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Sacramento, CA – With a bipartisan vote in the State Assembly today, California moved one step closer to enacting the nation’s most comprehensive election disclosure law. Assembly Bill 700, authored by Assemblymember Jimmy Gomez (D-Los Angeles), requires all non-candidate campaign committees to disclose the identity of their top three funders in all campaign advertisements.
“Voters deserve transparency in our electoral process,” said Assemblymember Jimmy Gomez. “Today’s vote moves us forward in the fight to undue the influence of unlimited money in our elections created by the Citizens United decision. I urge my colleagues in the Senate to stand with me and the California Clean Money campaign and deliver this bill to Governor Brown.”
Under AB 700, all ballot measure and PAC (political action committee) committees supporting or opposing candidates will be required to display the names of their top 3 true funders on a solid black background on the bottom third of the screen for a full 5 seconds for television and video ads. Each name must be displayed on a separate line in a large clear font and use regular capitalization. Similar disclosure rules will exist for radio, print and online ads, and robocalls.
“Through this landmark, first in the nation bill, we’ve never been closer, anywhere in the country, to shining a light on Dark Money in all its forms by making it illegal for voters to be misled about who is truly paying for political ads,” said Trent Lange, President of the California Clean Money Campaign. “Every Californian who cares about the integrity and honesty of our electoral process owes Assemblymember Gomez a huge thank-you for his tenacious championing of this cause and this bill.”
The California Disclose Act also creates new rules for earmarking and tracking of contributions to these committees to identify true funders when they try to hide behind shell groups with misleading names.
AB 700 is now headed to the State Senate for their approval.
Great news for California voters!
Next we’ll see if the Senate is as courageous as the Assembly.