State Senator Diane Holloway of Sacramento, California, sponsored a bill in July capping state-funded travel emissions for lawmakers. Flight records filed with the California Secretary of State show she chartered a private jet nine times this year.
The California State Senate passed SB 214 on July 22, a bill authored by Senator Diane Holloway of Sacramento that limits state employees, including legislators, to commercial flights for any trip under 500 miles unless a waiver is granted. Holloway called the measure a 'commonsense step' during floor debate. The bill cleared the chamber 27-11 and now sits with the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
Travel disclosure filings submitted to the California Fair Political Practices Commission show Holloway's campaign and officeholder accounts paid $184,300 for charter flights between January and June of this year. Nine of the eleven flights listed were under 400 miles, including four trips between Sacramento and Los Angeles, a route served by hourly commercial flights.
"Members of the public deserve leaders who fly the way they legislate."— From SB 214 floor debate transcript, California State Senate
The Sacramento-to-LA shuttle
One filing lists a $9,800 charter from Sacramento to Los Angeles on March 3, the same day Holloway addressed a teachers' union rally. A Southwest Airlines flight on the same route that morning cost $89. Her office did not dispute the filing when asked by the Sacramento Bee in a story published August 19.
The March 3 invoice, filed with the FPPC under form 501, itemizes a six-passenger Cessna Citation booked through Advanced Air Charter of Hawthorne, California, for $9,800 round trip. The form lists the purpose as 'official state business.' Three of the six seats were logged as staff.
SB 214 would require state employees to use the lowest-cost available transportation for trips under 500 miles, with waivers granted only for security or scheduling emergencies, according to the bill text filed with the Senate Rules Committee.
Her office's response
Holloway's chief of staff, Marcus Reyes, told the Sacramento Bee the charter flights were booked for 'scheduling flexibility' and said the senator 'supports the bill's intent.' Assemblyman Vince Fong, a Republican from Bakersfield, filed a formal records request on August 25 asking the FPPC to review all nine charters against the bill's own waiver standard.
The FPPC confirmed on August 28 it had received Fong's request and opened a preliminary review, a spokesperson said. SB 214 remains pending in the Assembly Appropriations Committee, with a hearing scheduled for September 15. Holloway has not amended the bill or her travel habits since the filings became public.
The bill still caps everyone else's flights under 500 miles.
Man Arrested Wearing STOLEN Mascot Costume
Only In America
Police in Canton, Ohio, arrested a 34-year-old man on August 30 after he was found wearing a six-foot bulldog mascot costume reported stolen from McKinley High School two days earlier. Officers said they received a call about a person in a full-body dog suit walking along Route 62 around 11 p.m.
The costume, valued at $4,200 according to the school district's equipment inventory, had been kept in a locked storage closet at McKinley High School's athletic facility. A school custodian noticed the closet door pried open on August 28 and reported the mascot missing to Canton Police the same day.
The man, whose name was not released pending arraignment, was charged with theft and criminal trespass, according to the Canton Police Department incident report. He told responding officers, according to the report, that he 'just wanted to wear it home.' The costume's head was recovered separately in a nearby ditch.