Some media about our success...

Friends,
I wanted to share more information with you about our first success. But the fight is not over, we have lots more to do! This excerpt is from the Contra Costa Times....

The much debated California Clean Money and Fair Elections Act of 2006, which passed with 47 of 48 Democrats voting in favor -- and no Republicans in support -- would be a voluntary program. But a candidate who chose not to participate and accepted outside donations would almost certainly face scrutiny -- and perhaps voter backlash.

"This is a historic victory in that the state of California has never even debated the merits of a public financing bill previously," said Eric Tang with the California Clean Money Campaign. "I think there's been a huge groundswell demand from the public to do something about the corruption scandals that are crippling our faith in public officials."

The measure, nearly identical to a law in Arizona, next heads to the Senate.

A previous measure failed in the state Legislature for lack of support in 2004, but the new bill, written by Assemblywoman Loni Hancock, D-Berkeley, found renewed interest following the November special election. That election, called by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, cost about $40 million in public money and incurred record spending -- as much as $300 million -- by the committees battling over the eight failed ballot measures.

"Polls show that respect for state government has gone down dramatically in the past year," Hancock told her colleagues on the Assembly floor. "Everyone recognizes we have a system in place that brings out the worst in almost everybody that participates in it."

You can read the rest of the article by clicking HERE.

AB 583 PASSES ASSEMBLY FLOOR!!

Friends!
The first hurdle has been reached and we cleared it! This is our official media advisory that I wanted to share with you.

Historic Campaign Finance Reform Legislation Passes State Assembly
Next Stop - the Senate
Sacramento, CA – For the first time in the history of the California Legislature, the issue of public financing of campaigns was passed by State Assembly. Today, AB 583, the California Clean Money and Fair Elections Act, by Assemblymember Loni Hancock (D-Berkeley/Oakland) was approved by the State Assembly by a 46-24 vote. The bill was amended to create a conference committee with members of both the Assembly and the Senate in order to craft the final details of the legislation.

AB 583 will establish the "Clean Money" system of public financing of campaigns similar to those in Maine and Arizona. That system allows any candidate who raises a substantial number of small contributions from individuals residing in the district and agrees not to take contributions from any special interest, to receive full public financing of their campaign.

"The public has lost faith in its elected officials. The cost of implementing this program pales in comparison to the cost of doing nothing. We must reform our electoral system and re-establish trust with the voters," said Hancock. A recent poll conducted by the Public Policy Institute of California found 64% of likely voters believe that campaign contributions have had a negative effect on the public policy decisions being made in Sacramento.

"I introduced the Clean Money legislation to provide a clear and innovative alternative to the deluge of big money in California politics. At a time when we are making budget decisions that will shape the future of every human being in our state, at a time where scandal on Capitol Hill has shown the abuses of special interest money, we can no longer ignore the corrosive influence of money on the legislative process. Clean Money - public financing of campaigns - is an idea whose time has come," concluded Hancock.

It just goes to show, that with your loyalty and support, we can accomplish anything!

Nurses Association Is Joining the Fight!

Friends,
The Nurses Association is joining the fight for a Clean Money system. Together, with all our hard work, a Clean Money system for financing campaigns will be a reality. Here is an article by Lisa Vorderbrueggen of the Contra Costa Times detailing their effort.

Nurses Association targets lobbyists with new initiative
Flush with success after the special election showdown with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the California Nurses Association has filed an initiative petition that would establish public financing of campaigns and bar contributions from corporations and lobbyists.
After the Attorney General's Office prepares the title and summary, the CNA has 150 days to collect roughly 600,000 signatures in order to qualify for the ballot.
The petition roughly mirrors AB 583 by Assemblywoman Loni Hancock, D-Berkeley, which would create a voluntary "clean money" program in California. In addition, the initiative prohibits corporations and lobbyists from contributing to candidates who opt out of public campaign financing.
CNA Executive Director Rose Ann DeMoro of Walnut Creek endorses Hancock's bill, but she is not optimistic that legislators will pass it or that Schwarzenegger will sign it.
DeMoro predicts, however, that the CNA will obtain the necessary signatures through the use of its statewide nurses' network and that voters will overwhelming approve the initiative in November.
"Working people have been cut out of the legislative process," said DeMoro. "Legislators cater to corporations and lobbyists that write big checks. It's time to level the playing field."
Ultimately, the CNA believes electoral reform is key to passing universal health care in California. "As long as corporations control the process through money, we will never see health care reform," she said.
The California Hospital Association, which represents private hospitals, had no comment regarding the petition.
The initiative would fund public campaign financing with either a surcharge on oil drilling or banking transactions

YEAH!

