Diverse Applicant Pool for Citizens Redistricting Commission

Public interest organizations that have been advocating for the successful implementation of a Citizens Redistricting Commission applauded the efforts of the Bureau of State Audits to develop a qualified, diverse pool of candidates. The Bureau of State Audits has just finished narrowing the original pool of over 30,000 applicants for the new citizens redistricting commission to 120 individuals.
 
Now that the Applicant Review Panel has narrowed the applicants to 120 individuals to bring in for interviews, we are pleased that the diversity is very close to that of the state’s population: 12% are Black, 30% are of Latino heritage, 14% are Asian and/or Pacific Islander, and 5% are American Indian. This is a very important development in securing the public’s trust. For more information on the Commission selection, click here.

LA City Council Votes to Support SB 1140

California Common Cause, the ACLU, Greenlining Institute, California Participation Project, and the League of Women Voters gave public comment at the LA City Council meeting on Wednesday, July 7^th to support the resolution to endorse SB 1140, our One-Stop Voting Bill. It passed with 13 Yes Votes! Thank you Councilmember Huizar for your leadership in proposing this resolution. Click here to read the press release

From left to right: Tunua Thrash, Greenlining Institute; Max Messervy, Susan Gao and Kathay Feng; California Common Cause, Councilmember Jose Huizar, Anjuli Kronheim; California Common Cause; David Holtzman, League of Women Voters; Sharon Byrne, California Common Cause; and Marcy Koukhab, California Participation Project. Missing: Clarissa Woo, ACLU

More Accountability for Elected Officials and Placement Agents

Get Familiar with the November 2010 Ballot Measures

The Secretary of State is reporting that 10 measures will be on the 2010 Nov Ballot – including Charles Munger’s initiative to expand redistricting reform to Congress and an initiative to eliminate the citizen’s redistricting commission that Californians fought hard to implement with Proposition 11. Click here to read more from the Secretary of State on these measures or below to access the full text of each individual measure.

Initiative Constitutional Amendment 1380: Removes elected representatives from the process of establishing congressional districts and transfers that authority to the recently-authorized 14-member redistricting commission.

Initiative Constitutional Amendment and Statute.1451. (09-0107): Eliminates State Commission on Redistricting. Consolidates Authority for Redistricting with Elected Representatives.

The Fair Elections Fight Goes On

As you’ve likely heard, Prop 15 was defeated in Tuesday’s election after receiving 43% of the vote. California Common Cause made passing Prop 15 a major priority this year, and we want to thank you for all your efforts to support this campaign.

We walk forward from today as a smarter, stronger movement than we were prior to the Prop 15 campaign. With your help and the help of allied organizations like the California Clean Money Campaign, California Nurses Association, and League of Women Voters of California we built a grassroots campaign based upon more than 2,750 contributions and hundreds of volunteers. We won significant endorsements from major institutions and newspapers across the state. We did not win the election statewide, but we did win majorities in eight counties where our campaign was particularly strong. Further, we have made significant progress since the last time when publicly financed campaigns was on the ballot in 2006 when it received only 25% of the vote.

As we go back to the drawing board for crafting future reforms in California, we will keep you abreast of updates. Rest assured, we’ll be back with campaign finance reform for California.

Now, the good news -- our federal campaign working to pass the Fair Elections Now Act and create public financing options for the House and Senate is in full swing. We have 153 co-sponsors in the House and 20 co-sponsors in the Senate. From California, we have Senator Barbara Boxer and 23 California House Reps. We will use this momentum to get more House leadership from California on board and win Fair Elections!

We can’t do this work without your energy and hard work and are grateful for your support to create a healthy democracy.

Thanks for all you do.

California Common Cause Says Yes on Prop 15!

California Common Cause is leading the campaign to bring fair elections to California with the California Fair Elections Act, Proposition 15.  From the Citizen's United Supreme Court Case to California's political crisis fair elections are the solution we need to get back the fair and representative government California deserves.  Our government is broken and prop 15 is the answer.. Authored by then-Assemblywoman Loni Hancock and signed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, the California Fair Elections Act will appear on the June 8th ballot.

