Advocacy Group Names Government Accountability Champions

By Arvin Temkar
Monterey County Weekly, November 2nd, 2012

A nonprofit campaign reform group has named several assembly members and state senators as "champions" of campaign reform legislation.

California Clean Money Action Fund, which runs a "Clean Money Campaign," endorsed five bills that would tighten disclosure and accountability requirements in campaigns. The nonprofit released a scorecard that reviews legislators' votes for the bill.

The advocacy fund found Democrats "voted in favor of disclosure" 98 percent of the time, while Republicans voted in favor 24 percent of the time.

Local assemblymen Luis Alejo and Bill Monning both voted in favor of all five accountability bills.

The nonprofit lauded "Clean Money Champions" Assembly members Julia Brownley, D-Oak Park; Paul Fong, D-Mountain View; Rich Gordon, D-Menlo Park; and Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo. The same title went to Senators Loni Hancock, D-Oakland; Mark Leno, D-San Francisco; Fran Pavley, D-Agoura Hills; Leland Yee, D-San Francisco; Lou Correa, D-Santa Ana; Ted Lieu, D-Torrance; and Mark DeSaulnier, D-Concord.

Two bills were signed into law, one was vetoed by Gov. Jerry Brown, and the other two fell short on the assembly floor.

AB 1148 and AB 1648, also known as the California DISCLOSE Act, would have required ads for ballot measures and ads paid for by independent expenditures to show their top three funders. The bills didn't make it past the assembly.

SB 334 would have added ballot measure spending disclosure to the ballot pamphlet. It was passed, but vetoed by the governor.

SB 448 stops slate mailers from using public safety organization emblems and logos without their permission. AB 481 increases disclosure requirements for individual expenditures. These bills were signed into law.


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