BREAKING NEWS: DCoGT and TRAC-Indivisible to begin joint campaign to support California legislature's effort to nullify Citizens United
As discussed in this month's general meeting, the club is taking action, with TRAC-Indivisible, to speed approval of a bill in the California Assembly that promises to neutralize the Supreme Court decision that opened the floodgates for corporate money in US politics. If you've been following this issue, in the general media or even in these pages (see my two previous articles), you know how important this effort is to returning sanity to our elections and preserving democracy in this country.
If you're asking yourself, "Citizens What?", would like a refresher, or just have a few questions, please consult this article on BillTrack50.com: The “Corporate Powers Reset” Movement: How States Are Trying to Outflank Citizens United It explains everything much better than I could.
To ensure we don't leave anyone behind, here's a capsule summary: Because corporations are artificial creations of state law, individual states may limit what they can do, by changing said laws to alter or remove certain "powers", even the ability to spend money to influence elections, and that's what Assembly Bill 1984 will do.
Moving on to the actions we are planning, the immediate need is to get AB1984 out of the Business and Finance Committee and on its way to the Governor's desk (that is, via Assembly approval, Senate ditto, etc.). The plan is to:
Coordinate with Democratic clubs and Indivisible chapters in committee members' districts on letter-writing campaigns. (Rhodesia is not on the committee, FYI)
Raise public awareness and build support through media locally, in the committee members' districts, and eventually statewide
Work with Sen. McNearney (he's a co-author) to raise support in the Senate and legislature as a whole
Contact San Joaquin Central Committee to propose a resolution of support, directed to the state party.
Please join us!
We need people to write letters, postcards and emails, make phone calls, post to social media, and maybe even meet with legislators in person (which can be unusually effective, commensurate with its inconvenience).
a Cautionary Disclosure to consider: Disabling Citizens United only affects corporate money in political activity, not tech oligarch spending or super PACs in general. It is an important step, however, and demonstrates the overwhelming public support (even, or especially, in red states!) for throttling out-of-control election spending.
Beyond that, it remains an obvious maneuver to evade, even flout, the Supreme Court's intent. Based on recent decisions such as RNSC v. FEC, it might be a wee bit too optimistic to assume that the MAGA majority won't just bull ahead and overturn these laws, business impacts be damned. realistically, that is a concern which may affect passage of AB1984, as it did, actually, for Hawai'i's similar law the month before last.
The Hawai'ians went ahead anyway, as we saw, despite knowing their law would be challenged, which in fact it already has been. California must pass its law to add its weight to the momentum. Even if SCOTUS eventually nukes "corporate powers" laws, that will sharpen the focus on the overall issue of uncontrolled, corrupting political spending, and the backlash will contribute pressure towards a real and final solution, a constitutional amendment...which is not at all that far-fetched.
More to come.