Proposition 15 gets politicians out of the fundraising game and back to solving California's problems by establishing a pilot project for public financing of Secretary of State campaigns for 2014 and 2018.  Qualified candidates receive limited public financing and are banned from raising or spending any beyond it. 

What can you do to help?

Visit the Yes on prop 15 website at www.yesprop15.org and sign up to receive email updates.

Join the Yes on Prop 15 facebook group, and follow us on twitter. 

Help bring fair elections to California by voting "yes" on Proposition 15 today.  The Citizen's United decision in the Supreme Court gives corporations the same rights as regular citizens, and fair elections are the solution we need to get the government California deserves.  Authored by former Assemblywoman Loni Hancock and signed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, the California Fair Elections Act will help fix our broken government.

Proposition 15 gets politicians out of the fundraising game by establishing a pilot project for public financing of Secretary of State campaigns for 2014 and 2018.  Qualified candidates receive limited public financing and are banned from raising or spending any beyond it. 

Follow us throughout the day on Twitter for updates on today's vote.  

After you cast your vote, tell your family and friends that Prop 15 is the solution California deserves. 

House Judiciary to Hold LA Hearing on Comcast / NBC Universal Merger

Stand up for local media

On Monday, June 7th The House Judiciary Committee will hold a public hearing on the proposed Comcast-NBC Universal merger at the California Science Center in LA. California Common Cause is encouraging members and friends to attend this meeting and speak out about the danger this merger presents to media platforms, diverse programming and views and creative communities.

Click here to learn more about Common Cause’s work on media reform.

Who: The U.S. House Judiciary Committee is making a rare trip out of Washington D.C. to hold a public workshop on Comcast’s takeover of NBC-Universal in Los Angeles.

What: Public Workshop on the Comcast-NBC Universal Merger


When: Monday, June 7th at 9am

Where: California Science Center, The Donald P. Loker Conference Center, 700 Exposition Park Drive, Los Angeles, CA

Committee Chairman Rep. John Conyers will preside over the workshop, and Committee members Rep. Maxine Waters, Rep. Judy Chu and others are expected to attend.

We hope you will attend this important hearing and stand up for local media ownership and the protection of the public interest in media transactions.

California Common Cause is remaining neutral on Proposition 14 for this year’s ballot. In the interest of informing our members, however, we have produced a brief policy analysis outlining the proposed top-two primary system and what it might mean for California:

In June, California voters will face the first in a series of reform proposals aimed at reducing partisan gridlock in state government. The decision as to which, if any, of these proposals will improve California’s flailing government will require weighing democratic principles and goals against questions of our modern political realities. One of those measures is Proposition 14, placed on the ballot by the California Legislature as part of the February 2009 budget deal.

If passed by the voters, Prop 14 would establish a “top-two” primary system for electing California’s statewide constitutional officers, Congressional representatives and U.S. Senators. It would not apply to not to local elections or presidential primaries.

California currently uses what is sometimes called a “modified closed” primary in which political parties nominate candidates through a June primary who then appear on a general election ballot in the fall. Voters register in advance with a party and are given a ballot that lists only those candidates running for their party’s nomination.  The current law lets parties determine whether “decline to state” voters may participate in their primary.

Prop 14 would eliminate the party primary in favor of a single “voter-nominated primary elections” ballot open to all voters regardless of their registered affiliation. Candidates would choose whether or not to list a party affiliation under their name on the ballot, and all voters would have the option of voting for any candidate. The two candidates with the highest vote totals, regardless of party affiliation, advance to a general election in the fall.

Under this process, particularly homogenous electoral districts could see two candidates from the same party appear on their general election ballot.  Proponents of the top-two primary argue that it has the potential to greatly increase moderation in politics and greater voter choice in primaries. Steadfast partisanship in recent years has, they claim, prevented pragmatic solutions from being chosen or even considered at many levels of government.  Since the primary electorate is traditionally both smaller and more ideologically extreme than the general electorate, officials elected through the current modified closed primary may not reflect moderate majorities in their districts. The top-two primary would allow more voters to cross party lines in primaries and vote for candidates representing various party affiliations on a single ballot, allowing candidates to build moderate coalitions made up of electors from a variety of party affiliations. In general elections with two candidates of the same party, the more moderate one would presumably win cross-over votes from voters of the minority party who don’t have a candidate on the ballot.

