Now let's go from the lightheartedly trivial to the disturbingly serious.
You may have heard that SB 52, the
California DISCLOSE Act, passed out of the Assembly Appropriations Committee Thursday, with all Democrats voting "aye." Well, great!
Within 2 hours, three Democrats had heard from their union masters* and changed their votes: Jimmy Gomez of LA and Bill Quirk of Hayward to "abstain," and Sebastian Ridley-Thomas of Culver City to a "no." An abstention has exactly the same effect as a "no" vote.
These votes did not prevent the bill from passing out of the committee, but if unchanged, they will kill it in the floor vote.
These legislators work for the people of California, who overwhelmingly support the disclosure that SB 52 would mandate. It's even part of the Democratic party platform. If Democratic legislators do not vote unanimously for such fundamental transparency, wouldn't you begin to wonder why you should continue to campaign for and contribute to them? Perhaps you would like to express your views to someone who could make a difference.
Our Representative in Congress, Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, is a HUGE supporter of the DISCLOSE Act, both the California and the U.S. versions. Please let her know, as a constituent, how concerned you are that Democrats may be the ones who kill SB 52. Call her San Francisco office at (415) 556-4862, or email her here (12th District only) and ask her to step in.
Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins, a co-author of SB 52, can also pressure Democrats to do the right thing: (916) 319-2078.
Senator Mark Leno, our Senator, is the hard-fighting author of the bill (with Sen. Jerry Hill). Contact him to thank and encourage him at (415) 557-1300.
*SEIU California and the California Teachers Association oppose the DISCLOSE Act, yet they say they represent the interests of ordinary working people. Since unions will ultimately always be massively outspent politically by corporations, it can't be to their advantage to allow the likes of the Koch brothers to continue to flood California elections with unlimited dark money. But they are advocating just that.
If you are a member of either union, do you think they are representing you when they try to kill something as basic as letting voters clearly see the top 3 original funders on any ballot measure ad (not some misleading committee name)? To tell them what you think, call SEIU CA at (916) 442-3838, or CTA at (650) 697-1400.
August 30th is it for SB 52; the bill must pass both the Assembly floor vote and the Senate reconciliation vote by then. Let's hope the Governor gets a chance to sign it.
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