Valley lawmakers augment income many ways
WASHINGTON -- Another member of the San Joaquin Valley congressional delegation has gotten into the winemaking business.
Republican Rep. Devin Nunes of Visalia, who was raised on a dairy farm, last year sold the Tulare County farmland he co-owned with his brother. With the proceeds, newly filed public records show, Nunes invested between $50,000 and $100,000 in a Napa Valley winery.
"It's a risky business," Nunes said Thursday, "but it's a neat thing for me to do."
Nunes revealed his limited partnership in the Rutherford-based Alpha Omega Winery as part of his personal financial disclosure statement. The statements are required annually of all House and Senate members.
Rep. George Radanovich, R-Mariposa, who founded Radanovich Winery, is no longer invested in the winery, according to disclosure statements.
While he was in the winemaking business, Radanovich often played a hands-on role. Nunes does not, though he noted that winemaking runs in his family; his grandfather and other relatives were amateur vintners.
Alpha Omega Winery opened last summer and is advertising its first bottles for between $24 and $60.
"It's a limited partnership," Nunes said, "so I don't make any of the decisions."
The annual disclosure statements provide a wide array of details about financial affairs. Radanovich, for example, reported receiving a $650 shotgun last year as a gift from his staff.
But it's hard to clearly rank the wealth of members, because the statements cover broad categories. Rank-and-file members of Congress were paid $165,200 last year.
Clearly, though, none of the Valley's House members is in the same financial league as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Her assets reported Thursday include a Napa vineyard worth between $5 million and $25 million, owned with her husband, Paul.
The lawmakers augment their work income in different ways. Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer, for instance, reported earning $1,462 from the sale of her political suspense novel, "A Time to Run," whose hero is a feisty liberal senator from California.
The statements show that Rep. Dennis Cardoza, D-Merced, bought and sold a variety of largely high-tech stocks throughout last year. The sales included between $1,000 and $15,000 worth of stock in Evergreen Solar Inc., which he disposed of in February.
Cardoza sold that particular stock so that there wouldn't be a potential conflict when he introduced solar energy legislation in March.
The disclosure statements typically identify a dollar range rather than a specific amount for assets. Cardoza, for instance, reported selling between $15,001 and $50,000 worth of General Electric Co. stock in January 2006, and buying between $15,001 and $50,000 worth of NASDAQ stock that same month.
"I had sold some property, and I was trying to maximize my investments," Cardoza said, "and then I also started fixing up my property, including putting solar panels in."
In some cases, lawmakers provide precise details. For instance, Rep. Jim Costa, D-Fresno, reported earning $127,302 from his Fresno County farm. Costa is a member of the House Agriculture Committee, but according to Agriculture Department databases, his farm did not receive federal subsidies last year.
This story was originally published June 15, 2007 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Valley lawmakers augment income many ways."