Proponents of the top-two primary also argue that candidates under the proposed system would be free to take positions that more accurately represent their district’s interests rather than having to cater to the wishes of a state party or faction. The top-two primary could also result in increased primary voter turnout as decline to state voters are able to cast primary ballots more easily and more choices on an elector’s ballot and the ability to vote across party lines could lure in voters who traditionally opt out of primary elections. Proponents of Proposition 14 as listed in the voter guide include AARP, the California Alliance for Jobs, and the California Chamber of Commerce.

Prop 14 opponents argue that eliminating the partisan primary for the affected offices encroaches on the political party’s right to determine its own future and choose its own nominees. Voters who have little or no interest in the party’s success will have the ability to influence which, if any, of its candidates are advanced to the run-off election. Opponents have even argued that voters could seek to sabotage an opposing political party in their choices.

The top-two primary system proposed by Prop 14 would also limit choices available to voters on the general election ballot in November. Since third-party candidates are rarely among the top vote-getters in a primary election, they would likely not appear on many general election ballots and write-in candidates would be prohibited. The consequences of this limitation would be to remove the voices of third-party candidates from the discussion and debate of the fall election, which is the election that a greater number of voters follow and participate in.

The top-two primary could also result in two candidates of the same party being advanced to the general election in some politically homogenous districts. This occurrence would further limit choice and might discourage voter participation. Opponents of proposition 14 include the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, the California State Firefighters Association, the California School Employees Association and the United Nurses Association of California.

Californians have previously weighed in on the issue of a top-two primary, most recently in November 2004 when voters rejected Prop 62.  The top-two primary is currently used in both Washington and Louisiana. Washington State adopted the top-two primary after a 2000 Supreme Court decision rendered their “blanket primary” unconstitutional because it violated political parties’ First Amendment rights to freedom of association. While Washington’s top-two primary has faced significant legal challenges, the Supreme Court upheld its constitutionality in the 2008 case of Washington State Grange v. Washington State Republican Party et.al.  While a September 2008 PPIC statewide survey found that 68% of likely voters supported the proposals put forth by Prop 14, it is difficult to know what if any actual effect primary reform could have on the gridlock in both Washington and Sacramento.  While some data is available from the Washington State and Louisiana experience demonstrating the effects of primary changes on incumbent advantages, voter turnout and partisan divisiveness, it is difficult to know whether these conclusions can be applied to California’s situation.

There are many causes of state and federal gridlock that stem from an electoral system that may not adequately reflect the electorate’s views. These causes may range from super-majority requirements to pass the budget which blur accountability to gerrymandered districts and campaign financing which can allow incumbents to insulate themselves from electoral pressure.

Emily Pears
Policy Advocate, California Common Cause

SB 1140  One Stop Voting Headed for the Senate Floor

June 1, 2010

SB 1140, Senator Leland Yee's bill to establish One Stop Voting for California is headed to the Senate floor.  SB 1140, if enacted, will allow voters to register to vote and cast a ballot during the 14 days leading up to an election including Election Day.  This means that voters who miss the traditional voter registration deadline or whose registrations are lost or incorrectly processed will still have an opportunity to cast a ballot on Election Day and will not be disenfranchised.  Election Day voter registration is available in a number of other states where it has increased voter turnout and access to the polls for young voters and others who are often left out of the process.  California Common Cause sponsored SB 1140 because we believe it will solve many of the challenges and problems reported by voters to the Election Protection hotline during past elections. 

For more information and to read the text of SB 1140, click here.

CMedia Reform is Coming to California

Citizens Redistricting Commission Applications Available!

Note: The application deadline for the California Citizens Redistricting Commission has been extended to February 16th, 2010!  

