In a year with the public clamoring for reform in Washington and Sacramento, the California Legislature seems poised to kill AB 583, the California Clean Money and Clean Elections bill by Assemblymember Loni Hancock (D-Berkeley) tomorrow in the Senate Elections Committee.
The bill, which would create a broad-based system of public financing of elections in California modeled on successful systems in Arizona and Maine, passed the California State Assembly earlier this year on a party line vote with 47 out of 48 Democrats voting for the bill and no Republican votes. Early in the State Senate, the bill received the public support of Senate Leader Pro Tem Don Perata (D-Oakland).
Perata, who has been mired in his own campaign finance scandals for over a year, promised he would move the bill out of the Senate Elections Committee but as of today all indications were that he had yet to twist the arms of his Democratic colleagues. The committee is chaired by Senator Debra Bowen (D-Redondo Beach), who is a co-author and strong supporter of the legislation (she is also a candidate for Secretary of State). The bill also needs two other votes from the five member committee to pass and both Republican members of the committee have long made it clear they intend to vote no.
That leaves Senators Kevin Murray (D-Hollywood) and Gloria Romero (D-San Gabriel Valley) who have been looking to direction from the Senate Leader on this bill that could affect every Senator’s political path. Oddly, while centrist Murray seems open to voting for the bill, the usually liberal Senator Romero seems to be fervently opposed to the measure. The bill needs both their votes to pass.
Earlier this week it was announced that hundreds of signatures were turned in to the Secretary of State possibly qualifying an initiative which would create public financing of elections in California.
The bill comes to a vote tomorrow in the Senate Elections Committee meeting at 9:30am in Room 3191 of the State Capitol.
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