Go Granny D! Action to Disclose Corporate Influence in Elections

Unlimited anonymous special interest spending is subverting our democracy. In 2010 the top spenders on a TV commercial for proposition 26 were noneother than Chevron, Philip Morris, and Anheuser-Busch. No surprise, that proposition was designed to make it more difficult for the California government to raise fees on corporations. Yet not many people knew that those three big corporations were behind influencing voters.

Since the infamous 2010 Citizens United ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court, our elections have been inundated with secret donations for spending by outside groups on political ads.

In California lawmakers are proposing legislation to force groups to disclose their donors. Senate Bill 52, the California Disclose Act, would require all television, radio, print and other ads for ballot measures, independent expenditures and issue advocacy to identify the three largest donors of $10,000 or more for state races and $2,000 for local races.