Pasadena Sun
Assemblyman Anthony Portantino (D-Altadena) was given the lowest office budget of any Assembly Democrat last year and ended up spending less than most, according to state records. The records would seem to bolster Portantino's claim that Speaker John Pérez (D-Los Angeles) used the budget process to punish him for straying from the party line.
But Portantino also saw his responsibilities reduced in 2011, as he no longer chaired a powerful taxation committee.
Portantino and Pérez engaged in a war of words last year that resulted in increased public access to budget and spending records of individual legislators. Pérez accused Portantino of reckless spending and threatened in July to lay off his office staff for six weeks.
Portantino said Pérez slashed his allowance as retribution for opposing a Democratic state budget proposal in June. Portantino asked that budgeting decisions for legislative staff be made public.
