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Today the Los Angeles City Council approved a major reform that will make matching funds more accessible to all candidates running for city office. The amendment, introduced by Councilmember Mike Bonin and seconded by Councilmembers Paul Koretz and David Ryu, lowers the amount that City Council and Citywide candidates need to raise to qualify for the $6 to $1 public matching funds. 

The proposed rules are designed to end the real and perceived pay-to-play politics at City Hall.

California Common Cause urges Los Angeles City Council to make it easier to qualify for matching funds and to adopt people-only campaign contribution rule

Today, Governor Jerry Brown signed legislation to give citizens a greater voice in California’s democracy. Senate Bill 1107, by Sen. Ben Allen, D-Santa Monica, gives local governments and the state the choice to enact citizen-funded election programs. California Common Cause sponsored the bill with the California Clean Money Campaign.

Sacramento – Today, the Legislature showed bipartisan support for Senate Bill 1107 (Allen, Hancock, Chiu, Gonzalez), which would enable the state and local governments to address special interest money in politics with citizen funded election systems by amplifying the voices of small donors and everyday voters. California Common Cause is a sponsor of this bill.

Big donors continued to dominate California’s congressional campaigns even as we entered the fall campaign season when small donors traditionally became more engaged, according to analysis of campaign finance data for nine diverse* members of Congress by the non-partisan government watchdog organization California Common Cause.