Press Release
Angelenos Overwhelmingly Approve Redistricting Reform for LA
Over 70% of Los Angeles voters agree — it’s time for fair maps and a more representative City Hall
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Media Contacts
Ariana Marmolejo
Regional Communications Strategist (West)
amarmolejo@commoncause.org
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What matters for car companies, bipartisans and internet fans
“There’s a lot of money to be made off of sick people.”—Kati Phillips of California Common Cause, as dialysis company spending hit $111 million to defeat Proposition 8, which would regulate their profits.
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Dialysis companies spend $111 million to kill ballot measure
When corporate profits are at stake, campaign spending often balloons, said Kati Phillips of California Common Cause, which advocates campaign finance reform. “Health care measures are expensive,” she said. “There’s a lot of money to be made off of sick people.”
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What’s Behind All Those DMV Voter-Registration Snafus? ‘Motor Voter’ May Have Launched With Makeshift Computer System
Instead of the properly integrated computer program that was needed, the agency launched in April with disparate computer systems that didn’t automatically link together, according to advocates who have been working closely with the DMV on the new “motor voter” system. That meant DMV workers had to manually link information from various systems during transactions between April and September, when an integrated system was put in place, said Kathay Feng, executive director of California Common Cause.
Press Release
New Election Protection Texting Service Launches in California
With Election Day just three weeks away, Californians who have questions about voting can now get answers via text message. Text “election protection” to 97779, and a trained, nonpartisan Election Protection volunteer will help now through Election Day.
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The Debate About Debates: Should Candidates Be Compelled to Participate?
New York City requires any candidate who accepts public funding for citywide office to participate in debates," said Kati Phillips, a spokeswoman for California Common Cause. They've spent three years trying to develop a similar model in Los Angeles. "We are one vote away from requiring all city council and citywide candidates to participate in a debate or town hall to qualify for public financing," Phillips said. "Previously the law had a loophole — candidates just had to agree to a debate, not actually show up!"
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Are political swamps in California and Washington mostly drained? This study says they are.
Kati Phillips, a spokeswoman for California Common Cause, said the index shows there’s work still to be done in the Golden State. “We’ve worked to drain the swamp in California, but we still have our share of alligators,” she said.
Press Release
Turn $100 into $700 to Promote Grassroots Campaigning in Los Angeles
The Los Angeles City Council on Friday should pass a package of reforms that would turn $100 donations from ordinary residents into $700 donations, if city council and citywide candidates meet certain requirements like participating in a public debate, said California Common Cause Executive Director Kathay Feng.
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New State Law Requires More Transparency From Social Media Political Ads
“This is part of a much larger conversation now. The timing of the bill was opportune,” said Kathy Feng, executive director for California Common Cause, a political transparency group that supported the bill. Brown signed the bill Sept. 26, but did not issue a statement about it.
Press Release
It’s National Voter Registration Day: Remember to Check Your Registration
In celebration of National Voter Registration Day, California Common Cause is asking all likely voters in California to use its new tool to verify that they are registered to vote at their current address.
Press Release
Common Cause Endorses Good Government Reforms in Long Beach
Today California Common Cause, a good government nonprofit, endorsed the four governance reform measures -- Measures AAA, BBB, CCC, and DDD -- appearing on the Long Beach ballot this November. Common Cause provided technical assistance to the City on redistricting and ethics best practices during the drafting of Measures CCC and DDD.
Press Release
New Tools to Destroy Partisan Gerrymandering Recognized in Common Cause Writing Contest
As Common Cause takes its quest to end partisan gerrymandering to the U.S. Supreme Court in Common Cause v. Rucho, it is also promoting a toolkit for courts and advocates to determine whether partisan gerrymandering has effectively taken away voters’ voices. A new and important tool, a “Swiss Army knife” paper written by Princeton University neuroscientist Samuel S. Wang and his team, pulls together several different legal and math approaches and explains how they all work together. Today he is named the winner of Common Cause’s third...
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Political Watchdog Commission, Say No to Bitcoin Campaign Donations
California Common Cause today urged the California Fair Political Practices Commission to not allow campaigns to accept crypto-currency until the emerging technology is better studied and understood. The commission voted 3-1 to disallow the contributions.