Aloha! Several California lawmakers appear as apparent participants in Maui excursion

SACRAMENTO – The names of four California lawmakers surfaced Tuesday as apparent attendees at a Maui resort conference that has come under fire due to the coronavirus outbreak in California and official warnings not to travel out of state .

Assembly members Jordan Cunningham (R-Templeton) and Blanca Rubio (D-Baldwin Park) said they bought plane tickets on their campaign fundraising records in late October. Neither of them responded to telephone inquiries as to whether they Legislative conference of 100 people over four days at the Fairmont Kea Lani in Maui.

Assembly member Chad Mayes (I-Yucca Valley) is present, according to spokesman Joe Justin, the first to confirm that his boss has visited Hawaii. Justin made no comment other than confirming that Mayes was there.

Assembly member Wendy Carrillo (D-Boyle Heights) went last year and appears to have returned: Carrillo sent a tweet Sunday which was marked as having been sent from Kihei, Hawaii – right next to the conference complex. Carrillo’s office did not respond to a request for confirmation.

The event hosted by the Independent Voter Project brought together lobbyists and lawmakers from California, Texas and Washington, according to organizers. California lawmakers and lobbyists have ventured to Hawaii each November to soak up the sun, socialize and attend panels, but never before during a global pandemic.

Rubio’s campaign committee revealed spending a total of $ 1,644 on three Hawaiian Airlines tickets to a conference in Hawaii this week. The Cunningham campaign committee said it spent $ 306 on a Southwest Airlines ticket to “11/15-Conference Travel, 1, CA / HI, RT”.

Lawmakers are required to file a campaign finance statement detailing expenses and contributions until Oct. 17. Other participants may have purchased flights after this date or through means other than their campaign accounts.

POLITICO contacted the offices of state legislators who said they had attended the same conference in recent years. The event typically attracts moderate Democrats and Republicans and is touted as a way to bridge the political divide, while also being sponsored by the major players on Capitol Hill. The California Correctional Peace Officers Association, which represents state prison employees, has contributed $ 453,500 to the PVI for conference expenses over the past two years.

Besides Rubio, Carrillo and Cunningham, eight California state lawmakers who disclosed their attendance at the conference last November did not respond to multiple inquiries from POLITICO this week as to whether they had returned this year.

They include Coven members Jim Cooper (D-Elk Grove), Frank Bigelow (R-O’Neals), Bill Brough (R-Dana Point), Tom Daly (D-Anaheim), Mike Gipson (D-Carson ), Heath Flora (R-Ripon), Patrick O’Donnell (D-Long Beach) and Senator Susan Rubio (D-Baldwin Park). Senator Rubio is the sister of MP Blanca Rubio.

Flora, vice-chair of the Assembly’s Labor and Employment Committee, joined a briefing hearing by telephone on Tuesday, according to the committee, while others participated in person or via video conference .

Blanca Rubio recently became leader of the California Moderate Democratic Caucus – a role that involves the kinds of connections with business groups that the Maui conference rewards. Cunningham recently fended off a well-funded Democratic challenger, keeping a battlefield seat in the Republican column.

Dan Howle of the Independent Voter Project outlined safety precautions in place, including Hawaii’s requirement that visitors show proof of a negative test within 72 hours of arrival to avoid a long quarantine.

But the event was launched on the same day Gov. Gavin Newsom announced further closures across most of the state as the coronavirus spreads at an unprecedented rate. The event also began three days after Newsom issued a travel advisory asking residents not to travel out of state and to self-quarantine upon their return. The governor also implored people to cancel their Thanksgiving plans.

Staff members of lawmakers who have not been to Hawaii this year took the opportunity to highlight their bosses’ public service – or at least their Covid safety – when answering questions about their plight.

Assembly member Miguel Santiago (D-Los Angeles) “is currently heading to a food bank in Los Angeles,” his office said Tuesday. Jacqui Irwin (D-Thousand Oaks) was in her district working on an antibody testing study and never attended the annual event in Maui, her staff reported. An Autumn Burke staff member (D-Marina del Rey) sent a screenshot of the lawmaker during a health committee hearing on Tuesday.

Ash Kalra (D-San Jose) posted a tongue-in-cheek selfie on Tuesday brandishing a time-stamped Starbucks receipt as an alibi. “The receipt from Starbucks by the Capitol is the best I can do at the moment,” he tweeted.