Mia Bonta won’t oversee her husband’s DOJ budget
A subcommittee led by Assemblywoman Mia Bonta, D-Oakland, will no longer oversee her husband’s Department of Justice budget, legislative leaders announced Wednesday, amid a flurry of questions about a potential conflict of interest.
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Assembly Budget Committee Chair Phil Ting, D-San Francisco, announced that he was “temporarily” reassigning all DOJ funding matters from the public safety budget subcommittee, led by Bonta, to a different panel. Ting said that the change will remain in effect “for as long as Bonta is chair” of her subcommittee.
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“We thought it was the cleanest thing to do,” Ting said in an interview, adding that he consulted with Bonta and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, D-Lakewood, before making the move. Rendon’s spokesperson, Katie Talbot, said he agreed with the decision.
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In an interview after the announcement, Bonta said she endorsed the shift.
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“I definitely support the decision,” she said. “I think it speaks to the notice that I provided to recuse myself from involvement in matters related to the budget for the DOJ.”
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Sacramento’s NBC affiliate KCRA 3 first reported on Feb. 9 that Mia Bonta, who chairs Assembly Budget Subcommittee 5 on Public Safety, would be overseeing Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office finances. On Sunday, the assemblywoman announced in a statement that she would recuse herself from matters pertaining to the DOJ.
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Bonta denies any conflict of interest but said she “wanted to make sure we were able to focus on the business at hand for the committee and the work I have to do in my district.”
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Ting, who also said he didn’t see Bonta’s original appointment as improper, hoped this would “prevent any perception of conflict.”
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DOJ funding will be discussed at a budget subcommittee meeting on March 14.
https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article272577581.html Mia Bonta won’t oversee her husband’s DOJ budget