Historic Victory for Clean Elections Bill

PRESS RELEASE
from the California Clean Money Campaign

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 19, 2006

Contact: Eric Tang, 310-481-0814 or 310-500-9591 (c)

HISTORIC VICTORY FOR ‘CLEAN MONEY’ BILL
Bill passes out of Assembly Appropriations Committee, to be heard by full
Assembly next week

SACRAMENTO — In a historic victory for reform advocates, AB 583, the
California Clean Money and Fair Elections Act, passed out of the
Appropriations Committee of the Assembly today. The bill will be heard
before the full Assembly by the end of the month. This is the first time
in California history that a bill for public campaign financing has passed
the Appropriations Committee.

“We are tremendously excited by this victory and greatly look forward to
debating the merits of full public financing of campaigns before the full
Assembly,” said Susan Lerner, executive director of the California Clean
Money Campaign. “California is once again proving itself a national leader
by leaping to the forefront of the growing movement to restoring faith in
government through Clean Money campaign reform.”

Authored by Assemblywoman Loni Hancock (D-Berkeley), AB 583 would create a
voluntary system of full public funding of election campaigns in California
for all statewide and legislative races. Modeled after successful “Clean
Money” systems in Arizona and Maine, AB 583 has garnered significant
attention and support in the wake of the record-breaking campaign
fundraising for the special election and the recent corruption scandals
making headlines across the nation.

“With corruption scandals becoming common front page features, people are
increasingly disillusioned by politics because they feel that their elected
officials work for big money instead of for them,” continued Lerner. “At
the same time, more and more people are joining the Clean Money movement
because they recognize that Clean Money is the only comprehensive measure
proven effective at tackling the problem of money in politics.”

“One of the most appealing aspects of Clean Money is that it solves several
different problems at once. Not only does it help control the costs of
campaigning and give new people of modest means the ability to run for
office, but it also strengthens government accountability and trust in
government by eliminating the perception that public policy decisions are
made on a “pay-to-play” basis.”

“At this time of declining voter turnout and lost faith in elected
officials, Clean Money provides a beacon of hope towards a better future.
We are working with the many organizations in a broad-based coalition
supporting Clean Money to insure a full debate and positive result in the
Assembly. The bill already has 29 co-authors in the Assembly and Senate,
whose leadership and vision we applaud. We strongly encourage all
Californians to urge their Assembly representative to support AB 583.”

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The California Clean Money Campaign is nonpartisan, nonprofit organization
building statewide support for full public funding of election campaigns.
Learn more: http://www.CAclean.org.


TOOLS FOR CHANGE:

Become a member:
http://www.CAclean.org/join.php

Become a member by mail or phone:
California Clean Money Campaign
11844 Pico Blvd., Suite 200
Los Angeles, CA 90064

Sign the online petition or print out copies for your friends:
http://www.CAclean.org/petition/

Learn more:
http://www.CAclean.org