Reform bills inspired by LAist investigation are before Newsom for final approval

Three state bills, inspired by LAist’s investigation into millions of taxpayer dollars in Orange County that are unaccounted for, have passed unanimously in the Legislature and are now awaiting Gov. Gavin Newsom’s decision on whether to sign them into law.

Two of the bills would require more public transparency about elected officials’ family ties to certain types of contractors, and in some cases ban them from participating in awarding the money. The other would make Orange County publicly post how supervisors spent funding that they’ve often allocated outside public view.

After introducing the three bills earlier this year, state lawmakers cited LAist’s investigation of O.C. Supervisor Andrew Do as prompting the reform efforts.

Earlier this year, as part of a months-long investigation, LAist uncovered over $13 million in public money that Do directed to a little-known nonprofit, Viet America Society, led on and off by his now 23-year-old daughter, Rhiannon Do. Most of that money was directed to the group by Supervisor Do outside of the public’s view and never appeared on public meeting agendas. He did not publicly disclose his family ties, which is not illegal.

Most of the money was meant to feed needy seniors during the pandemic. But last month, the county filed a lawsuit alleging Rhiannon Do and other leaders at the group illegally diverted the money into buying themselves homes in Orange County. Soon after, federal agents searched houses owned by Supervisor Do, Rhiannon Do, the nonprofit’s founder, Peter Pham, and other locations connected to the group. All three have denied wrongdoing.

Details of the bills

Senate Bill 1111 would make it a crime in California for elected officials to be involved in awarding government contracts to organizations if they know their child is an officer or director of the vendor, or has at least 10% ownership. State Sen. Dave Min introduced the bill, and said LAist’s reporting led him to take on the issue. The bill has been significantly narrowed since it was introduced.

After the federal searches, Min said in a written statement, “I hope that this news will provide further motivation for the Governor to sign my anti-corruption legislation into law. My hope is that the Rebuilding Public Trust Act will end this type of corruption and help to restore public trust in our government.”

AB-3130 was introduced by Assembly members Sharon Quirk-Silva and Avelino Valencia. If signed by the governor, it would require county supervisors statewide to disclose any family ties they have to a nonprofit’s employees or officers before the board of supervisors awards money to the group. Quirk-Silva said she introduced it in response to LAist’s investigation. In a previous statement about the bill, she said requiring disclosure of family connections “preserves public trust and protects government integrity.”

AB-2946 would enact new transparency requirements and restrictions for O.C. supervisors’ “district discretionary funds” — a type of funding that each supervisor can award outside public view, like Supervisor Do did to his daughter’s group. The bill would require a majority vote by the Board of Supervisors before discretionary funds are awarded to a nonprofit or community group.

It would also require transparency in the form of logs, published online by the county each quarter, showing how each supervisor spent discretionary dollars and what the eligibility rules were for receiving the money.

Lastly, it would ban supervisors up for re-election from allocating discretionary funds in the 90 days before the election. They also would not be able to announce or send out press releases about previously approved discretionary funds within that 90 day period. The bill is specific to Orange County and would not apply to other jurisdictions.

The deadline for Newsom to sign or veto the three bills is Sept. 30. A spokesperson for his office told LAist the “measures will be evaluated on their merits.”

No opposition has been registered to the two conflict-of-interest bills, according to their last analysis reports from legislative staff.

The bill around discretionary spending in O.C., however, generated formal pushback.

Opposition to AB-2946

At a board meeting in early June, O.C. supervisors unanimously voted to oppose AB-2946. In recommending opposition, county staff said the bill — among other things — could delay the board’s ability to fund community projects because it lacked a clear definition of district discretionary funds.

The bill has since been amended by state lawmakers to address that concern.

The opposition recommendation — issued by the office of the county legislative affairs director, Peter DeMarco — also said the 90-day restriction “may infringe on the First Amendment rights of elected officials, their candidates, and the press by prohibiting speech.”

Various nonprofit groups in the county also registered their opposition to the bill, including the Boys & Girls Clubs of Fullerton, Abound Food Care, the Orange County Cemetery District and HomeAid Orange County.

Catch up on LAist’s investigation so far

In November 2023, LAist began investigating how millions in public taxpayer dollars were spent. In total, LAist has uncovered over $13 million in public money that was approved to a little-known nonprofit that records state was led on and off by Rhiannon Do, the now 23-year-old daughter of Supervisor Do. Most of that money was directed to the group by Supervisor Do outside of the public’s view and never appeared on public meeting agendas. He did not publicly disclose his family ties.

Much of the known funding came from federal coronavirus relief money.

• Read the story that launched the investigation here.
• Since we started reporting, we’ve also uncovered the group was two years overdue in completing a required audit into whether the meal funds were spent appropriately.
• And we found the amount of taxpayer money directed to the nonprofit was much larger than initially known. It totals at least $13.5 million in county funding — tallied from government records obtained and published by LAist. 
• After our reporting, O.C. officials wrote demand letters to the nonprofit saying millions in funding were unaccounted for. They warned it could be forced to repay the funds.
• And, we found the nonprofit missed a deadline set by county officials to provide proof about how funding for meals were spent.
• On Aug. 2, LAist reported O.C. officials were demanding the refund of more than $3 million in public funds awarded by Do to VAS and another nonprofit, Hand to Hand.
• Six days later, LAist reported Orange County officials had expanded demands for refunds of millions in tax dollars from the nonprofits and threatened legal action.
• On Aug. 15, LAist reported O.C. officials sued VAS and its key officers and associated businesses, including Rhiannon Do. The lawsuit alleges that county money was illegally used to purchase five homes and was converted into cash through ATM transactions. 
• Then, on Aug. 19, LAist reported O.C. officials had announced a second lawsuit against Hand to Hand and its CEO to recover millions of taxpayer dollars that were directed by Supervisor Do.
• LAist broke the news on Aug. 22 that federal agents were searching Rhiannon Do's home in Tustin. Later that day, Supervisor Do's home, and other properties, were also raided.
• On Sept. 10, the O.C. Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to remove Supervisor Do from his committee assignments, including his role as a board member for the Orange County Transportation Authority.