Assemblywoman Jacqui Irwin's prominent role in California's privacy debate has raised ethical questions about when lawmakers should recuse themselves from legislative decisions and committees.
, a home security and video doorbell startup that Amazon acquired last year for about $1 billion, state ethics disclosures show.Like other companies that collect vast amounts of consumer data, Ring — and its parent company, Amazon — has a financial stake in the details of California's groundbreaking data-privacy law. Industry groups, including those representing Amazon, have been scrambling to change the law before it takes effect Jan. 1.
As other privacy bills were debated, in committee or on the floor, Irwin rarely abstained from voting. Irwin has emerged this year as a key figure in negotiations over the California Consumer Privacy Act. While some lawmakers have pushed to strengthen the new law's enforcement or expand its protections, others have proposed changes sought by the business community. Irwin advanced a proposal backed by a large coalition of industry groups, including the California Chamber of Commerce, TechNet and the Internet Association.
To mitigate such effects, trade groups representing Amazon and other major international companies have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars lobbying the state Capitol in recent months, circulating proposed language for exemptions and tweaks.Voting records show that Irwin has participated in matters that would appear to affect her spouse's firm or parent company.
"Look, if your spouse has a financial interest in a company and you are voting on or are proposing legislation that would affect that company, I think there is an enormously good argument to be made that it could be a conflict of interest under the Political Reform Act," said Jessica Levinson, an ethics and campaign-finance expert at Loyola Law School.
State conflict-of-interest law prohibits lawmakers from engaging in decisions in which they have a financial interest, said Adam Silver, chief counsel to Assembly legislative ethics committee. But, he said, the "public generally" exception applies to cases in which an entire industry, profession or trade group would be affected by a law — rather than a small group of companies.
But Chairwoman Hannah-Beth Jackson pushed back, calling it "a dangerous bill" and "what is sometimes politely referred to as a jailbreak." It failed, though one of its less contentious provisions made it into another privacy proposal with Jackson's approval.
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