Applications are now available for the Citizens Redistricting Commission created by the passage of California's Prop 11 in November 2008.  To apply to be a commissioner or learn more about the application process visit the State Auditor's official website at http://wedrawthelines.ca.gov/

California Common Cause has also joined together with various other grassroots organization to form the Redistricting CA alliance.  The Redistricting CA website provides detailed information about the redistricting commission, how to apply, and how to get the word out to community groups and friends about the application process.  Visit the Redistricting CA website for information including notes and video from our recent December conference in LA. 

The Redistricting CA Alliance website is available at http://www.commoncause.org/redistrictingca. 

Click here to see a calendar of upcoming Redistricting CA events across California. 

These events are aimed at educating community members about the commission application process, and inviting you to reach out to your friends and neighbors and invite them to apply.

Citizens Redistricting Commission Applications Available!

Note: The application deadline for the California Citizens Redistricting Commission has been extended to February 16th, 2010!  

Applications are now available for the Citizens Redistricting Commission created by the passage of California's Prop 11 in November 2008.  To apply to be a commissioner or learn more about the application process visit the State Auditor's official website at http://wedrawthelines.ca.gov/

California Common Cause has also joined together with various other grassroots organization to form the Redistricting CA alliance.  The Redistricting CA website provides detailed information about the redistricting commission, how to apply, and how to get the word out to community groups and friends about the application process.  Visit the Redistricting CA website for information including notes and video from our recent December conference in LA. 

The Redistricting CA Alliance website is available at http://www.commoncause.org/redistrictingca. 

Click here to see a calendar of upcoming Redistricting CA events across California. 

These events are aimed at educating community members about the commission application process, and inviting you to reach out to your friends and neighbors and invite them to apply.

Californians Favor Reform – Think Elections Should be Won, Not Bought

The California Fair Elections Campaign (of which Common Cause is a co-chair) released public survey data indicating 63% of likely voters in the June 2010 election support our ballot measure to establish a pilot program of full public financing for Secretary of State campaigns.  The measure, which was signed by Governor Schwarzenegger as AB 583, would provide public campaign funds to qualified candidates who adhere to strictly enforced reporting requirements and spending limits and would ban participating candidates from raising funds from lobbyists, their clients, or any large donors.

See press coverage here in the Contra Costa Times and view poll results here.  

To learn more about the California Fiar Elections Act and what you can do to help, visit our informational page, here.   

California Common Cause Calls for FPPC to Investigate Lobbyist Sex Scandal

California Common Cause today called on the Fair Political Practices Commission to open an investigation into whether two lobbyists violated state law by engaging in affairs with former state legislator Mike Duvall.

"Voters need to know how widespread this practice is of lobbyists literally getting into bed with legislators, and since the legislature and Attorney General have both abandoned any investigation it is now incumbent upon the FPPC to take this on," said Derek Cressman, Western States Regional Director for Common Cause.

Click here to read Common Cause's complaint filed with the FPPC.

Click here to listen to Capitol Public Radio's interview with Derek Cressman.

Duvall resigned last month after being caught on videotape bragging to fellow Assemblymember Jeff Smith about the salacious details of sexual trysts he was having with lobbyists. Some newspapers have indentified one of the lobbyists as an employee of Sempra Energy.

Sempra Energy has donated more than $11,000 to Assembly Speaker Karen Bass in the past three years and gave over $10,000 to Jerry Brown’s campaign for Attorney General in 2006. Beyond that, Sempra gave more than $275,000 to the California Democratic Party in the past three years.

"Sempra gave big money to our elected officials and those officials then declined to investigate this matter regarding a Sempra lobbyist," noted Kathay Feng, Executive Director of California Common Cause. "That is precisely the sort of dynamic that makes Californian’s skeptical about our current campaign finance system and our current legislature."

Beyond a full investigation of this incident, Common Cause is calling for tighter lobbyist disclosure rules and a system of public financing of political campaigns so that legislators don’t need to raise funds from private interests like Sempra.

