CA Common Cause Welcomes Legislation to Modernize California’s Campaign Finance Disclosure Website
SACRAMENTO, March 14, 2016— As Sen. Bob Hertzberg, D-Van Nuys, announced his intention to advance legislation to modernize California’s campaign finance disclosure system, Kathay Feng, Executive Director of California Common Cause, made the following statement:
The Secretary of State’s Cal-Access database, which provides public access to information about campaign finance and lobbying, is woefully outdated and overdue for an upgrade.
If Cal-Access were a cell phone, it would be a pager. Cutting edge in the 1990’s, it’s obsolete in 2016. It’s time for California to upgrade our campaign disclosure system to smart technology that gives voters the power to access vital information about candidates and campaigns to make informed choices.
Secretary Alex Padilla has been a leader in trying to fix Cal-Access. With Sen. Hertzberg’s bill, the Legislature will be able to give Secretary Padilla the direction and resources necessary to bring Cal-Access into the 21st century.
Fixing Cal-Access will bring greater transparency and accountability to California politics. That’s why civic leaders of all stripes are coming together behind this commonsense reform to provide voters with easy and meaningful access to information we need to make informed choices.
Additional information about the Cal-Access modernization effort is available at the California Common Cause website.