Sacramento, CA -- Despite overwhelming support from the
public, including petition signatures from more than
106,000 Californians, the California State Senate today
failed for the final time to muster the two-thirds vote
required to pass Assembly Bill 700 (Gomez-Levine), a
landmark bill that would have shone a light on Dark Money
and required the true funders of political ads to be
disclosed on the ads themselves.
As with the first vote Tuesday, the final vote on
reconsideration today split along party lines. All 26
Democrats voted Yes for the measure, but all 14 Republicans
either voted No or abstained, which has the same effect as
a no vote.
In contrast to Senate Republicans, nine Assembly
Republicans have stood for transparency and disclosure by
joining every single Assembly Democrat in voting Yes:
Katcho Achadjian (R-San Luis Obispo), Catharine Baker
(R-San Ramon), Ling-Ling Chang (R-Chino Hills), David
Hadley (R-Torrance), Tom Lackey (R-Palmdale), Eric Linder
(R-Corona), Kristin Olsen (R-Modesto), Marc Steinorth
(R-Rancho Cucamonga), and Scott Wilk (R-Valencia).
"It's very disappointing that not a single Republican
Senator would vote Yes for this crucial transparency and
disclosure bill to curb Dark Money on political ads,"
said Trent Lange, President, California Clean Money
Campaign. "But you'll never find better fighters for reform
than AB 700 authors Assemblymembers Jimmy Gomez and Marc
Levine, along with AB 700 Senate floor manager Senator Ben
Allen."
The need for serious reform of disclosure on political ads
is skyrocketing. For example, over $640 million was spent
on ballot measures alone in the last two election cycles in
California according to the National Institute on Money in
State Politics. Most of it was spent by committees hiding
their true funders by using misleading names like "Stop
Special Interest Money Now" or "Californians Against Higher
Health Care Costs". Hundreds of millions dollars more of
Dark Money are expected to be spent in the 2016 elections,
almost all hidden from voters on political ads.
Under AB 700, all ballot measure committees and PACs
supporting or opposing candidates would have been required
to clearly display the names of their top 3 true funders no
matter how many layers of front groups they try to hide
behind.
There were only two organizations opposing AB 700, with the
lead opposition by the Fair Political Practices Commission
(the FPPC). Its opposition to AB 700 continues the agency's
recent aggressive efforts to defeat or diminish flagship
reform legislation supported by good government groups,
including the FPPC's recent opposition to AB 2002 (Stone)
(ex parte disclosure for Coastal Commission), AB 1200
(Gordon) (lobbyist registration for those who lobby for
government contracts), and AB 2523 (Mullin) until the
author agreed to the FPPC's amendment demands.
In contrast, more than 300 organizations and leaders
supported AB 700, including Bob Stern, principal co-author
of the Political Reform Act that created the FPPC, along
with leading good government reform organizations like
California Clean Money Campaign, California Common Cause,
CalPIRG, California Forward Action Fund, Maplight, and
Public Citizen, as well as newspapers like the San
Francisco Chronicle and the Los Angeles Times.
"Tonight's loss of AB 700 by one vote just before the
midnight hour on the final day of the legislative session
at the hands of Senate Republicans was very
disappointing," said Lange. "But it's a sign of the
growing strength of the movement that more than 300
organizations and leaders endorsed the California DISCLOSE
Act, more than 106,000 people signed petitions for it, and
that every single Democrat in the legislature and a record
nine Assembly Republicans responded by voting Yes this
time."
With 84 percent of likely California voters* favoring
legislation to increase public disclosure of funding
sources in ads and with AB 700 enjoying a sweeping
bi-partisan vote in the Assembly, Lange and the authors of
the bill, Assemblymembers Gomez and Levine, vowed to be
back next year.
"It shouldn't be legal to mislead California voters --
period," said Assemblymember Gomez (D-Los Angeles).
"And I won't rest until it is stopped. The California
DISCLOSE Act will be back." Added Assemblymember
Levine, "My constituents deserve to be told the truth about
who is asking for their vote. This isn't over."
About California Clean Money Campaign The California Clean
Money Campaign's vision is achieving an open and
accountable government that is responsive to the needs of
all Californians. We are a non-profit, non-partisan
organization whose mission is to pursue that vision by
building statewide support for public funding of election
campaigns.
For more information, visit California Clean Money Campaign
website at www.CAclean.org
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*A poll by the Public Policy Institute of California in
October 2013