California Legislature Passes Bill Giving Localities and the State the Option to Create Systems for Citizen Funded Elections

SACRAMENTO -- Last night, the California legislature passed SB 1107, a bill to amend California's antiquated ban on public financing of campaigns and to allow local governments and the state to address special interests in politics by passing their own systems for citizen funding of election campaigns to magnify the voices of small donors and everyday voters.

SB 1107 was authored by Senator Ben Allen and coauthored by Senator Loni Hancock and Assemblymembers David Chiu and Lorena Gonzalez. Sponsored by the California Clean Money Campaign and California Common Cause, SB 1107 will allow public financing of campaigns in California elections if they're paid for by dedicated campaign finance trust funds and "available to all qualified, voluntarily participating candidates for the same office without regard to incumbency or political party preference".

"The overwhelming and bipartisan vote for SB 1107 shows the progress that can be made when elected officials listen to their constituents who are crying out for reform of our broken campaign finance system,"said Trent Lange, President of the California Clean Money Campaign. "Local governments and the state need the ability to explore citizen funded elections systems sensitive to their needs that give regular voters a stronger voice against Big Money special interests".

On Aug 31st, SB 1107 passed the Senate 27-12, with every Democrat except Senator Ben Hueso (D-Chula Vista) voting "Yes". Republican Senators Canella (R-Ceres) and Bob Huff (R-Brea) also joined Democrats in voting "Yes". On Aug 30th, SB 1107 had passed the Assembly 55-22, with every Democrat voting "Yes" joined by Republican Assemblymembers Catharine Baker (R-San Ramon), Ling Ling Chang (R-Brea), and David Hadley (R-Torrance) who all stood up for the voices of regular voters against special interests.

More than 42,000 Californians signed petitions urging the legislature and Governor Brown to pass SB 1107, and thousands more called their legislators. A coalition of 21 national organizations weighed in for the bill, and contributed an additional 50,000 petition signers from across the country urging California to lead. Besides SB 1107 sponsors California Clean Money Campaign and California Common Cause, organizations that actively worked to pass SB 1107 included: ACLU of California, California Church Impact, California Labor Federation, California League of Conservation Voters, California School Employees Association, CALPIRG, Courage Campaign, Daily Kos, Democracy for America, Friends of the Earth, GMO Free USA, League of Women Voters of California, Money Out Voters In, People Demanding Action, People For the American Way, Sierra Club California, Voices for Progress, and Wolf PAC.

SB 1107 was also endorsed by 99Rise, You Sow, Asian Americans Advancing Justice - California, California Forward, Corporate Accountability International, Environmental Action, Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, Lutheran Office of Public Policy - California, Maplight, MAYDAY.US, National Council of Jewish Women - California, PICO California, Represent.Us, RootsAction.org, Rootstrikers, Southwest Voter Registration Education Project, UFCW Western States Council, and Watchdog.net.

"This is a long overdue reform that will enable local governments to enact public financing systems for campaigns if they want to," said Senator Ben Allen, author of SB 1107. "People across the political spectrum are fed up with the campaign funding arms race that candidates must engage in when running for office. With the enactment of this measure, we will create a path to a sensible alternative".

AB 700 is now headed to Governor Brown's desk for his signature.

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The California Clean Money Campaign is a non-partisan 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to lessening the unfair influence of Big Money on election campaigns. For further information, visit www.CAclean.org.