Click here to read the full press release.

  

Governor Schwarzenegger Signs AB 30 Into Law  

 

Thanks to the hard work of numerous reform-minded organizations across California, and many many individuals who sent letter to Governor Schwarzenegger, AB 30 has been signed into law.  Governor Schwarzenegger issued a press release on October 11th, 2009 stating that he had signed AB 30 into law, giving California's 17 year-olds the ability to pre-register to vote.  California Common Cause fought hard for this bill because it will encourage lifelong voting habits in California's young people and further clarify a confusing and complicated voter registration system.  

 

Click here to read California Common Cause's statement asking Governor Schwarzenegger to sign AB 30 into law. 

California Common Cause thanks all of our members who helped urge Governor Schwarzenegger to sign this important legislation.  While there is much more work to be done in improving California's broken voter registration system, we have taken an important step towards simple, efficient and universal voter registration.  

Thanks for all that you do.  

Ask Governor Schwarzenegger to Sign AB 30 Into Law

Thanks to the hard work of individuals like you who contacted their state lawmakers, legislation allowing 17-year-olds to preregister to vote has passed both the California State Assembly and Senate.

But we still need your help.

The bill is now sitting on Governor Schwarzenegger's desk, and we need to make sure he signs it into law.

Click here to send a letter urging the Governor to sign this bill.

Common Cause's work with the Election Protection Coalition during the 2008 election cycle demonstrated again that young voters face particular challenges when it comes to registering to vote.  

Registration processes can be complicated and confusing for first time voters, and many are unaware of crucial registration deadlines.  We believe that this bill, AB 30, will engage young people in the voting process earlier, encouraging them to become responsible voting citizens and exposing them to a system of voter registration that is automatic and accessible.

Please contact Gov. Schwarzenegger and ask him to sign this bill into law.

California Common Cause is grateful to all the individuals and organizations who have made this reform a priority.  With your help, we can ensure that this important legislation becomes law.

Click here to read California Common Cause's statement asking Governor Schwarzenegger to sign AB 30 into law. 

Thanks for all that you do.

  

California Common Cause Seeks Sacramento Volunteers

 California Common Cause Calls for Further Ethics Safeguards in Light of Duvall Scandal

California Common Cause called today for both a private lobbyist association and state legislators to take swift action in light of recent allegations by Assemblymember Michael Duvall that he engaged in a sexual affair a Sempra Energy lobbyist with at the same time she was lobbying him to oppose renewable energy legislation.

“It is important that the Assembly Ethics Committee continue to investigate this sordid affair,” said Derek Cressman, Regional Director of State Operations for Common Cause’s Western States. “The public needs to know if this relationship took place, if Sempra Energy knew about it and encouraged it as part of a lobbying strategy, if Sempra provided any gifts or things of value to legislators, and if other lobbyists are engaging in sexual relations with legislators.”

Common Cause called for the following steps:

1)      The Institute of Government Advocates, a trade association of lobbyists, should revoke the membership of any lobbyist who has engaged in sexual relations with an official they are lobbying.

2)      The IGA should adopt new ethical guidelines that prohibit lobbyists from engaging in sexual relations, or arranging sexual encounters, with officials they are lobbying.

3)      The legislature should adopt new lobby reform policies that require more detailed reporting of payments to individual lobbyists and disclosure of who lobbyists meet with and the matters they discuss.

Heidi DeJong Barsuglia, who Duvall apparently bragged about having an affair with, is a registered lobbyist for Sempra Energy. Lobby report forms indicate that Sempra spent $786,851.85 lobbying the California government from January to June of 2009.   These payments included $88,766 in payments to Ms. Barsuglia and her supervisor Cynthia Howell from April to June. Howell was paid $40,393.85 from January to March, before Barsuglia was on staff. This would suggest that Sempra paid Barsuglia approximately $48,000 from April to June, although the lobby reporting does not provide this level of detail.

