Some legislators shun CA lawmakers’ gift extravagance

By John Hrabe | Cal Watchdog

Mike Gatto’s life is an open book. Last January, his daughter, Evangelina, received a $50 gift certificate from a family friend. During the summer recess, he enjoyed dinner with a star of CSI: Miami. In October, one stock in his investment portfolio took a hit. And just before Christmas, Gatto “re-gifted” a pair of coveted Rose Bowl tickets to a star student athlete.

It’s all information that has been publicly disclosed on the Democratic Los Angeles Assemblyman’s 2013 statement of economic interests. This week’s release of annual financial disclosure reports has the overwhelming majority of California lawmakers scrambling to explain the hundreds of thousands of dollars in gifts they accepted last year.

Gatto isn’t one of them. He leads a small group of legislators who’ve shunned extravagant gifts, declined once-in-a-lifetime travel opportunities and gone above and beyond the legal requirements to disclose their financial interests.

at Cal Watchdog.

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