Friends,

We are on our way to making the Clean Money System a reality! This article from the Associated Press details our recent victory...

Measure seeking public financing of campaigns passes committee

SACRAMENTO - A proposal seeking public financing of political campaigns passed a key committee Thursday and was sent to the full Assembly.

The measure, patterned after systems in use in Arizona and Maine, would provide public money for candidates who voluntarily give up outside contributions.

"The public has lost faith in its elected officials," Assemblywoman Loni Hancock, D-Berkely, said in a statement. "The cost of implementing this program pales in comparison to the cost of doing nothing."

The Assembly Appropriations Committee approved the bill, AB583, with 13 Democrats supporting it and all five Republicans opposed. The measure would go to the Senate if approved by the full Assembly.

It ultimately would require voter approval, perhaps being placed on the June 2008 ballot.

An analysis by committee staff estimated that public financing could cost tens of millions of dollars in each election cycle if a large number of candidates participated.

Thank you again for all your support.

THURSDAY IS THE HISTORIC VOTE!

Friends,

The day has come. Assembly Bill 583 The California Clean Money and Fair Elections Act of will be heard today in Assembly Appropriations Committee and voted on Thursday. AB 583 allows any candidate who raises a substantial number of small contributions from individuals residing in the district and agrees not to take contributions from any source, to receive full public financing of their campaign.

With AB 583 we finally establish a “Clean Money” system of public financing of elections similar to those in Maine and Arizona.

Ultimately, if we truly want a government by and for the people…our campaigns have to be paid for by the people

The cost to implement this program is considerable. But the cost to do nothing is completely unacceptable. I have introduced the Clean Money legislation to provide a clear and innovative alternative to the deluge of big money in California politics.

At a time when we are making budget decisions that will shape the future of every human being in our state, at a time where scandal on Capitol Hill has shown the abuses of special interest money, we can no longer ignore the corrosive distortion of money on the legislative process. Clean Money, or the public financing of campaigns, is an idea whose time has come.

And with your support, we will prevail!

Clean Up Sacramento - An Editorial from the SF Chronicle

Friends,

We are clearly gaining momentum in our effort to clean up politics in this great state of ours. And it all starts in Sacramento with the Clean Money System. I want to thank you for all your help.

Today is we will see a very critical vote in the Assembly Elections Committee, I hope to have your support and the support of the Committee.

Here is the editorial from the SF Chronicle:

THE 2003 RECALL of Gov. Gray Davis did nothing to lift the pull of special interests in Sacramento. It merely changed the roster of monied interests that have clout in the governor's office.

California legislators, meanwhile, remain a portrait of dysfunction -- their priorities contorted and their fortitude vaporized by their obsession with campaign contributions. Assembly members, in particular, are notorious for "taking walks" on tough votes -- and sometimes even switching their votes after the fact -- to appease contributors.

Elected officials in Sacramento spent far too much time on fund-raising, including in periods of peak legislative activity when the foul scent of "quid pro quo" taints the transactions.

This contamination of our democratic process with special interest has reached the point where this state must give serious consideration to proposals for public financing of campaigns. Assemblywoman Loni Hancock, D-Berkeley, has proposed a "clean money" system modeled after public-finance programs in Maine and Arizona. Hancock's AB583, which faces a critical vote this week in the Assembly Elections Committee, must reach the Senate by month's end to remain alive for the session.

Hancock's bill contains several unresolved issues, starting with how the state would pay for it. Also, some campaign veterans question whether the spending limits on certain races -- a $250,000 baseline for an Assembly candidate, for example -- are sufficient in some cases. That limit can be raised up to $1.5 million if the "clean money" candidate is facing a self-financed wealthy candidate who eschews the voluntary public-finance system.

To those Californians who may be reluctant to have their hard-earned tax dollars spent on political campaigns, we offer this thought: There are many special interests out there that are only too eager to pick up the tab. And their "special interests" often involve your tax dollars.

You can read more about it in the SF Chronicle by clicking here: SF Chronicle Editorial

More Evidence Supporting a Clean Money System!

Friends,

Disturbing news about the Jack Abramoff scandal further highlights the need for publicly financing campaigns. This is diabolical case of the undue influence of campaign contributions and lobbyists in exchange for lucrative government contracts and legislative deals that defrauded a Native American Tribe and the public interest of the American people.

