AB 583 -- CLEAN MONEY/FAIR ELECTION-
FINAL PUSH IN THE ASSEMBLY

January 24, 2006

It's working!! On Thursday, January 19, the Assembly Appropriations Committee passed AB 583, the Clean Money bill, out of the committee. It will go now to an Assembly floor vote. In order for AB 583 to remain viable, it must pass out of the Assembly to the Senate by January 31.

Legislative support, as measured by the number of coauthors of the bill, continues to grow. There are now 31 coauthors. AB 583 has also been amended so that it needs only a majority vote of each House and a subsequent vote of the people.

ACTION NEEDED: Keep the pressure up and again please contact Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez and your Assembly Member to ask them to support AB 583, the California Clean Money and Fair Elections Act. Every member of the Assembly needs to be reminded that people across California want them to change the way elections are financed in California by passing this sweeping reform. Please complete your calls before January 27.

Here is a list of members of the Assembly that we feel are close to supporting this bill and need an extra nudge from Leaguers. If one of them is your representative, it is especially urgent for you to act now! In order of priority:

Barbara Matthews, Rebecca Cohn, Juan Arambula, Keith Richman, Dario Frommer, Mark Ridley-Thomas, Ted W. Lieu, Ed Chavez, Ronald Calderon, John J. Benoit, Tom Harman, Juan Vargas, Simon Salinas, Jerome Horton, Gloria Negrete McLeod, Joe Baca, Bill Maze, Carol Liu, Rudy Bermudez, Lynn Daucher, Shirley Horton, Nicole Parra, Sam Blakeslee

POINTS TO MAKE: Read our earlier Call to Action on AB 583 (1/6/06) for "points to make" for your letter or call.

But remember that it can be as easy as saying "I'm calling to ask that Speaker Nuñez strongly support AB 583, the Clean Money bill." It just takes a minute!

For a simple way to write a letter, visit www.caclean.org and click on Take Action Right Now! to generate letters you can print and then mail or Fax.

SPREAD THE WORD: We hope every Assembly Member will receive an official message from each local League in his or her district. In addition, legislators need to have as many contacts as possible from individuals. Spread the word to your friends, colleagues, and other groups with whom you work.

CONTACT INFORMATION: Go to www.leginfo.ca.gov/yourleg.html for contact information, or see below for the Speaker of the Assembly. Note: Fax numbers for Sacramento offices are the same as the phone numbers except that the fifth digit is a "1" instead of "0." For example, Assembly Member Barbara Matthews' phone number is (916) 319-2017 and her Fax is (916) 319-2117.

Contact information for Speaker Fabian Nuñez:

(916) 319-2046 or (213) 620-4646, Fax: (916) 319-2146 speaker.nunez@assembly.ca.gov

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Contact Donna Chipps, Campaign Financing Off-board Program Director, cf@lwvc.org

KEEP US INFORMED: Send an e-mail to advocacy@lwvc.org to let us know what action you have taken and any responses you receive. Thank you for your support of this important legislation!