Money in Politics: What We Can Do About It

There seems to be broad consensus around the country that election campaigns are far too heavily influenced by campaign donations - in large financial amounts and by a relatively small number of wealthy donors. That feeling was crystallized by the 2011 Citizens United vs. FEC decision by the Supreme Court, which gave independent groups, most notably corporations and labor unions, the freedom to donate huge amounts of money to campaigns without identifying themselves. The Supremes went even further in 2014 with the McCutcheon vs. FEC decision, which struck down the total amount individuals could donate to multiple campaigns.

There are ways to counteract this financial and power advantage that frustrates so many advocates of justice. A number of concerned people have gotten together in California to create the California Clean Money Campaign - the top of whose current agenda includes the California DISCLOSE Act.

The appellation was first introduced in Congress in 2010 as an acronym for the phrase, "Democracy Is Strengthened by Casting Light On Spending in Elections." The California legislation - AB 700, now going through the Assembly - aims to prevent ballot measure ads from misleading voters about who paid for them, by disclosing the actual contributors. The measure would thus make public the people or groups who spend large sums of money on ads to influence ballot measure results in California. And people in the California Clean Money Campaign, which sponsored AB 700, are hard at work getting out the word to citizens and legislators alike about why it is important.

On Sunday, June 28, they will share that story. Nancy Neff, board member and organizer for the California Clean Money Campaign, will talk about why the DISCLOSE Act is important, what is being done to move it and other upcoming initiatives along in California, and how people can help - on that night of the 28th and beyond.
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