Today, San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan urged state leaders to move auditing California’s influence industry to the top of their to-do list after a fresh investigation revealed regulators have conducted almost none of the lobbying audits that state law requires. The probe found only five audits completed between 2019 and 2025, even as lobbying cash has surged in Sacramento.
Bloomberg Government Investigation
An investigation by Bloomberg Government found that only five audits of lobbyists or their employers were completed between 2019 and 2025, a tally the outlet said amounts to less than 1% of the checks the Political Reform Act requires. Bloomberg Government reported that lobbying groups poured more than $2 billion into state government since 2019, citing OpenSecrets data. Those figures come from public audit lists compiled by the California Secretary of State.
How the Law Is Supposed to Work
The Political Reform Act directs the Fair Political Practices Commission to select by lot 25% of lobbying firms and lobbyist employers for Franchise Tax Board audits in odd-numbered years. That schedule would have produced more than 1,200 reviews from 2019 through 2025 if it had been followed. The statutory language and selection rules are set out in state law, which is available through California Legislative Information.
Why Audits Stalled
Officials say the problem comes down to capacity. Bloomberg Government reports the Franchise Tax Board sought an additional $2 million a year and 14 new staff in September 2024 to handle political audits, a request the governor’s administration declined amid budget pressures. That left a large backlog of selected audits and only a handful of completed reviews. The shortfall has prompted calls from lawmakers and watchdogs for structural fixes to how the state conducts and enforces lobbying audits, according to Bloomberg Government.
Local Reaction and What Is at Stake
The Bloomberg Government analysis drew quick reaction in Sacramento and around the Bay Area. San Jose’s mayor pushed the audit lapse into the public debate, while critics, including former state Sen. Steve Glazer, described the situation as a complete abdication and urged lawmakers to consider shifting responsibility or strengthening oversight. The governor’s office told reporters it has 22 lobbying firm audits underway and is hiring and retraining staff to work through the cases, though legislators warn that still may not be enough.
Legal Note
Audits can lead to fines or enforcement for filers found to have violated disclosure rules, but the statute assigns selection and enforcement to the FPPC and the Franchise Tax Board without imposing penalties on an agency that fails to carry out audits. The law that sets the selection rules and the audit program is available through California Legislative Information.
What Comes Next
Lawmakers and budget committees have flagged the backlog of lobbying audits for review, and some have floated bills that would move audit authority or require clearer staffing plans and reporting. For now, local leaders such as Mahan say they want a basic benchmark, audits that match what the law requires and a public accounting of the results.