“Improved lobby reporting would allow us to assess if this lobbyist was paid more then her supervisor, and what work she did to earn that salary,” said Kathay Feng, Executive Director of California Common Cause. “The public’s trust is severely eroded and can only be restored with detailed disclosures of every contact that a lobbyist makes with a lawmaker, including who, what, where, and why the meeting took place.”

Sempra was lobbying on at least 170 different bills in the legislature, including AB 64 which called for greater use of renewable energy in California. Duvall sided with Sempra in voting against AB 64 in two different committees and on the floor of the Assembly during the same time period that Barsuglia was lobbying the bill.

This issue concerns Common Cause because there is a track record of energy sector lobbyists using sex, drugs, and alcohol to unduly influence decision-makers. A 2008 report by Interior Department Inspector General Earl Devaney found that Chevron, Shell, Gary Williams Energy Corporation, and Hess Corporation lobbyists had provided gifts that included meals, alcohol, golf as well as engaged in sex and cocaine use with twelve employees of the Minerals Management Service. Sempra was not mentioned in that report, but is has participated in the Royalty In Kind program, which was at the center of that scandal. “This past history the possibility that trading sex for political influence is not an unknown tactic for energy corporations and warrants further investigation,” explained Cressman.

 California Common Cause Calls for Constitutional Convention

The Board of California Common Cause has voted unanimously to support the call for a California Constitutional Convention.  "We support calling a Constitutional Convention as one of several possible methods for effectively and more holistically revising the California Constitution," read a statement adopted by the Board.

A consensus has developed in California that our state government is dysfunctional.  Gimick-loaded budgets that are never on time, IOUs and emergency financing, and billions in cuts to education and social service systems that were already underfunded -- there really is no room left for debate that California is a state in crisis.

Here's the good news: With the passage of the redistricting reform initiative in 2008, we showed that good-government groups like California Common Cause can overcome the gridlock in Sacramento.  We now know how to work through the initiative process to achieve reforms that the Legislature is unable or unwilling to enact. 

Building on this win, we have a three-step, three-year plan that will help California turn the corner. 

Step 1 - Pass The California Fair Elections Act.  It begins in June 2010 with the passage of the California Fair Elections Act.  Big-monied special interests can no longer call the shots in California (notably, just last fall, the California Legislature passed corporate tax cuts that will cost the state $2 billion in revenue per year).  Lobbyists oppose the Fair Elections Act because it will give candidates for Secretary of State an alternative to the money chase.  That's why a diverse coalition supports the Act.  California Common Cause is committed to winning this long-needed reform.

Step 2 - Call A Constitutional Convention.  In November 2010, California voters should have the opportunity to pass two initiatives that are critical to restructuring California government.  The first will give voters the right to call a Constitutional Convention.  The second will actually call for the convention.  California Common Cause will work to ensure passage of these two initiatives and will push for a delegate selection process that is democratic and reflects the diversity of the California electorate.

Step 3 - Passing The Convention's Package Of Reforms.  The final step will be ensuring that the Constitutional Convention enacts the reforms this state needs to move forward.  Expanding the Fair Elections Act to all statewide and state legislative offices, fixing term limits, ending the profoundly anti-democratic requirement that budgets be passed by a 2/3rds vote in the Legislature, and reforming the initiative process---these are the reforms that a Constitutional Convention can achieve.  California Common Cause will lead the fight to pass these reforms at the Constitutional Convention and at the ballot box in 2012. 

This three-year plan will require a different level of engagement from all of us.  As a board, we've agreed to step up our commitment to California Common Cause.  And I am confident others will too.  Why?  Because we're living through a budgetary crisis, a government crisis, a democratic crisis that will touch all of us.  Our young children won't receive new textbooks until at least 2016.  College students, at least those fortunate enough not to be victims of enrollment cuts, will face steep tuition hikes at our once world-renowned universities.  And the 11.5 percent of Californians already unemployed will find a drastically underfunded social safety net riddled with holes. 

So stayed tuned to the CCC website for news information about this important initiative, and join with us in reforming, remaking, and rebuilding California.  

