Word was the vote was going to be close in San Jose. This motion with the model language of AB 83, The Get Foreign Money Out of California Elections Act, had been first introduced and passed in March 2022.
If you’ve ever tried to get policy passed at the municipal level, you know it can take a while to enact. Even after the motion has been voted on and you won, it takes a while, and by a while, I mean years.
There has been an election since March 2022 and it’s a very different San Jose City Council in 2024 than the one which passed the motion initially. Best guess was too close to call, might pass by one vote or fail by one vote.
This vote was not close. The vote was unanimous. It was last Tuesday.
San Jose stepped up big to #CloseTheLoophole” Citizens United blew open for foreign money to influence US elections and policy.
I confess, It sparks joy. And I’m not the only who was happy. Here’s what Rep Jamie Raskin tweeted after the San Jose vote:
Shouldn’t it be plain to everyone that allowing foreign money to continue to pour into our elections, through a loophole created by a corrupt SCOTUS is a profoundly dumb idea?
Apparently it’s not to some members of the California Legislature.
The California Assembly will vote on AB 83 by the end of the month.
Because AB 83 amends the Political Reform Act of 1974, it requires a 2/3 majority in each house to pass. In California’s 80 member Assembly, that’s 54 votes. (This is inarguably anti-majoritarian, but it’s a 50 year old relic we can’t fix today.)
AB 83 sits at 50 “aye” votes, or four short of what’s needed to pass out of the Assembly and on to the CA Senate.
We’re talking our little heads off at the capitol about the threat foreign money poses to democracy, to sovereignty, to national security, to civil society and to election integrity, but if our words, however compelling, are not backed up by constituents, if legislators are not worried about consequences in their districts in an election year, AB 83 could be dead by the end of the month.
CALL YOUR ASSEMBLY MEMBER TODAY!!
You can find your representative with this tool. You’ll see their name and your Assembly District number.
If you know your Assembly District number, you know your ASM’s phone number. Every ASM’s Capitol phone number is 916-319-20(AD). For example, I live in Assembly District 61, so my ASM Tina McKinnor’s number is 916-319-2061.
Call Now. Say “I’m calling to make sure my Assembly Member will be voting “AYE” on AB 83, because there should not be any foreign money in California elections!!”
Calls matter. Offices keep track of the numbers. Keep calling until you’re told your ASM is voting “AYE”!
This should be a unanimous vote in the California Legislature, as it was in the San Jose City Council. The US Supreme Court made a terrible mistake when they opened our elections to foreign money. Yes, the SCOTUS is making a lot of mistakes, but this one we can fix, and we must!
Check out the previous AB 83 DK Diaries.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/1/9/2216243/-California-must-exploit-Citizens-United-s-devastating-error-defend-democracy-and-pass-AB83
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/1/4/2215003/--CloseTheLoophole-Help-California-fix-the-foreign-money-mess-Citizens-United-made
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/11/14/2205133/-Money-Out-Voters-In-California-can-close-the-Citizens-United-Foreign-Money-Loophole-with-AB-83
Michele Sutter is President and Co-Founder of MOVI, Money Out Voters In, the California sponsors of AB 83 - The Get Foreign Money Out of California Elections Act, now on the floor of the California Assembly.