The leader of the Latino Legislative Caucus today released the names of dozens of donors who collectively contributed more than $400,000 to its nonprofit foundation since 2009.
Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez last week pushed the Latino caucus to identify donors to its nonprofit subsidiary, a practice routinely followed by the Black Legislative Caucus the past two years but not necessarily required by law.
Assemblyman Tony Mendoza, an Artesia Democrat who has led the 23-member Latino Legislative Caucus since December, released a donors list today totaling $243,600 in contributions for 2009 and $195,500 for 2010.
Mendoza previously had released a list of seven contributions received since he took control of the caucus late last year.
Mendoza said he never objected to identifying donors but that the issue had not been raised since he became chairman, until last week, when The Bee published a story noting that voters had no way of knowing who was donating big bucks to the foundation, whose spending is controlled by Latino lawmakers.
The nonprofit foundation has sponsored the Capitol's Latino Spirit Awards and helped to commemorate Cesar Chavez Day and Hispanic Heritage Month. It also has supported a Latino youth leadership project.
The following is a list of donors released today:
* Contribution previously disclosed
** Exact donation date was unavailable
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