The records break down everything from staff salaries to travel expenses for each Senator and Assembly member, as well as the various committees, caucuses and leadership offices.

 

The pressure to release them started when Democratic Assemblyman Anthony Portantino accused Speaker John Perez of slashing his office expenses because Portantino didn't vote for the state budget.  The Speaker's office responded by saying Portantino was overspending his office budget.  Portantino tried to get his spending records released to prove his point, but was blocked by the leadership.  Some newspapers tried to get the same records, then sued after their request was blocked too.

 

Cynics might call the release a "Friday afternoon news dump" - when potentially controversial news is released at, say, four o'clock on a Friday afternoon.  That's when the spending records were posted on the Senate and Assembly  websites.