Several California lawmakers traveled to Hawaii to attend a lobbyist conference the same week California issued a strong warning against traveling and increased lockdown restrictions.
About 50 people, including several California lawmakers, attended the conference held by the Independent Voter Project at the Fairmont Kea Lani on the Hawaiian island of Maui this week, according to the Sacramento Bee.
In total, 20 legislators from across the country from both parties attended the event, but organizers would not provide specific names.
“Fair to say that the timing isn’t great,” Claremont McKenna College politics professor Jack Pitney told Politico. “Anybody organizing an in-person event should think carefully about the optics, particularly in California, where the governor has just sent most of the state into purple. There’s a chance this will not be received well by the general public.”
The event’s organizer, Dan Howle, said he is not concerned about the traveling and gathering due to Hawaii’s strict coronavirus restrictions and because all guests were required to provide proof of a negative coronavirus test taken within 72 hours of arrival.
Howle also stressed that hotel bar hangouts would be scrapped, masks are required at all times, and guests are told not to move table to table at meals.
“At some point in time, you have to figure out a way for people to get back to some semblance of a normal life,” Howle said. “This is a good conference.”
This week, California Gov. Gavin Newsom implemented what he called an “emergency brake” and moved several California counties backward in the reopening process and urged residents to avoid nonessential travel.
The move comes days after the Democratic governor apologized for attending a birthday party at a swanky Northern California restaurant violating his own rules regarding the number of households in social gatherings.
