Irvine Democratic State Assemblywoman Cottie Petrie-Norris – who is up for re-election next week – is drawing attention after being seen chatting with an influential utility lobbyist at her Cottie Classic Golf Fundraiser in Laguna Beach, which one of his clients paid $3,000 for him to attend.
As the chairwoman of the State Assembly’s powerful Utilities & Energy Committee, Petrie-Norris is overseeing a pivotal hearing tomorrow to discuss potential bailout plans for utility companies seeking payout relief from wildfires they caused.
The hearing, titled “The Tipping Point: Historic Growth, Generational Investment and Utility Investability,” starts at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday and will be followed up by a joint hearing with the Assembly’s Insurance Committee at 10 a.m. Thursday.
Negotiations over wildfire liability relief for the state’s utilities have been raging all year between Gov. Newsom and legislative leaders with insurance and utility interests advocating for their interests alongside consumer advocates and wildfire survivor groups.
While the state legislature adjourned for the year two months ago – with a compromise bill (SB 492) enacted by Newsom, there’s intense speculation that the governor may call a special session after the Nov. 3 election to deal with the wildfire liability issue in his last month in office.
While Petrie-Norris didn’t take questions directly on her interaction with the utility lobbyist, her staff did forward a comment from her, quoting one of California’s most famous bare knuckle power brokers in the last century.
“Seventy years ago, when speaking to his colleagues in the Assembly about the importance being a conscientious legislator, Speaker Jesse Unruh put it best:
‘If you can’t take their money, drink their booze, eat their food, screw their women and vote against them, you don’t belong here.’”
Nonetheless, the lobbyist golf tab is triggering alarm bells among consumer advocates watching what they see as precursor hearings intended to set the stage for a special session of the legislature to consider a utility bailout.
Consumer Watchdog’s President Jamie Court raised concerns with Petrie-Norris’ actions, pointing to a competing quote from Unruh.
“This is my dilemma: If I had stayed away from the lobbyists, I would have been ineffective. If I take their money and give them nothing for it, I am a cheat. If I do their bidding, I could be cheating the public,” Unruh said, noting in summary, “I find myself rationalizing what I have done. The tragedy is that I may wind up serving the very elements I set out to beat–yet not even know that I have changed.”
Court also called out Petrie-Norris’ soiree of lobbyists himself, highlighting how the timing of the meeting was suspect.
“It’s unseemly for the chair of the utilities committee to host a PG&E lobbyist at her fundraiser within two weeks of a hearing that will determine whether PG&E is eligible for a legislative bailout in a special session, which is what the CEO told shareholders she wanted on a call days before and claimed the assembly hearing would be helpful in getting,” Court said.
Petrie-Norris’ legislative staff in Sacramento confirmed to Voice of OC that Cesar Diaz, a powerful statewide lobbyist who is registered as representing PG&E was indeed at the golf event.
Diaz did not respond to a request for comment sent to his email address at the firm, Capital Advocacy.
But Petrie-Norris’ staff make an important distinction.
“He was not there on behalf of PG&E,” said Petrie Norris’ Chief of Staff Taylor Giroux, “he was there for the California Hydrogen Business Council.”
Girioux said the Hydrogen Business Association Council – with about 100 members – issued a $3,000 check for the golf fundraiser on Aug. 4.
She also said Petrie Norris is careful to keep fundraisers strictly social.
“Policy is not discussed,” Giroux said.
Nonetheless, consumer advocates – who peg Petrie-Norris as one of the State Assembly’s most prolific utility fundraisers – say her golf outing is heightening concerns about her objectivity in balancing utility interests against others.
“It’s bad optics and it’s bad practice to be hanging out with a PG&E lobbyist days before a key hearing,” Court said, “in which the chair has expressed sympathy for the utility’s position that they need urgent legislative help.”
