{"id":294,"date":"2023-05-09T08:00:46","date_gmt":"2023-05-09T08:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/california\/press-releases\/advocates-file-amicus-brief-defending-constitutionality-of-anti-corruption-law\/"},"modified":"2023-05-09T08:00:46","modified_gmt":"2023-05-09T08:00:46","slug":"advocates-file-amicus-brief-defending-constitutionality-of-anti-corruption-law","status":"publish","type":"press","link":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/california\/press\/advocates-file-amicus-brief-defending-constitutionality-of-anti-corruption-law\/","title":{"rendered":"Advocates File Amicus Brief Defending Constitutionality of Anti-Corruption Law"},"template":"","class_list":["post-294","press","type-press","status-publish","hentry","press_type-press-release"],"acf":{"details":{"summary":"California Common Cause defends the public interest over special interests in challenge to landmark pay-to-play law","featured_image":"","press_type":157,"authors":["{\"site_id\":\"1\",\"post_type\":\"person\",\"post_id\":7817}"],"related_issues":[104,116,431],"related_work":false,"location":3},"sidebar":{"helper_enable_sidebar":false,"helper_media_contact":{"heading":"Media Contact","manually_enter_person":false,"person":null,"name":"","role":"","phone":"","email":""},"helper_links_downloads":{"heading":"Links & Downloads","links":null}},"page_layout":[{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_wysiwyg":{"content":"

California Common Cause defends the public interest over special interests in challenge to landmark pay-to-play law<\/span><\/i><\/h3>\r\nSacramento <\/b>\u2013 California Common Cause, represented by<\/span> Strumwasser & Woocher LLP<\/b>, has filed an <\/span>amicus brief<\/span><\/a> defending the legality of bipartisan anti-corruption legislation, <\/span>SB 1439<\/span><\/a> (Glazer, 2022), in the <\/span>special interest lawsuit<\/span><\/a> challenging the new landmark law. The law extends existing pay-to-play limits on contributions that have applied for decades to state officials and local appointed officials to local <\/span>elected<\/span><\/i> officials, helping end the continuous cycle of scandals caused by special interests\u2019 massive campaign contributions to the local officials they have business before.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nThe amicus defends the law as a closely-drawn and justified solution that can help reverse both the impact and appearance of the rampant quid pro quo corruption that has infected local governments across California.<\/span>\r\n\r\n\u201cSB 1439 is lawful, long-overdue legislation that holds our local leaders accountable to the people who elected them to office, not the special interests who fund their campaign accounts,\u201d said <\/span>Jonathan Mehta Stein, Executive Director of California Common Cause<\/b>. \u201cThis kind of law has been tried in other states and in a long list of California cities, and it has never been invalidated because of legal challenge. We trust SB 1439 will succeed in the courts.\u201d<\/span>\r\n\r\nUnder current law, candidates who sit in appointed local positions cannot take campaign contributions of over $250 from any entity that has business before them in their appointed position. SB 1439 mitigates pay-to-play scandals by closing a massive loophole, extending that same common-sense contribution limit to local <\/span>elected <\/span><\/i>officials who frequently vote on licenses, permits, and contracts. Under SB 1439, if a local elected official was in the position to vote on a matter pertaining to an entity that had contributed over $250 to them, that official has the choice to recuse or return the amount of the contribution over $250.<\/span>\r\n\r\nThe brief outlines the myriad local pay-to-play scandals that illustrate the depth of California\u2019s local government corruption problem, which spurred the legislature to unanimously pass SB 1439. Before this, a limited number of local governments across the state had enacted similar regulations in an attempt to curb corruption, but patchwork solutions were not enough to cure a statewide issue. SB 1439 holds all leaders throughout California equally accountable to the people, closing the loophole that missed the key players in these local scandals.<\/span>\r\n\r\n\u201cWe are honored to represent California Common Cause in showing how this critical law that protects the public against pay-to-play decision-making is plainly constitutional,\u201d said<\/span> Salvador P\u00e9rez of Strumwasser & Woocher<\/b>, defending SB 1439. \u201cStatewide solutions like SB 1439 are necessary to ensure that all localities are covered and to protect against democracy-eroding corruption scandals.\u201d<\/span>\r\n\r\nRather than imposing lower limits on all contributors or an outright contribution ban, the law applies lower contribution limits to a small subset of contributors with an elevated risk of actual and apparent corruption. By doing this, the law\u2019s anti-corruption protections are a constitutional, closely-drawn solution to a pervasive issue.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\n\u201cThe people have every right to know where the loyalties of their elected representatives lie,\u201d said <\/span>Sean McMorris, California Common Cause\u2019s Transparency, Ethics, and Accountability Program Manager.<\/b> \u201cSB 1439 is pro-democracy reform that restores trust in local government, ensuring that our democracy still belongs to the people \u2014 not the highest bidder making backroom deals with our local representatives.\u201d<\/span>\r\n\r\nCalifornia Common Cause was the main supporter of SB 1439. The case, <\/span>Family Business Ass'n v. FPPC<\/span><\/i>, Case No. 34-2023-00335169-CU-MC-GDS, was filed in <\/span>Sacramento Superior Court<\/span><\/a>. <\/span>"}}]},"yoast_head":"\nAdvocates File Amicus Brief Defending Constitutionality of Anti-Corruption Law - Common Cause California<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/california\/press-releases\/advocates-file-amicus-brief-defending-constitutionality-of-anti-corruption-law\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Advocates File Amicus Brief Defending Constitutionality of Anti-Corruption Law\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/california\/press\/advocates-file-amicus-brief-defending-constitutionality-of-anti-corruption-law\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Common Cause California\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/california\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/common-cause-share-image.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/california\/press-releases\/advocates-file-amicus-brief-defending-constitutionality-of-anti-corruption-law\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/california\/press-releases\/advocates-file-amicus-brief-defending-constitutionality-of-anti-corruption-law\/\",\"name\":\"Advocates File Amicus Brief Defending Constitutionality of Anti-Corruption Law - 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