The owner of a one-man Sacramento lobbying firm is being fined $30,000 by the state's political watchdog agency for failing to disclose advocacy activities for which he was paid nearly a million dollars.
Frank J. Molina, a former Assembly chief of staff, has agreed to pay the fine as a stipulated settlement, according to the Fair Political Practices Commission, which is scheduled to consider the matter Feb. 10.
Molina could not immediately be reached for comment today through his firm, Strategic Solutions Advisors. He left the Capitol in January 2007 to become owner of the lobbying firm, the FPPC said.
Molina failed to report $840,000 in lobbying activities from 2007 through 2009 for clients that included the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, the Soboba Band of Luiseno Indians, the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians, the Tule River Indian Tribe and Deloitte Consulting LLP, the FPPC said.
In setting the fine at $30,000, the FPPC said that Molina was not very cooperative with its investigation and caused significant delays in obtaining information. He also should have known about his reporting obligations because he had worked at the Capitol for nearly nine years, the agency said.
In his favor, Molina had no prior record of violating state disclosure law, the agency said. He was accused of failing to file 12 consecutive quarterly disclosure statements as a lobbyist and as owner of the firm. The violations are punishable by a fine of up to $60,000.
Molina's website described him as a former chief of staff to Assemblyman Simon Salinas, D-Salinas. His resume also includes service as a senior adviser to majority leaders of the Assembly and Senate, and as chief consultant to the leader of the Latino Legislative Caucus.
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