California Fair Elections Act Needed So Elections Are Won Not Bought! |
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Public Financing of Campaigns for Fair Elections! Local organization? Endorse SB 42 as local organization! Gather Signatures for SB 42! Download Materials |
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Striking Next Blows Against Big Money in Politics! Public Financing of Campaigns for Fair Elections SIGN PETITION FOR SB 42 (Umberg-Allen-Lee)! Puts the California Fair Elections Act on the Nov 2026 ballot to repeal ban on public financing of campaigns in California so every city and county — & the state itself — can enact public financing to reduce the influence of Big Money in elections and empower voters! Clean Money Victories Year After Year! Two More Nation-Leading Disclosure Bills in 2022! VICTORY! Ballot DISCLOSE Act (AB 1416, Santiago & Stern). Shows official supporters and opponents of ballot measures & referendums on the ballot itself! VICTORY! Disclosure Clarity Act (SB 1360, Umberg & Allen). Stops Dark Money from hiding on online ads, TV ads, and initiatives! Landmark Bills against Secret Money in 2019! VICTORY! Petition DISCLOSE Act (SB 47, Allen). Makes initiative circulators show top 3 funders & lowers costs for grassroots! VICTORY! Text Message DISCLOSE Act (AB 201, Cervantes-Mullin). Makes political text messages show who paid for them! 7 of 7 Clean Money Priorities in 2018! VICTORY! Social Media DISCLOSE Act (AB 2188, Mullin). Makes ads on Facebook, Twitter, etc. show top 3 funders! VICTORY! Restore Net Neutrality to CA (SB 822, Wiener)! VICTORY! Stop Abuse of CA DISCLOSE Act (AB 2155, Mullin). VICTORY! One Website With All Electeds (AB 2707, Mullin). VICTORY! Initial Funding for Open-Source Paper Ballots. VICTORY! Risk-Limiting Election Audits. (AB 2125, Quirk). AB 249, California DISCLOSE Act, Signed in 2017! READ ABOUT the strongest on-ad disclosure law in the nation — now law! Authored by Assembly Speaker pro Tem Kevin Mullin and sponsored by the California Clean Money Campaign. 3 Top Clean Money Bills Passed in 2016! VICTORY! SB 1107 (Allen), which Clean Money sponsored, opens the door to public financing of campaigns in California! Victory news. VICTORY! SB 1349 (Hertzberg), new state disclosure website! VICTORY! SB 254 (Allen-Leno), put on the California ballot Prop 59, the Overturn Citizens United Act — which won! Sign petition! 
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Democracy Under Assault by Secret Money Unleashed by Citizens United
What do you care about? The environment, health care, education, food safety, worker rights, civil rights, or fair taxes? Everything in our lives is dominated by billionaires and special interests that spend unlimited amounts of hidden money to buy ballot measures and elections. Clean Money activists are making California lead the nation against this threat.
Historic California DISCLOSE Act Reveals Secret Money — But There's a Lot More to Do!
Left: AB 249 author Assembly Speaker pro Tem Kevin Mullin speaks at "Give the DISCLOSE Act a Vote!" rally. Right: AB 249 Senate floor manager Senator Ben Allen, Clean Money President Trent Lange, and Assemblymember Mullin huddle outside Senate chambers on the day of the final Senate floor vote.
After a relentless 7 year grassroots campaign that a story on Salon.com called "... the biggest post-Citizens United effort to alter how campaigns are run in America...", in 2017 we developed and passed AB 249, the California DISCLOSE Act — the strongest political ad disclosure law in the nation.
• Requires ads to show 3 largest funders of the ad in large clear type on a solid black background. No more fine print. Applies to all ballot measure ads and to ads about candidates paid for by outside groups.
• Identifies original funders on ballot measure ads using first-in-the-nation using earmarking and tracing rules so ads must display true funders instead of misleading names, even when they try to hide behind multiple layers.
