Some political comedians have joked about how the powers-that-be make important issues so mind numbingly boring that you won't pay attention to them. Then one day you wake up to find that you don't have the right to free speech save in designated areas, or that it's illegal to sue a corporation for poisoning your water. No really, those are both true.
Meanwhile there are people out there who are pushing, not for the evil boring but for the awesome boring. And Tuesday, those people had a good day in California.
Now I'm admittedly one of those people who watches C-Span on purpose, but I will do my best to make this news as interesting as I can. Because this News, Is, Important. On Tuesday, the grassroots movement to get money out of politics got a nice nudge of progress as Lady Liberty gave a thumbs up to the people and a flip of the bird to the financial interests that hold us hostage.
In Sacramento, SB1272 passed through the Committee on Elections and Redistricting and AJR1 passed through the Senate Judiciary Committee.
...and?
In short, the bill and resolution are keystone examples of grassroots movements using the system to change the system. They are examples of the way hard work at local levels turned into city level that have now turned into state level initiatives to #GetMoneyOut. And yes, tweet that.
Tuesday is about we, the people, using our power to turn our government back into a government of, for and by the people. There may be many reading this who feel our system is so corrupt, so broken and jaggedly out-of-touch that we should scrap the whole thing and start over again. But now we see that there is another way worth trying.
According to statistics, 96% of Americans feel that money has a corrupting influence on politics. That's pretty much everyone – left, right and center – except the uber rich. The need to purge big private money from the electoral process is actually an issue that we as Americans agree on.
Now, by working to mobilize the people, thereby mobilizing and influencing local officials, we can see the bigger pieces of this twisted puzzle start to shift. Once California moves to fight corporatocracy, people will take notice. The nation will sit up.
So here's a rundown of what happened Tuesday:
SB1272, authored by State Senator Ted Lieu, is alternatively called the “Overturn Citizens United Act.” It is a voter instruction measure which effectively means that it would be placed on the November 4, 2014, ballot as a question by the California Secretary of State to voters... drumroll please, here's the question:
“Shall the Congress of the United States propose, and the California Legislature ratify, an amendment or amendments to the United States Constitution to overturn Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010) 558 U.S. 310, and other applicable judicial precedents, to allow the full regulation or limitation of campaign contributions and spending, to ensure that all citizens, regardless of wealth, may express their views to one another, and to make clear that the rights protected by the United States Constitution are the rights of natural persons only?”
In other words, should we take our country back from monied interests and, as my aforementioned hashtag suggests, #GetMoneyOut? The Committee on Elections and Redistricting, pushed by grassroots activists, said “Yes”: such a measure should be on the ballot.
At the same time, AJR1, introduced by State Assemblyman Mike Gatto, is a bill I mentioned in my previous article about the 99rise March For Democracy – because it's the number one demand posed by the group marching five weeks toward Sacramento to clear money from the political process.
The bill calls for a Constitutional Convention to propose a 28th amendment stating that corporations are not people and money is not speech.
This resolution is interesting because it proposes an underdog route of passing an amendment. Of the 27 amendments we have currently, all of them followed the same path toward amending the Constitution: federal to state. AJR1 proposes the second possible way: state to federal.
Traditionally, two-thirds of the U.S. House and Senate must ratify an amendment, then send it to the states for a vote. In order for it to pass, three-fourths of the states must approve the proposed amendment.
AJR1, on the other hand, is going in reverse, from local to national. This way, two-thirds of state legislatures need to call for a Constitutional Convention. Once called, the Convention can propose one or more amendments which will then need to be approved by three-fourths of the states to pass. So far, Vermont is the only state that has called for a Convention, which it did on May 2.
But on Tuesday, AJR1 made it past a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing which means it goes next to the floor – just in time for the 99rise movement to help convince legislators in Sacramento that yes, the people of California would like the resolution to pass, please and thank you.
In the case of SB1272, in order for it to show up on the November ballot it must first pass through the Appropriations Committee. Due to the nature of the bill – it requires calling for a special vote, separate from typical ballot measures – there's a fiscal impact. In other words, it'll cost money to get it on the ballot.
Any bill with fiscal impact is a candidate for suspension – and since Appropriations doesn't hear the case for suspensions until August, it will be too late to make it onto the ballot.
That's why Californians need to pull a “legislative magic trick,” as grassroots activist Michele Sutter calls it. Like AJR1, what SB1272 needs now is political will – something that we, the people, must again stress to our elected legislators.
Here's What You Can Do
On Friday, Money Out/Voters In (MOVI), a coalition working to get money out of politics, will post a link on its website showing where to fax (yes, fax) all members of the Appropriations Committee to let them know you want SB1272 on the November ballot. MOVI was the group behind Proposition C that passed in Los Angeles, limiting campaign spending and corporate rights. Sign up on their mailing list and you'll get a notice when it's time to bug the hell out of your representatives. As we've seen, get loud enough and the government listens.
Call your senators and ask them to support AJR1 now that it's headed to the floor. Here's a list of all California senators. (Note: every democrat voted for AJR1). You can also sign the 99rise petition demanding that California lawmakers pass all three campaign reform bills: SB1272, AJR1 and SB52, a Disclose Act that would require political donors to reveal the source of their dark money contributions. You can also sign up for the 99rise mailing list to keep up to date on the March For Democracy (#m4d) which arrives June 22 in Sacramento.
Engaging with legislators is what got us to this point, and it's what will continue to move us forward. Combining phone calls, faxes and emails with physical in-the-street activism and events is how we, the people, will make our voices heard. Get involved. And stay tuned.
3 WAYS TO SHOW YOUR SUPPORT
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