County Supervisors Advance Post-Employment Lobbying Ban

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to advance a proposal that would ban former county employees from lobbying their old offices for two years and restrict trading on prediction markets. The board directed staff to return Dec. 8 with a formal lobbying policy and the first phase of restrictions on betting platforms such as Kalshi.

Board Chair Terra Lawson-Remer introduced the measure in August. There is currently no county ordinance barring former officials from lobbying the offices they once occupied, and state law imposes a one-year post-employment lobbying ban on only a limited group of county officials, according to her office.

Lawson-Remer has cited federal and state actions as grounds for tighter controls. A U.S. Army soldier was arrested for allegedly earning more than $400,000 on Polymarket using classified government information, and nine Polymarket accounts reportedly made $2.4 million betting on recent U.S. military action in Iran. The U.S. Senate bars senators and Senate employees from using such platforms, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is investigating potential insider trading on them, and Gov. Gavin Newsom has barred state gubernatorial appointees from profiting on prediction markets with confidential information.

In August, a White House teleprompter operator used advance access to President Donald Trump's speeches "to make more than $100,000 betting on what the president would say," according to Lawson-Remer. "Federal regulators ordered him to forfeit his profits, pay a $65,000 penalty and stop trading for three years."

The proposed policy would cover trades placed through certain family accounts, require disclosure of potential conflicts, and bar former employees from trading for two years on matters they worked on. Prediction-market restrictions would begin with unclassified employees and extend to classified employees after required labor negotiations.

Lawson-Remer said public service "should never become a private payday." She added: "You shouldn't be able to leave government on Friday and get paid to lobby your former coworkers on Monday."