Special Interests Oppose Proposition 89

Big Business, Big Labor & Their Consultants Team Up To Kill Genuine Reform Of Special Interest Dominance in Sacramento-Prop

By Jamie Court, Carmen Balber

SANTA MONICA, Calif., July 31 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Two of the most prolific special interest campaign givers in Sacramento, the big business lobby and the California Teachers Association, gave up their usual enmity and teamed up today to announce their opposition to campaign finance overhaul, California Proposition 89, on the November ballot.

Both groups will have to file campaign finance reports today showing the scope of their political contributions to candidates, which Proposition 89 virtually eliminates.

"Only a genuine campaign finance reform overhaul like Proposition 89 could force big labor and big business onto the same team because no cash-rich special interest will be able to buy the legislature if Prop 89 passes," said Jamie Court, president of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights (FTCR). "Consultants like Goddard Clausen, that represent big corporations and Republicans, and Gale Kaufman, who works for labor unions and Democrats, see their gravy train ending under Prop 89. The fact that such large and incompatible special interests oppose Prop 89 makes the case for why it will work."

The League of Women Voters, California Common Cause, and Public Campaign have joined FTCR in supporting Prop 89, placed on the ballot by the California Nurses Association.

Excluding today's reporting, which has yet to be made public, the California Teachers Association's candidate committee has given $13,660,191 to candidates since 1999. The Chamber of Commerce's members have easily matched the teachers' spending.

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.