Why I Will Vote "YES" on California Proposition 15 in June

The recent Supreme Court decision regarding campaign finance opened my eyes to the inequities of campaign finance with the act of making it anything but equitable. It's been apparent for some time that the voice and contribution of the "average Joe" has been lost in the impact of the big dollar donors. And with this loss, we have seen a stagnation in the legislative process, not only here in California, but in Washington as well.  Why? My thinking is that to a certain extent the large donors cancel each other out.  For every cause, there is an anti-cause, or a group that will be negatively effected by said cause and wants to impede it. For every Big Business, there is a Union, or a Coalition, and vice-versa. With Legislators beholden to these various organizations for campaign donations, they can't really annoy too many groups, or they will have no chance at re-elections. So in order to do what is right by their constituents, they tend to do little or nothing so as to offend the fewest possible donors. Additionally, Legislators spend a considerable amount of their time campaigning or soliciting donors for contributions rather than doing what the voters put them in place to do.

One need only look at the U.S. Senate, or the California legislative process to see the net effect of this.  Yes, one can point to procedural issues, but at the heart of it is campaign dollars.

Something must clearly be done, but what? The Shumer-Van Hollen Bill may be a very good start on the National level if passed as designed, but here in California we have the opportunity take a different approach to the problem. Specifically, the California Fair Elections Act, or Proposition 15.

Proposition 15 is a pilot program that will create an optional public finance option for candidates for the California Secretary of State in 2014 and 2018. It will allow for candidates showing sufficient popular support levels to receive public funds for their campaign and set stringent rules around campaign finance disclosure.

Why is this a good thing?

1. Candidates that receive public funds will no longer have to solicit donations, and will no longer be beholden to large organizations, which will allow them to focus on their jobs, and not their campaign donors.
   
2. Candidates taking donations will have to disclose the amounts and sources very quickly so that the public will see where their interest lie.
3. A pilot effort allows us to see how the system will actually work in practice, and, if needed, adjust it.
4. The California program is modeled on other programs that are working in other states.
   

Why the California Secretary of State?

1. The California Secretary of State is in charge of two really important things: they are the Chief Elections Officer, and they are responsible for electronic filing and publishing of lobbyist information.
2. After number one, does there need to be another reason??

If we really want to bring the legislative process back in line with what the voters who put them into office want; if we really want to break the deadlocks that plague the legislative process; and if we really want to curtail the influence of well financed special interests, than we really have to implement public campaign financing. 

Please join me by volunteering, donating, or just showing your support on Facebook.