests,” Schnur said. “But it’s also a very savvy damage control maneuver for a governor who’s taken more than his share of ethics hits over the past few weeks.”

This story was originally published December 11, 2020 at 4:57 PM.