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Consumer Watchdog

Will gov finally have to pay his own way?

Ca insurance industry

The state ethics board is considering rules
that would ban private organizations from funding the governor’s
overseas travel, including private airplanes and luxury hotels that can
cost hundreds of thousands of dollars a trip. The governor sends his travel bills to a purported nonprofit
(that shares its office and officers with the Chamber of Commerce) and
claims the accommodations and travel are gifts to his office, not him,
though he and his top staffers enjoy all the perks. The Political
Reform Act never intended to allow a privately-financed group pay to
maintain the governor in luxury, so kudos to the Fair Political
Practices Commission: new rules are needed to make the law stick.

Consumer Watchdog · January 25, 2008
https://consumerwatchdog.org/insurance/will-gov-finally-have-pay-his-own-way/
© 2026 Consumer Watchdog. Printed November 2, 2026.

Carmen Balber

Consumer Watchdog executive director Carmen Balber has been with the organization for over two decades. She spent four years directing the group’s Washington, D.C. office where she advocated for key health insurance market reforms that were ultimately enacted into law as part of the Affordable Care Act.

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