Example of how it would have looked on bottom 1/3 screen of Yes on Prop 26 advertisement
How We've Built on the DISCLOSE Act
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How You Can Help the Next Steps
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Editorials on Clean Money BillsPublic campaign financing in L.A. can't be 'incumbency protection'Los Angeles Times, Editorial, 12/24/18 It doesn't seem like the City Council intended to make it harder for candidates to qualify for matching funds. But new rules have done just that, and they should be changed to level the playing field. Full story Better defenses for our election systemsSan Francisco Chronicle, by John Diaz, 4/13/18 Meanwhile, in Sacramento, state Assemblyman Kevin Mullin, D-San Mateo, has written AB2188 to require social medial platforms to disclose the true identity of the funders of political advertisements. The Mullin bill is a natural extension of his Disclose Act, signed into law last year. This bill belongs on the must-do list in Sacramento. Full story EDITORIAL: Voters deserve to know who's bankrolling shadowy political campaignsLos Angeles Times, Editorial, 10/4/17 ... most voters don't have the time ... to vet every political ad. ... it makes sense to update the requirements for disclosure as proposed by AB 249, which would require that the top three funders of ads supporting or opposing a ballot measure be identified transparently and prominently in the ad. ... The bill would put California at the forefront of campaign finance disclosure. Full story Gov. Brown must prove he’s a friend to transparency: Thomas D. EliasLos Angeles Daily News, by Thomas Elias, 9/25/17 The one bill with the most potential to improve this state's politics is the long-sought "DISCLOSE Act," which -- if Gov. Brown signs it before an Oct. 15 deadline -- could do more than any modern measure to clean up California's money-dominated initiative process. Full story  Op-Eds and Media Coverage on Clean Money BillsColumn: If the public doesn't finance political candidates, special interests will happily step inLos Angeles Times, by George Skelton, 4/3/23 Running for office costs barrels of money, especially in California. The money must come from somewhere. And as I've written many times, either the public buys the politicians or the special interests eagerly will -- and often do. Full story Gov. Newsom signs landmark disclosure bills: Disclosure Clarity Act and Ballot DISCLOSE ActCalifornia Clean Money Campaign, Press Release, 9/30/22 SACRAMENTO, CA -- Governor Newsom has just signed SB 1360 the Disclosure Clarity Act (Umberg-Allen) and AB 1416 the Ballot DISCLOSE Act (Santiago), both sponsored by the California Clean Money Campaign, expanding California's national leadership in disclosure. Full story Assembly Member Santiago Moves Forward 2nd Ballot DISCLOSE ActCalifornia Clean Money Campaign, Press Release, 3/23/21 SACRAMENTO, CA -- Governor Newsom has just signed SB 1360 the Disclosure Clarity Act (Umberg-Allen) and AB 1416 the Ballot DISCLOSE Act (Santiago), both sponsored by the California Clean Money Campaign, expanding California's national leadership in disclosure. Full story SB 90, Ballot DISCLOSE Act, Introduced by Senator Henry SternCalifornia Clean Money Campaign, Press Release, 12/17/20 CULVER CITY, CA - Following a year in which more money was spent on ballot propositions than any year in California history, often on ads that purposefully mislead voters, Senator Henry Stern (D-Los Angeles) has introduced SB 90, the Ballot DISCLOSE Act, to counteract the flood of money by having the ballot itself list one of the most important pieces of information voters want about state ballot measures: who supports and opposes them. Full story Ethics Commission rejects plan to eliminate spending caps48 Hills, by Tim Redmond, 2/18/19 SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- The San Francisco Ethics Commission decided Friday not to propose rules that would have in effect abolished spending caps for local campaigns. Full story Press Releases on Clean Money BillsBills introduced to allow local governments and California to have public financing of electionsCalifornia Clean Money Campaign, Press Release, 4/10/23 SACRAMENTO, CA -- At a time when voters are more concerned than ever about the dominance of Big Money in politics, SB 24 & AB 270, from Senator Umberg and Assemblymember Lee will restore control to local governments and the State by allowing them to enact new options for election campaign funding. Full story Gov. Newsom signs landmark disclosure bills: Disclosure Clarity Act and Ballot DISCLOSE ActCalifornia Clean Money Campaign, Press Release, 9/30/22 SACRAMENTO, CA -- Governor Newsom has just signed SB 1360 the Disclosure Clarity Act (Umberg-Allen) and AB 1416 the Ballot DISCLOSE Act (Santiago), both sponsored by the California Clean Money Campaign, expanding California's national leadership in disclosure. Full story SB 1360 -- Disclosure Clarity Act -- Clears First CommitteeSenator Tom Umberg, Press Release, 3/30/22 (SACRAMENTO, CA) ? Senate Bill 1360, California?s Disclosure Clarity Act, jointly authored by Senators Thomas J. Umberg (D-Santa Ana), and Ben Allen (D-Santa Monica), cleared its first legislative hurdle this morning. Full story SB 1360, Disclosure Clarity Act, Introduced by Senators Tom Umberg and Ben AllenCalifornia Clean Money Campaign, Press Release, 2/28/22 CULVER CITY, CA ? Following an election in which more money was spent on ballot propositions than ever in California history, Senators Tom Umberg (D-Santa Ana) and Ben Allen (D-Los Angeles) have introduced SB 1360, the Disclosure Clarity Act, to counteract the flood of ads and initiative, referendum, and recall petitions that skirt California's landmark California DISCLOSE Act in order to hide from voters who really paid for them. Full story
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