CCC Applauds Redistricting Commission Applicant Review Panel

Public interest organizations that have been advocating for the successful implementation of a Citizens Redistricting Commission applauded the efforts of the Bureau of State Audits to develop a qualified, diverse pool of candidates. The Bureau of State Audits has just finished narrowing the original pool of over 30,000 applicants for the new citizens redistricting commission to 120 individuals.
 
Now that the Applicant Review Panel has narrowed the applicants to 120 individuals to bring in for interviews, we are pleased that the diversity is very close to that of the state’s population: 12% are Black, 30% are of Latino heritage, 14% are Asian and/or Pacific Islander, and 5% are American Indian. This is a very important development in securing the public’s trust. For more information on the Commission selection, check out www.wedrawthelines.ca.gov

The LA Media Reform Group, a project of California Common Cause, and the Urban & Environmental Policy Institute at Occidental College are pleased to present a hands-on workshop to teach community organizations and non-profits how to make and distribute video shorts for social justice and progressive social change.  This training will focus on teaching participants how to use Flip camera to get their messages out. The 2-day training will take place Saturday, August 22, 2009 from 11am – 3pm and Saturday, August 29, 2009 from 11am – 3pm at Occidental College, Eagle Rock, Los Angeles, California.  Click here to watch a promotional video for this exciting event.  To register for the VideoActive training, visit the Common Cause events section here. 

California’s crisis seems to have no end in sight.  With IOUs being distributed, budget discussions at a stand still and California’s most important public programs threatened the time for reform is clearly upon us.  California Common Cause, along with a number of other reform organizations, is calling for continued discussion as to whether a state Constitutional Convention is the right answer to California’s broken government.  Throughout the summer California Common Cause will be hosting and participating in discussions across California about the feasibility of this option.  To learn more about these events and Common Cause’s positions visit our issues section here.

When a toxic spill choked a city, why didn’t local radio stations tell residents how to survive? When TV reporters blew the whistle on the dangers of bovine growth hormone in milk, why was the corporate culprit able to kill the story? When half the U.S. population was opposed to war in Iraq, why was there so little anti-war media coverage? 

Broadcast Blues shows how the increasing concentration of media ownership and the decline of locally owned TV and radio are jeopardizing our news, information, and even public safety.  The film reminds us that the media has a public interest obligation, and that we have the power to demand accountability.

California Common Cause is teaming up with Public Interest Pictures, Media Alliance, and filmakker Sue Wilson to bring Broadcast Blues to San Francisco.  We are hosting a screening of the film at the Victoria Theatre in San Francisco's Mission district on Sunday, June 28th, 2009 at 4:00 PM.  To purchase discounted advance tickets for the event or learn more, visit www.commoncause.org/broadcastblues.

California Common Cause enthusiastically supports a number of bills introduced in the California Legislature aimed at making our government more efficient, open and accountable.  AB 30, a bill sponsored by Assemblymember Curren Price would allow California’s 16 year olds to pre-register to vote – encouraging voting habits to start earlier in our states young people.  AB 84, sponsored by Asseblymember Hill would give vote by mail voters the same rights afforded to provisional voters to find out whether their ballot was counted and, if it was not, the reason why, thus giving voters the ability to take corrective action to ensure that VBM ballots will be counted in future elections.  Assemblymember Davis’s AB 1121 would allow up to 10 general law cities to adopt instant runoff voting for local elections.  To find out more about these and other bills that California Common Cause is supporting, visit our legislation page.
 

California Common Cause and our members have worked for years to bring fair elections to Sacramento so that candidates can run for local office even when they aren't wealthy or don't want to take special interest money.

But now, some Sacramento City Council members are poised to alter this ordinance dramatically without time for public debate.  They want to raise campaign contribution limits that would allow wealthy donors and special interests undue influence over city officials.

We think Sacramento is better served with candidates who get out and talk with people rather than candidates who take huge contributions from donors who want favors down the road.  We deserve city officials who spend more time working on the problems of everyday people rather than raising money from special interests. And that's why we need your help today.

Click here to take action and help California Common Cause save Sacramento's fair elections.

Click here to learn more about California Common Cause's work on fair elections for California. 

