The bizarre story of Assemblymember Mia Bonta’s obviously unethical committee assignment
If we’re talking about teachable moments, Assemblywoman Mia Bonta has had her share over the past few weeks.
The Oakland Democrat came under fire recently when it became known that she had been put in charge of the Assembly budget subcommittee overseeing the California Department of Justice, which her husband, Attorney General Rob Bonta, is directly in charge of.
This is obviously unethical. It’s also totally unnecessary since there are 79 other members of the Assembly who could have been chair of that particular subcommittee. The easiest thing would have been for Mia Bonta to swap committee assignments and move on.
Bonta refused to do that. She first denied that there was anything wrong. Then, after realizing the story wasn’t going away, she announced last Sunday she would be recusing herself from matters involving the state DOJ. This would have been functionally impossible since she would have remained the chair of the committee and could exert influence on committee members regardless.
Then, on Thursday, the issue died an ignoble death when jurisdiction of DOJ’s budget was shifted to the State Administration subcommittee, which is absurd, but at least removes the conflict. And to be clear, there was a conflict. This is not some right-wing conspiracy.
As the generally left-wing Los Angeles Times editorial board wrote: “Having Bonta chair the budget subcommittee that is responsible for proposing and overseeing the funding of her spouse’s agency is inappropriate because it can create the perception of preferential treatment.”
Indeed. Who knows why Bonta refused to see the problem. Maybe work in the Bonta household really isn’t discussed, because as attorney general and a politician, Rob likely (hopefully!) saw the conflict.
As reported by KCRA’s Ashley Zavala, who broke the story, the arrangement seemed to run afoul of Department of Justice ethical guidelines. And as a former Assembly staffer, I assure you Assembly ethics training would have frowned on it as well.
Bonta was also publicly egged on by Speaker Anthony Rendon, who appointed her to the subcommittee. Rendon insisted she would be “unbiased.” I guess that solves everything!
If Bonta could truly be unbiased toward her husband’s livelihood, good for her. But that would have made her different from everyone else who prefers their own family.
Rendon of course is not the best judge of ethics when it comes to determining committee chairs. Not too long ago, he allowed Assemblyman Roger Hernandez, D-West Covina, to serve as a committee chair, even though he was under a restraining order for allegedly beating his wife.
Hernandez was a supporter of Rendon, so Rendon stood by him. Bonta, on the other hand, is a big supporter of Rendon’s successor as Assembly speaker, Robert Rivas.
Perhaps Rendon did this to embarrass Bonta for backing Rivas, which makes more sense than everyone simply being clueless about conflicts of interest. If that’s true, Rendon had to take a reputational hit as well, but he survived backing an alleged wife beater and is termed out, so he might not have cared.
Related: Mia Bonta should try being ethical for a change
Mia Bonta certainly made her own mistakes though. Instead of simply acknowledging the conflict and moving on, she self-immolated. Bonta blamed concerns about her conflict of interest on racism and sexism and on people being ignorant of the legislative process, which is all nonsense.
Bonta now sits atop a hollowed-out committee and the Department of Justice’s budget is now under the jurisdiction of the State Administration committee, proving that current leadership treats life in the Capitol as a joke. I wrote two weeks ago about the soft corruption that dominates the Capitol and this only proves my point.
I’ve never met Bonta, but she seems like she has a sincere desire to make a difference in her district and this state. I urge her not to let this whole thing make her bitter and vindictive like many of her colleagues. I also hope that she remembers when she sees her colleagues being jerked around — even the Republicans — that petty games in the Legislature do not serve the interests of constituents.
Follow Matt Fleming on Twitter @FlemingWords