Parra's travel to South Africa, Ashburn's to Taiwan among the most expensive.
By E.J. Schultz / Bee Capitol Bureau
SACRAMENTO -- Central San Joaquin Valley state lawmakers last year collected more than $33,000 in gifts -- from pro sports tickets to overseas trips -- from corporations and interest groups, according to recent filings.
Assembly Member Nicole Parra had the biggest haul by far. The Hanford Democrat reported 65 gifts with a total value of $20,122. That includes $14,998 for a trip to South Africa underwritten by a nonprofit group that gets money from energy companies.
Sen. Roy Ashburn, R-Bakersfield, was next with $4,375, including $3,485 for a trip to Taiwan sponsored by the country's ministry of foreign affairs.
The gifts and trip reimbursements are perfectly legal and detailed on annual filings made with the Fair Political Practices Commission.
But good government advocates say some of the gifts raise eyebrows.
"It's a real concern when you have fairly lavish gifts and other perks ... going to elected officials" particularly when givers have business with the state, said Derek Cressman, government watchdog director for California Common Cause.
Lawmakers must report gifts of more than $50 and cannot collect more than $390 in gifts a year from the same source.
Registered lobbyists are banned from giving more than $10 in gifts a month.
There are fewer limits on travel reimbursements. Nonprofits can spend unlimited amounts, as long as the travel expenses are "reasonably related" to legislative or governmental affairs.
The Valley's nine lawmakers got gifts and travel reimbursements from more than 60 corporations and interest groups in 2007, according to a Bee analysis of filings recently made public.
Parra's trip was paid for by the California Foundation on the Environment and the Economy.
The San Francisco-based nonprofit has a mission of bringing together business, scientific, political and labor leaders to "address complex economic and environmental issues."
Tax documents do not itemize contributors to the foundation, but ExxonMobil has been a major contributor, according to the oil company's filings. It gave the nonprofit more than $2.5 million since 2000, according to federal tax filings. The nonprofit got a total of $1.2 million in contributions in 2005, according to the most recently available tax filings.
Parra, who leads the Assembly's business-friendly "moderate Democrat" caucus, said the two-week trip was beneficial. She and other lawmakers studied climate change and public-private partnerships, said Parra, who in previous years has gone on similar trips to Europe and Japan.
On the South Africa trip, environmentalists outnumbered oil company executives, she said.
"Do we need to travel all over the world to see this stuff? Some would argue that we don't," she said. But "it doesn't cost taxpayers a dime" and "it's made me a better advocate."
Bob Stern, president of the Center for Governmental Studies in Los Angeles, said travel can broaden a lawmaker's horizons. But "if the trip is worth taking, the taxpayers should pay for it," he said, not special interest groups. If taxpayers paid, "the meals wouldn't be as luxurious and the hotels wouldn't be as great," he said.
By paying for travel, groups like the California Foundation on the Environment and the Economy get access to legislators that other constituents lack, Stern said.
Ashburn said his trip to Taiwan allowed him to discuss health-care issues with government officials and travel on the country's high-speed rail, which he said could serve as a model for a proposed California bullet train.
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A list of gifts to Valley lawmakers 