Americans for Redistricting Reform recently released summary documents of redistring reform efforts in 2009.  California Common Cause is proud of all that we have accomplished with Prop 11 in California, and hopes to see the wave of redistricting reform carried to states across the country.  ARR's released a document qoting President Obama's views on redistricting reform issues.  In his book Audacity of Hope, President Obama addresses the issue of poltical reform as follows:

-excerpt from Audacity of Hope

Click here to read about California Common Cause's redistricting reform efforts.

Click here to read ARR's report: Notable Redistricting Efforts in the States 2009.

Click here to read ARR's document outlining President Obama's views on redistricting reform.

Click here to read ARR's summary of the reforms that Proposition 11, the California Voters First initiative, will enact.

March 16, 2009

Learn what you can do about it at Local Media for Social Change on March 21, 2009 at Occidental College in Los Angeles. Sign up today at http://www.commoncause.org/mediasummit

- Featuring a special keynote address by local KJLH 102.3FM radio host and community activist Dominique DiPrima!*** • Opening panel featuring Brad Friedman, Linda Milazzo, Anthony Samad, Mario Solis-Marich. Moderated by political analyst (CNN/MSNBC/FOX) Tanya Acker.

- 12 informative breakout sessions such as Citizen Journalism, Youth Radio, Saving LA Public Access, Internet Freedom, Using Social Media and more!

Don’t wait! Register now at http://www.commoncause.org/mediasummit and learn more about ways to tell your story when no one else will.
 

February 25, 2009

On Tuesday, February 24^th hundreds of local leaders, activists, reformers and concerned Californians met in Sacramento to discuss calling a Constitutional Convention. 

The Summit, convened by the Bay Area Council and co-sponsored by Common Cause, the League of Women Voters, The William C Velasquez Institute, Courage Campaigns, the Center for Governmental Studies, and the New America Foundation, opened a conversation about how best to deal with California’s serious reform needs. 

To read more about the Constitutional Convention Summit, read Derek Cressman’s blog post about it here, or visit the Bay Area Council’s website here.

February 19, 2009

Day by day, evidence piles up demonstrating that California's government is not only broken, it has become destructive to our future.

Please join us for a special summit that California Common Cause is co-hosting with the Bay Area Council and other reform-minded groups on February 24th from 9:00am to 2:30pm at the Sheraton Grand Hotel in Sacramento.  

The purpose of the summit is to explore and define the process for convening a Constitutional Convention in California.  We will delve into the reforms that our state needs to function again, and we will be asking the state's top leaders and concerned citizens like you for support and ideas about what should be included in the proposed convention.

A ballot initiative every two years doesn't rise the challenges we currently face, and the past eight years have shown that changing our Governor and legislators won't fix our problems. We need a wholesale revamp. A Constitutional Convention isn't without risks, but the time has come to explore this option. 

For more information visit our events section here or register for the summit online at http://www.repaircalifornia.org

January 8, 2009

On January 1st, Time Warner Cable closed 12 public access studios and shut down 11 public access channels in the Los Angeles metropolitan area.  If we don't act now, we will lose one of the last sources of truly independent local media information forever.

For decades, cities required cable companies to provide Public Access Cable Stations.  These stations provided a unique forum for important local and state issues that were often overlooked by the mainstream media. Now that cities can no longer require companies like Time Warner Cable to provide public access stations and studios, they are being shut down.

California Common Cause joined with a coalition of groups to urge LA City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo and CA Attorney General Jerry Brown to file an injunction to block the dismantling of public access studios and stations.

Click here to read more about California Common Cause's efforts.

January 6th, 2009

44 Minutes of Service was inspired by President-Elect Obama's desire for every American to realize their ability to affect change.

This is not about political affiliation. This is not even about Barack Obama. This is about people coming together to bring about change in their local communities by pledging to perform at least 44 minutes of service on January 19th or 20th, the day Barack Obama takes the oath of office and becomes the 44th president of the United States.

Check www.44minutesofservice.com for service projects you can help with throughout California.