Editorials on SB 52, the California DISCLOSE Act
Contra Costa Times, Editorial, 5/13/13
Californians should encourage state legislators to support the DISCLOSE Act, a bill by two San Francisco-area senators that would require the top three funders of political TV and radio commercials and print and online ads to be boldly identified in the ads. Full story
Oakland Tribune, Editorial, 5/13/13
"SB 52 sponsors Sen. Jerry Hill and Sen. Mark Leno are right: Voters can't do much to reduce the money in campaigns, but they have the right to know which individuals, corporations or unions it comes from." Full story
Los Angeles Daily News, Editorial, 5/9/13
"No fine print. None of the misleading names that special-interest groups like to go by. Instead, big, bold words right up front...? Californians should tell their lawmakers they approve this message: SB 52 would bring more vital transparency to state politics." Full story
Long Beach Press Telegram, Editorial, 5/9/13
"California should lead the way on this reform. Many voters here were appalled when an Arizona nonprofit with anonymous backing dropped $11 million into two proposition campaigns. Under the DISCLOSE Act, an ad mostly paid for by money like that would have to say so." Full story
Pasadena Star-News, Editorial, 5/9/13
"SB 52 sponsors Sen. Jerry Hill and Sen. Mark Leno are right: Voters can't do much to reduce the money in campaigns, but they have the right to know which individuals, corporations or unions it comes from..." Full story
San Bernardino Sun, Editorial, 5/9/13
"I'm Barack Obama, and I approve this message." Voters are used to that tagline on political ads... Shouldn't the same principle apply to political ads made by people and groups who aren't officially associated with candidates and ballot measures but wield just as much influence in elections?" Full story
Santa Rosa Press-Democrat, Editorial, 3/1/12
"Given a chance to make politics a little less opaque, California legislators blew it. That’s the charitable interpretation, anyway... Fortunately, supporters of the California DISCLOSE Act haven’t given up..."
Full story
Ventura County Star, Editorial, 2/29/12
"Despite heavy pressure from special interests, it's good to see supporters of a bill that aims to toughen the state's political reporting requirements aren't about to give up... We urge lawmakers to approve AB 1648. And for those who vote to keep us in the dark, perhaps it's time to publicize their names for the voters to see." Full story
Bakersfield Californian, Editorial, 2/29/12
"Now that state legislators are being given a do-over on the DISCLOSE Act, they must resist the urge to bury it as they did in January. Passing this bill is the right thing to do, especially given the large number of ballot initiatives and legislative seats up for grabs in this year's election..." Full story
Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, Editorial, 2/18/12
"It's disappointing that state legislators failed last month - by only two votes - to pass a bill that would have required political action committees to come clean on who pays for their ads in California... Legislators need to quickly get behind the new bill, A.B. 1648." Full story
San Bernardino Sun, Editorial, 2/18/12
"Given the huge number of campaigns gearing up for both candidates and initiatives on the November ballot, we need this legislation now... Legislators need to quickly get behind the new bill, A.B. 1648." Full story
San Jose Mercury News, Editorial, 2/17/12
"Legislators need to quickly get behind the new bill, AB 1648. There's no reason to conceal who's behind an ad campaign to influence voters. Or rather, there's no honorable reason. " Full story
Los Angeles Daily News, Editorial, 1/19/12
"California needs AB 1148. Fuentes, who has expressed concern about the cost of putting the measure on the ballot if it passes in the Legislature, hasn't said whether he supports the bill. For the sake of voters, he should." Full story
Op-Eds and Media Coverage on SB 52, the California DISCLOSE Act
Los Angeles Times, by Matea Gold, Chris Megerian and Mark Z. Barabak, 5/2/13
Lawmakers in more than a dozen states have proposed legislation to force such groups to disclose their donors. Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley signed a measure Thursday requiring independent groups that make election-related donations or expenditures of $6,000 or more . . . to disclose information about their top donors. Full story
NPR, by BillMoyers.com Staff, 3/19/13
" . . . if there is a push for disclosure on one level you kind of run into a wall to find out who the original source is. And that’s exactly what happened in California this year when a group donated $11 million to influence ballot initiatives, and when California regulators tried to follow the trail back they ran into three different (c)(4)s that had been kind of the daisy chain of sources but never the original donor." Full story
Public Campaign, by BillMoyers.com Staff, 3/16/13
"Our agenda is to make it clear to people that we can overturn this [Citizens United] decision. But in the meantime, we can pass disclosure laws. You know, eight to one, the same Court in Citizens United said of course there should be disclosure . . . So getting that through Congress, passing disclosure at the state level, as in California. They’re very close to it." Full story
Sacramento Bee, by Dan Morain, 2/12/13
"With Washington divided, there's no chance of fixing federal campaign finance law. There are, however, bills in California to force more disclosure. If ever there were an argument for disclosure, the curious case of the laundered $11 million is it." Full story
Press Releases on SB 52, the California DISCLOSE Act
California Clean Money Campaign, Press Release, 3/23/13
Fed-up with political ads that hide the special interests who pay for them,
over 100 Orange County citizens and leaders attended the kickoff event for SB
52, the California DISCLOSE Act, in Santa Ana on Saturday to ask area Senate
Elections Committee Chair Lou Correa and other leaders to support SB 52. Full story
Press Release, Press Release, 12/20/12
A new effort to give voters the information they need by requiring significantly greater transparency in political ads was launched with the introduction of a new California DISCLOSE Act by Senators Mark Leno and Jerry Hill. Over 350 organizations and leaders endorsed the last version, with over 84,000 Californians signing petitions urging the legislature to pass it. Full story
California Clean Money Campaign, Press Release, 8/21/12
SACRAMENTO — AB 1648, the groundbreaking California DISCLOSE Act, passed the full Assembly yesterday by a solid majority of 50 to 26, moving on to the State Senate. Full story
California Clean Money Campaign, Press Release, 7/30/12
ANAHEIM – Yesterday, less than two weeks after Republicans in the U.S. Senate filibustered the national DISCLOSE Act, the California Democratic Party added its voice to the statewide effort to pass the California DISCLOSE Act to allow voters in California to make better informed decisions by requiring the top funders of political ads to disclose their identity - on the ads themselves. Full story
Senators Mark Leno and Jerry Hill, authors of SB 52, the California DISCLOSE Act
