New DISCLOSE Act Unveiled at NorCal CaClean Conference

Assemblyman Mark Levine

On February 28, the California Clean Money Campaign held its northern California Grassroots Summit in Palo Alto. In attendance at the all-day event were about 130 volunteers from every part of northern CA. A seminal moment came early in the day with the introduction of the new DISCLOSE Act, AB700, cosponsored by Assemblymembers Jimmy Gomez and Marc Levine.

Like its immediate predecessor, Mark Leno’s SB52 (killed by union leadership in 2014), AB700 would require political advertising of any kind to specify in clear, unambiguous language the top three funders for the ad. This means the actual company or individuals providing the money rather than the ever-misleading committees – no more “Stop Special Interest Money Now (the ludicrous name of 2012’s Yes on 32 coalition).

Voters may remember the ads for 2010’s Prop 26, which mandated a legislative supermajority (not “voter approval”) for any new taxes or fees. The funding disclosure for the ads looked like this:

Under AB700, the disclosure would look like this:

and be displayed on the screen for a full five seconds. AB700 has language addressing the “concerns” expressed by the unions, and a much larger coalition behind it. If it fails to garner the 2/3 vote required to enact it, it will be put on the 2016 ballot by a simple majority.