‘Wasted in Sacramento’: California’s crop of committees costs millions

More than 350 commissions, committees, councils and boards call California home, but few citizens and elected officials know exactly what they do.

Take the Senate Advisory Commission on Cost Control, for example. Its goal is to find new ways to reduce costs and improve efficiency in state programs, according to its website. When America Tonight asked legislators if they knew of the commission or what it does, none did.

America Tonight looked into the track record of the group and, beyond a few reports, it was difficult to find out exactly what the commission does, despite hundreds of thousands of dollars in expenses and salaries.

Since 2010, more than $150,000 was spent on travel by the commission, which is composed of 13 appointed unpaid commissioners and one salaried executive director.

One bill racked up more than $2,600 in rental cars, although the identities of the renters and the purpose of the rentals remains unclear. Another invoice showed American Express travel bills for $70,000. Some records were completely blacked out, including the purpose of travel, making it difficult to figure out how money was spent, who spent it and why.

It’s also unclear when the commission meets. Its website has no dates, minutes, agendas or schedule. But a public records request revealed that the commission met once in 2010 and again in 2013. An agenda item on the 2010 meeting was to “make the Legislature aware the commission exists.”

“I think it’s pretty clear you are not doing anything if the Legislature doesn’t know you exist,” said Doug Johnson, an expert on state government and a fellow at the Rose Institute of State and Local Government at Claremont McKenna College. After looking at the expense reports and the commission’s website, he added, “This is way up in the absurdity ranks. It looks like they didn’t do anything. And the title of the commission is classic — the Cost Control Commission. And they are spending money and not saving it.”

Shortly before the Office of Oversight’s staff was terminated, it completed a draft review of another little-known group, the Interagency Council on Veterans, which was established in 2011 by an executive order from Gov. Jerry Brown.

The council was asked “to identify and prioritize the needs of California’s veterans and to coordinate the activities at all levels of government in addressing those needs,” according to the agency’s website.

“We must serve them the same way they so bravely served us,” said Brown at the time.

The draft review, obtained exclusively by America Tonight, includes quotes from council members raising concerns about its effectiveness:

The council’s creation, while well intended, is an example of what governments do to solve a problem, said Gardner, who spent time as a White House adviser during Jimmy Carter’s presidency.

“It’s what people sometimes do instead of putting serious resources into solving a problem,” he said. “Let’s have a commission. Let’s have an interagency body, and let’s come up with a budget for four or five new people.”

An America Tonight request for comment from the council this week went unanswered. Brown's office did not return a call for comment on the council’s performance.

Becky Dennison had never heard of the Interagency Council on Veterans, even though she’s helping homeless veterans as part of her work at the Los Angeles Community Action Network, a nonprofit based on Skid Row.

“Any committee on veterans should be meeting the immediate needs of veterans. There have been tons of studies done on what folks need — housing, health care, mental health care, ways of dealing with PTSD,” she said. “There’s no need for doing more studies … No more talking. We need action.”

Granted, the costs of some of these commissions and councils are minuscule in relation to California’s $2 trillion annual budget. But critics like Johnson say the money adds up.

“We say, ‘Oh, we’re big, what does $100,000 matter?’ Well, $100,000 here, $100,000 there — soon you are talking millions,” he said. “So you are talking about money that matters.”

The money would be better spent somewhere else, Chick said.

“I know so many schools, so many senior meals programs, so many veterans’ crisis centers that would do anything for an extra $120,000 a year to do their hands-on work,” she said. “But it’s being wasted in Sacramento.”

Seat on some of California’s 350 committees, commissions and councils have long been considered soft landings for termed-out legislators or places to put a friend or allies. Some positions are full time and come with a salary and benefits, but the vast majority are part time or volunteer. 

In 2005, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger tried to eliminate 88 commissions and committees but had little success.

“He thought it would be an easy win, and it didn’t turn out that way,” Johnson said. “This was personal. This was ‘The governor tried to fire personal friends of the legislators.’”

When Brown became governor, he consolidated and eliminated several boards and commissions in his 2012–13 budget, but the state still has well over 300 commissions, committees, councils and boards.

While many do good work, Chick is concerned that nobody is seeking accountability from those hundreds of commissions.

“It’s criminally wrong to be wasting public dollars that are so desperately needed in other ways. And it upsets me that other officials are upset and they go, ‘Oh that’s just the way we play the game.’ No! That’s not the game we should play!”