On Tuesday, community leaders and activists came from all over California, and even Arizona to testify in support of the Clean Money and Fair Elections Act, AB 583, before the State Assembly Elections Committee.
Kathay Feng, CCC's Executive Director testified along with Paul Turner, a California Board Member. Here is an excerpt for
Kathay's testimony:
Elections owned by the people, not deep-pocket special interests - that is what AB 583 proposes and why California Common Cause supports it.
[...]
If AB 583 is passed, candidates will be able to run on an even playing field. Voters will be able to make their choices based on ideas, not just on whether a candidate can afford a flashy mailer or TV ad.
If elected, our lawmakers and state officers can focus on their jobs, not on spending half their day or term dialing for dollars.
Kathay wasn't alone in declaring support for Clean Money. According to
the LA Times, Governor Schwarzenegger also declared his support for campaign finance reform:
Schwarzenegger is the all-time champion California fundraiser, having reaped nearly $80 million since his election. But he's weary and ready for campaign finance reform.
"Common Cause and I have talked a lot about that," the governor said, praising the group's national president, Chellie Pingree. "She comes in and is not hostile or anything, just says, 'Look governor, this is something worth looking at.' "
What Pingree told Schwarzenegger is that if she was going to endorse his redistricting measure (Proposition 77), he should commit to working with her on campaign finance. He agreed - and even pledged to consider public financing, a concept most Republicans oppose.
The LA Times went on to state "The biggest need for reform in California - and American politics - is campaign finance." We couldn't agree more.
Ask the Governor to take his commitment a step further and support AB 583!
