San Diego County Moves to Ban Insider Betting and Post-Job Lobbying

San Diego County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously on Tuesday to move forward with an anti-corruption package. The measure, driven by Board Chair Terra Lawson-Remer, aims to tighten ethical standards for county officials and employees. The primary components of the plan include a two-year ban on lobbying for former officials and new restrictions on using prediction market platforms like Kalshi for trading.

County staff are scheduled to return to the board on December 8 with a formal policy document. This submission will outline the specific terms of the lobbying ban and the initial phase of the prediction market rules. The board first voted in August to have staff begin drafting this policy after Lawson-Remer presented the concept to the group.

Lawson-Remer pointed to several recent federal incidents to justify the need for local safeguards. She cited a U.S. Army soldier arrested for allegedly earning over $400,000 on Polymarket using classified data. She also noted reports that nine Polymarket accounts made $2.4 million betting on U.S. military action in Iran. Additionally, she referenced the U.S. Senate barring its members from participating in these markets and the House Oversight Committee investigating potential insider trading on such platforms.

The proposal also addresses a specific White House case. In August, a teleprompter operator used advance access to President Donald Trump's speeches to make more than $100,000 betting on the content of his remarks. Federal regulators ordered the operator to forfeit those profits, pay a $65,000 penalty, and cease trading for three years. Governor Gavin Newsom also banned state gubernatorial appointees from using confidential information to profit on prediction markets.

Currently, no county ordinance prohibits former officials from lobbying their former offices. Under existing state law, only a limited group of county officials face a one-year ban on paid lobbying after leaving office. The new policy would change this by covering trades through certain family accounts. It would also require disclosure of potential conflicts and prohibit former employees from trading on matters they personally worked on for two years.

The prediction market restrictions would eventually apply to all county employees. The rollout will begin with unclassified employees and expand to classified employees after required labor negotiations are completed. Lawson-Remer stated that public service should never become a private payday. She added that officials should not be able to leave government on Friday and get paid to lobby their former coworkers on Monday.

The board also addressed the use of confidential information. Lawson-Remer said individuals should not be able to use information the public does not have to make themselves richer. The policy aims to close these gaps in the current regulatory framework for the county.