Assemblymember Matt Haney often touts his status as a humble renter in San Francisco’s pricey real estate market, a description that led to a 2023 report in The New York Times documenting the trend of California lawmakers who proudly embrace their everyman credentials.
But just days before the Times’ story was published, the California Apartment Association PAC, an advocacy group for landlords that often stands in opposition to pro-renter policies, cut Haney a $20,000 check. It was one of more than a dozen contributions — totaling around $119,000 — to a state ballot measure committee Haney quietly formed in May 2023.
While elected officials commonly create committees to support or oppose a particular measure, campaign records show that just a small fraction of the money — less than $19,000 — given to the “Haney Ballot Measure Committee for California Opportunity” went toward social media ads supporting two state propositions this past year. Instead, Haney used the majority of the money paying off political consultants and funding flights, hotels, food and drinks, a Democratic Party mixer, and tickets to Golden State Warriors and San Francisco 49ers playoff games that were billed as fundraisers.
The spending fits a pattern for Haney, who is under investigation by the state’s Fair Political Practices Commission after The Standard reported in June that he spent roughly $80,000 from his Assembly campaign on tickets to sporting events and Broadway shows. At the time, Haney’s campaign defended those expenses as fundraising efforts but declined to disclose who attended the events or how much was raised. Pictures on social media from some of these events showed Haney hanging out with family and friends.
“At this point, this is who this guy is. We’re past the point of an error; a young politician just sort of feeling himself,” said David Latterman, a political analyst in San Francisco. “This is a smart guy who’s been in politics for a long time. He knows what he’s doing — just living the high life.”
Campaign experts say the way Haney spent money on fundraisers at 49ers games using his ballot measure committee and Assembly campaign may have violated state law. In January, Haney purchased tickets through both accounts. The total cost for tickets charged to the ballot measure committee was more than $7,700. This is separate from the $65,000 Haney has spent from his Assembly campaign on 49ers tickets since the beginning of last year.
It’s not clear how expenses and receipts were divided for the games, but the campaign accounts should be wary of commingling funds, as they are bound by different rules under state law. Ballot measure committees have no restrictions on how much money they can accept from donors, while personal campaign accounts cannot accept more than $5,500 from individual donors.
“If he was tapping ballot measure money for campaign-related expenses for his candidate campaign — including fundraising activities — then that would violate the law. You can’t do that,” Sean McMorris, an ethics expert from the government transparency nonprofit Common Cause, said in an email. “You have to use ballot measure funds solely for the ballot measure (or measures) the committee was created for.”
The bulk of the money in Haney’s ballot measure committee came from special interests that include five Native American tribes, a PAC for California State University faculty, and another $10,000 check from the California Apartment Association PAC, bringing the total from that group to $30,000. Rather than forming the committee to address a specific issue, Haney designed his committee as a vehicle for the legislator to support any ballot measures.
One of his first orders of business after creating the committee was to purchase Golden State Warriors playoff tickets for $6,250. The charge was described as a fundraiser, but it’s not clear who attended the game with Haney. He did not respond to requests for comment and questions sent by text and email.
Amber Maltbie, an attorney for Haney’s campaign, issued a statement saying that all of the assemblymember’s ballot measure committee expenses went toward fundraising, travel to build support for potential ballot measures, and communications in support of local and statewide ballot measures.
“These expenditures are fully compliant with the law and were reported transparently in accordance with FPPC requirements,” Maltbie said. “Unfortunately, the SF Standard appears intent on making spurious claims about Mr. Haney for the sole purpose of generating clickbait.”
Another report in November found that Haney has been spending thousands of campaign dollars on international junkets while staying in five-star hotels and a castle in Ireland.
Political experts contacted for this story expressed concerns about Haney’s freewheeling use of funds from both his personal campaign and his state ballot measure committee, the latter of which appears to have made only a passing effort to support two state propositions.
Campaign filings show that in January, he spent $11,400 to run ads on Facebook and Instagram in support of Proposition 1, a behavioral health bond measure that passed in March. In September, Haney spent almost $7,289 to run a similar ad on Facebook and Instagram — it featured the same picture of him — to support Prop. 5, an affordable housing and infrastructure bond measure that failed in November. It’s not clear what outreach Haney’s committee conducted beyond the two short-lived social media ads. Total online ad expenses were reported at $38,000, but it seems much of this money went to Haney’s political consultants at Polaris Strategies.
Altogether, the reported Facebook and Instagram ads supporting the two measures account for about 16% of the funds raised by Haney’s ballot measure committee. That’s less than the nearly $21,000 he spent on tickets to three sporting events and catering for a Democratic Party Convention mixer in November 2023.
During a September 2023 trip to San Diego, Haney used his ballot measure committee to book a $555-a-night hotel room in Pacific Beach and racked up pricey bills that were attributed to meetings with political leaders to discuss ballot measures. Among them were a $190 charge at the La Jolla Shores Hotel, a $175 tab at Tom Ham’s Lighthouse — the self-described best seafood restaurant in San Diego — and two charges totaling $165 at Techo Beso, a rooftop bar with a pool and solid views.
A spokesperson for the Fair Political Practices Commission confirmed there is an active investigation into Haney’s Assembly campaigns but declined to comment on his ballot measure committee. It’s not clear if the political watchdog was aware of these activities, as an announcement of the investigation this summer said a review would focus on his Assembly campaigns in 2022 and 2024. Haney was reelected to another two-year term last month.
A political consultant who works on state campaigns compared Haney’s ballot measure committee to a “slush fund,” saying it could come back to bite him.
“He seems to enjoy the office for the perks that he gets from it,” the source said. “I think people — rightly so — are tired of this shit, and it’s going to be a real problem as he seeks higher office moving forward.”