Proposition 89 News

California Common Cause and the League of Women Voters of California Are Proud to Announce Their Support for Proposition 89

California's two major good government organizations, the League of Women Voters of California and California Common Cause, joined a growing coalition of community-based organizations, and announced their endorsement today of Proposition 89, the Clean Money Initiative.

Said Jackie Jacobberger, President of the League of Women Voters of California, "The League and Common Cause have actively worked to support reasonable measures including contribution limits, limits on campaign spending, partial public financing of campaigns, and better disclosure of the financing of campaigns. But the real solution to the runaway spending that has made California's elections a competition of money, not ideas, is public funding -- the Clean Money approach."

"We hope that California will join Connecticut, Maine, Arizona and other places in adopting a Clean Money system that puts voter interests ahead of lobbyists and special interests. These states have proven that Clean Money elections are constitutional and they work," said Common Cause President Chellie Pingree. "Californians are tired of pay-to-play politics and negative ad wars. Proposition 89 would go a long way toward giving citizens a louder voice and a more responsive government."

Said Kathay Feng, Executive Director of California Common Cause, "We face a serious problem with voter apathy and disgust over elections where there are no new ideas or faces. A Clean Money system levels the playing field for more qualified candidates with diverse points of view and backgrounds to run. Good candidates show their viability by collecting a certain number (750 - 25,000 depending on the office) of five dollar contributions, and then receive public funding to run on their ideas. Having a huge campaign war chest or the endorsement of machine politicians would no longer be the key to winning."

Prop. 89 was placed on the November 2006 ballot through the efforts of the California Nurses Association.