# California Advocates, Inc. (Lobbying and Association Management Services)

> California Advocates is a Sacramento professional-services firm with two linked practices: state legislative and regulatory advocacy, and full-service association management through CAMS. The combination lets corporations, trade groups, local governments and special districts hire one organization for policy strategy and, where needed, the accounting, membership, events, education, communications and technology that keep an association operating.

- **Founded:** 1971
- **Headquarters:** Sacramento, United States
- **Founders:** Loren Smith (Co-founder and President, 1971-1993), Robert Beckus (Co-founder)
- **Team size:** 28 employees reported in supplied Apollo data; LinkedIn lists 11-50 employees.
- **Products:** Legislative engagement, Regulatory affairs, Budget and funding advocacy, California Advocates Management Services (CAMS), Lobbying compliance
- **Notable:** Says it helped secure $242 million in state and federal funding for work addressing the Red Bluff Diversion Dam., Says it helped procure 30,000 mobile devices through collaboration with the California Department of Aging for a technology client., Was retained by the World Bank to expand permissible California public-pension investments to certain World Bank instruments.

## Products & services

- **Legislative engagement** — Bill strategy, author selection, coalition building, committee work, testimony, negotiation and engagement through the Governor's Office.
- **Regulatory affairs** — Regulatory review, comment development, agency advocacy and engagement on enforcement actions and fines.
- **Budget and funding advocacy** — Work on state budget augmentations, infrastructure appropriations and state or federal funding opportunities.
- **California Advocates Management Services (CAMS)** — Full-service association management spanning executive administration, finance, membership, foundations, publications, events, education, insurance, websites and IT.
- **Lobbying compliance** — Registration, quarterly reporting and political action committee compliance support under California ethics rules.

## Achievements

- Says it helped secure $242 million in state and federal funding for work addressing the Red Bluff Diversion Dam.
- Says it helped procure 30,000 mobile devices through collaboration with the California Department of Aging for a technology client.
- Was retained by the World Bank to expand permissible California public-pension investments to certain World Bank instruments.
- Reports carrying legislation that aligned California slack-fill rules for food and consumer products with federal regulation.
- Reports managing the merger of two struggling trade associations into one thriving association.
- Michael Belote, the firm's president from 2012 through 2021, was inducted into Capitol Weekly's Top 100 Hall of Fame.
- Several clients have remained with the firm for more than 40 years.

## Latest updates

- **2026-05** — Marisol Ibarra-Bouslama joined as a legislative advocate after nearly a decade in California state government.
- **2026-04** — The CAMS association-management office moved to 2750 Gateway Oaks Drive, Suite 310, Sacramento.
- **2026-03** — Vice President Cliff Costa became a partner and took a larger role in day-to-day firm management.
- **2025-08** — Immediate Past President Michael Belote was inducted into Capitol Weekly's Top 100 Hall of Fame.

## Links

- Website: https://www.californiaadvocates.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/california-advocates-management-services
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/CA_Advocates
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/caladvocates

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Last updated: 2026-09-14