California’s top watchdog wants to make AI work for democracy

Presented by Amazon: Inside the Golden State political arena

Jun 05, 2024 View in browser   By Lara Korte and Dustin Gardiner Presented by  Adam Silver, chair of California's Fair Political Practices Commission. | Courtesy photo THE BUZZ: ROBO CORRUPTION COP— The new leader of California’s top political watchdog wants to speed up investigations and is looking to artificial intelligence to do it. Adam Silver was appointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in March to lead the Fair Political Practices Commission, replacing outgoing Chair Richard C. Miadich, whom Newsom sent to the Sacramento Superior Court bench. Silver, 38 — who hails from Los Angeles and likes to spend his free time writing “Curb Your Enthusiasm” fan fiction — most recently served as the chief counsel for the Assembly’s Legislative Ethics Committee and spent years at the FPPC in various roles, including as an executive fellow under past Chair Ann Ravel.  He’s now taking the helm of one the state’s most prominent agencies, created nearly 50 years ago in the wake of the Watergate scandal to oversee campaign finance, conflicts of interest, lobbying and governmental ethics in California. The commission has been plagued by backlogs in recent years. But Silver, in an interview with Playbook, outlined how the commission can use technology to bolster enforcement efforts, cut down on investigation time and tackle complex cases. At the same time, the Legislature is considering sweeping regulations for artificial intelligence, including its use in elections, and changes to the 1974 Political Reform Act — policies that could have an impact on the commission and its work. Here are the highlights from our conversation with the new chair: On what he wants to change at the commission — Among other things, I really want to make it easier for regular Californians to run for office, and for them to hold public office. I think it can be really difficult and daunting, especially when they’re subject to thousands of dollars in penalties from us. They could go to prison if they violate some of these rules. While we have incredibly detailed campaign manuals, campaign law is extremely complex. Our manual is 320 pages. So if you get someone who wants to run for school district board, it’s going to be really daunting for them to open a 320-page manual. One thing I’m thinking about doing is creating an LLM (large language model) — using artificial intelligence that’s based solely on our manual. That would make our manual searchable, and will also give them citations as to the pages that they can look at — that’ll have FAQs, examples, that sort of thing. On how AI can improve enforcement — In a lot of the more complex cases, we look for patterns in campaign contributing and voting to identify campaign money laundering, conflicts of interest. It can take a lot of time for a human to do that. But if you upload a bunch of campaign reports into something like ChatGPT, they can identify the patterns. They’re going to mess up a lot, but that’s why you have your expert staff who can look at all this stuff. It's the equivalent of having a bunch of interns coming over from a school — they'll make some mistakes, but we'll also identify, you know, some potential violations. On legislative efforts to expand the use of campaign funds for things like personal security and mental health care — I think we should be pretty strict as to what campaign funds can be used on. Candidates enter into a public trust with their donors to use those funds specifically for campaign-related purposes. So I’m always initially skeptical of any expansion of those rules. On the issue of lobbying audits, which are in a serious backlog at the Franchise Tax Board — I think it’s a huge issue that the lobbying audits aren’t being conducted in a timely manner. You’re talking about more than 500 entities and individuals who have outstanding audits. That’s a big problem for two reasons. One, this is how we make sure that the lobbying entities are following the law. Number two, which I think is really important to the lobbying entities themselves, is this is how they demonstrate to the public that they’re following the law. If they don’t have these results, then how are they going to show that they’re actually above board? GOOD MORNING. Happy Wednesday. Thanks for waking up with Playbook. You can text us at ‪916-562-0685‬‪ — save it as “CA Playbook” in your contacts. Or drop us a line at lkorte@politico.com and dgardiner@politico.com, or on X — @DustinGardiner and @Lara_Korte. WHERE’S GAVIN? Nothing official announced.   A message from Amazon: When Sylvia took her business beyond her hometown, she turned to Amazon to help with shipping products. “Fulfillment by Amazon handles shipping, giving us time to make our products,” she said. Fulfillment by Amazon costs 70% less on average than comparable two-day shipping options. Learn more.   CASH DASH Chamath Palihapitiya speaks onstage at the TechCrunch Disrupt NY 2013 on April 29, 2013 in New York City. | Brian Ach/Getty Images for TechCrunch FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: HEDGING YOUR BETS — Billionaire venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya’s decision to co-host a fundraiser for Donald Trump underscores the increasingly conservative leanings of some Silicon Valley executives. Palihapitiya’s embrace of Trump has also created tricky optics for some California Democrats who’ve accepted contributions from the tech provocateur this cycle. Former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo received a $1,000 contribution from Palihapitiya after he finished first in the March 5 primary election for the safe blue Silicon Valley House seat held by retiring Democratic Rep. Anna Eshoo. Liccardo and his opponent, Assemblymember Evan Low, have both raked in tech money over the years, but there's a risk that Palihapitiya's contribution could turn off liberal voters in a competitive Dem-on-Dem race. Liccardo’s campaign declined to comment. Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna and House candidate George Whitesides also accepted $6,600 contributions from Palihapitiya last year. Palihapitiya’s Thursday fundraiser for Trump in San Francisco will be held at the home of co-hosts David Sacks, a billionaire venture capitalist, and his wife, Jacqueline Sacks, a clothing brand executive. Trump will also make fundraising stops in Beverly Hills and Newport Beach this week. FOR GOOD MEASURE FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: NEW PAGA POLLING — Backers of the Private Attorneys General Act, a 2004 law that allows wronged workers to sue their employers on behalf of the state and their employees, are out with new polling this morning showing just 31 percent support for a ballot measure to repeal PAGA. The survey, conducted late last month by David Binder Research for opponents of the ballot measure and shared with POLITICO, was based on the measure’s current title and summary from the secretary of state. The poll comes shortly after Fix PAGA, the coalition behind the ballot measure, released numbers of its own showing 72 percent support for a theoretical legislative fix to the issue, with language matching how they’d plan to message if they ran a full campaign. The dueling polls are a reflection of what’s happening behind the scenes as business and labor leaders negotiate a potential deal to take the PAGA measure off the ballot. With just 22 days until the deadline to remove qualified measures, both sides are kicking into high gear. — Emily Schultheis   A message from Amazon:   ON THE AGENDA MADAM VICE PRESIDENT AT MANNY'S — Kamala Harris returns to the Bay today for a series of official and campaign events, including an afternoon fundraiser with none other than Manny Yekutiel of Manny’s in the Mission, who is hosting the event along with Shannon Hunt-Scott, Stacy Mason and Sheila Thompson. BORDER BUDDIES — On the heels of a major immigration policy announcement from President Joe Biden and Mexico's election of Claudia Sheinbaum as president, the Assembly Select Committee on California-Mexico Bi-National Affairs will convene this morning for an informational hearing on shared educational and economic opportunities. CLIMATE AND ENERGY RISING WATERS — California’s new sea-level rise guidance predicts up to 11.9 feet of ocean rise by 2150 — but steers clear of a particularly controversial strategy to deal with it. Read more about what cities are hoping to avoid in last night's California Climate. TOP TALKERS — The first major heatwave of the year has Californians sweating from Los Angeles to Sacramento. Temperatures were expected to exceed 100 degrees in the Sacramento Valley, and an excessive heat warning was expected to remain in effect for much of the state for a few days. Even some parts of the Bay Area are experiencing 100-degree temps. (Los Angeles Times and San Francisco Chronicle) AROUND THE STATE — Valley Children’s Hospital in Madera is facing scrutiny over the relatively low portion of revenue it has put back into the community in the form of subsidized health care for certain patients. Comparable non-profit children’s hospitals have reinvested larger shares of their money. (The Fresno Bee) — An FBI agent testified that the man who was convicted of assaulting Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul Pelosi, with a hammer previously searched the internet for disturbing content, including murder scenes from the 1920s. Defendant David DePape has already been convicted on federal charges and is now on trial for a separate set of state charges. (San Francisco Chronicle) — UCLA’s campus is still reeling from weeks of unrest that led to violence and mass arrests, as well as a related strike. Some students say they are uncomfortable with the large security presence that remains. (Los Angeles Times)   A message from Amazon: Amazon invests billions of dollars in people, resources, and tools to support selling partners at every step of the process from marketing to shipping. More than 60% of sales in Amazon’s store come from independent sellers, most of which are small to medium-sized businesses. See how Amazon supports small businesses.   PLAYBOOKERS PEOPLE MOVES — Greg Schuckman has been named administrator in charge of California State University’s Office of Federal Relations. Schuckman previously served as assistant vice president for federal relations for the University of Central Florida. — Brian Wheeler has joined Foley & Lardner as a partner in their San Francisco office. Wheeler was previously managing partner and general counsel at SoftBank Investment Advisers. — Darcy Totten is the new interim executive director of the California Commission on the Status of Women and Girls. She was previously the commission’s director of external affairs. Totten replaces former Executive Director Holly Martinez, who stepped down work as director for the Representation Project, a nonprofit founded by First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom. WEDDING BELLS — Sacramento Bee climate and environment reporter Ari Plachta married Bloomberg’s Eliyahu Kamisher on May 26 at Three Rivers outside Sequoia National Park in front of a journalist-packed crowd, which included fellow Bee reporters Lindsey Holden, Jenavieve Hatch and Stephen Hobbs; Shomik Mukherjee, Katie Lauer and Jakob Rogers of the Mercury News; Robin Estrin from KCRW; Maggie Angst of the San Francisco Chronicle; as well as POLITICO's own Will McCarthy. Congratulations!  Pic… another pic…  BIRTHDAYS — Assemblymember Evan Low (favorite cake flavor: “rainbow”) … WANT A SHOUT-OUT FEATURED? — Send us a birthday, career move or another special occasion to include in POLITICO’s California Playbook. You can now submit a shout-out using this Google form. Disclaimer: All information will be verified. CALIFORNIA POLICY IS ALWAYS CHANGING: Know your next move. From Sacramento to Silicon Valley, POLITICO California Pro provides policy professionals with the in-depth reporting and tools they need to get ahead of policy trends and political developments shaping the Golden State. To learn more about the exclusive insight and analysis this subscriber-only service offers, click here. Want to make an impact? POLITICO California has a variety of solutions available for partners looking to reach and activate the most influential people in the Golden State. Have a petition you want signed? A cause you’re promoting? Seeking to increase brand awareness amongst this key audience? Share your message with our influential readers to foster engagement and drive action. Contact Rebecca Haase to find out how: rhaase@politico.com.   Follow us on Twitter Dustin Gardiner @dustingardiner Lara Korte @lara_korte   Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook  |  Playbook PM  |  California Playbook  |  Florida Playbook  |  Illinois Playbook  |  Massachusetts Playbook  |  New Jersey Playbook  |  New York Playbook  |  Ottawa Playbook  |  Brussels Playbook  |  London Playbook View all our political and policy newsletters Follow us

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