Special-interest money insidiously infects our campaigns
and elections, rigging the system for the billionaires and
backroom forces behind those contributions.
We??â"¢ve got to put a stop to it. The integrity
of our public policy-making process, and the very core of
our democracy, is at stake. We must put government in the
capable hands of its citizens.
Many big-money campaign donors hide behind layers of
misleading organization names, enabling campaigns to
conceal their top contributors. These shell groups, in
turn, air malevolent TV ads that distort the truth,
disparage candidates, discourage voter turnout, and damage
the people??â"¢s confidence in the voting
process. We must put a stop to special interests spending
unlimited amounts of secret money to influence government
and elections.
For this reason, I am a proud co-author of the California
DISCLOSE Act. Also known as Assembly Bill 249, this act
would regulate how campaign committees and independent
expenditures must disclose who is paying for their
political advertisements. Names of the top three
contributors must be displayed for donors that give over
$50,000 for print, television, radio and electronic
advertisements. Additionally, the bill would require
advertisements to display donors??â"¢ names for
a minimum length of time, in a legible font, and in a size
easily readable against a black background occupying no
less than one-third of the screen or advertisement.
When you know who the messenger is, you can more
effectively evaluate the message. By bringing the sources
of this dark money into the light, we force groups to put
their true identity next to their words with transparency
and accountability.
The California DISCLOSE Act seeks to ensure that more
campaign reports of big donors aren??â"¢t
limited to a list of innocuous sounding political action
committees. The result would be the names of corporations
or labor groups clearly spelled out, the kind of
information that more easily helps voters decipher whose
money is behind the message.
The DISCLOSE Act would be the strongest campaign
advertisement finance law in the nation. California should
set an example for this great nation, and ensure that our
politics represent the people, not big-money corporations.