This story truly demonstrates how campaign contributions have had corrosive effect on Capitol Hill.

Read the story here: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1153AP_Lobbyist_Fraud_Timeline.html

Tired of Politics as Usual?

Friends,

I would like to invite you to be a part of re-creating our political dynamic. I will be holding a Town Hall meeting on the Clean Money system of publicly financing elections in California. Simply put, the Clean Money system allows people to run for office without taking a single dime of special interest campaign contributions. With Clean Money, candidates demonstrating broad public support can choose to receive public funding to run competitive campaigns. Clean Money has been working in Maine and Arizona and has lowered overall campaign spending, freed candidates from incessant fundraising, increased turnout, and encouraged a qualified diverse group of candidates to run for office.

Clean Money is the only solution that eliminates the corrosive influence of money on public policy. It is the only solution to turn around cynicism in our democracy. It is the only solution that will make legislators beholden to the people that elected them... you.

Please Join Me in recreating our democratic process:

SATURDAY January 7th, 2006
11:00AM – 2:00pm
Oakland City Hall, Council Chambers
1 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza, between 14th and 15th Streets at Clay Street.

Please call (510) 559-1406 if you have any questions.

Thank you!

Berkeley Honors Maudelle Shirek

Friends,

At 94, Maudelle is still a great and influential member of the Berkeley community. I am honored to know her. This great article from the Oakland Tribune by William Brand says it all.

BERKELEY — In the two decades Maudelle Shirek served on the Berkeley City Council, she never forgot the hard years during the Great Depression and she never hesitated to speak out for social justice and for what she believed was right.

Now 94 and in frail health, her many Berkeley friends and supporters filled St. Paul AME Church on Saturday evening to salute Shirek and celebrate her long service to Berkeley's progressive politics.

When Shirek arrived, looking cool in sunglasses with bright blue frames, a wool suit and beret, the crowd stood and began shouting, "Maudelle! Maudelle!"

The event, a benefit for the Maudelle Shirek Scholarship Fund for deserving South Berkeley young people, drew at least 400 and a long line of officials, including Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, state Assembly member Loni Hancock,

D-Berkeley, Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson, Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates and several present and former councilmembers.

Meanwhile, the Berkeley City Council in a unanimous vote has decided to rename Old City Hall in honor of Shirek.

"Maudelle always had her priorities right," said Hancock, who served as Berkeley's mayor while Shirek was in office. "She was always a fighter for what she believed was right."

Hancock's husband, Tom Bates, said Shirek made a great contribution to the city. "It's absolutely fitting that the community honor her."

To read the rest of the article... click here.

We're Gaining Momentum!

Friends,

As you know I am sponsoring legislation to create a "Clean Money" system of funding political campaigns in California (view the bill by clicking here).

The idea is gaining momentum and we are really on a roll! Check out this great article in the Los Angeles Times:

Buying back government
AS IF THE RESULTS OF LAST month's special election weren't convincing enough, there is new evidence that the public is fed up with Sacramento. The Public Policy Institute of California surveyed 2,002 voters in the 12 days after Nov. 8 and, in various ways on various issues, it's clear: They're not happy.
More than three-quarters of them, or 76%, don't like the way the governor and Legislature are working together. Three-fifths thought the special election was a bad idea. More than two-thirds, or 68%, think California is headed in the wrong direction. Barely one in five, or 17%, say they can trust public officials to do what's right most of the time. It was, as the poll's director said, "a vote of no confidence for state government." Public financing of elections would go a long way toward restoring that confidence.
Regardless of what Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Legislature (disapproval ratings of 56% and 66%, respectively) may accomplish in the coming year, the state's basic political system remains broken and in serious need of repair. And the biggest evil is the dominance of big money in California elections. More than $250 million was spent on ballot measures this year. Essentially, it was provided by the Democrats' supporters in organized labor and, on the Republican side, by business interests.
It's a system that invites corruption and compromise of political principle. Almost four-fifths of voters in the survey, or 78%, think state government is controlled by a few big interests. One way to take control from these interests is to provide public financing of elections, from the Legislature through the statewide offices, up to and including governor. Arizona and Maine have done this with considerable success. Last week, the Connecticut Legislature passed a "clean money" bill that the governor has pledged to sign.
The clean-money law being proposed by Assemblywoman Loni Hancock (D-Berkeley) would provide up to $10 million for a qualifying candidate for governor, while Assembly candidates would get $150,000 and Senate contestants $300,000. Candidates could choose to finance their campaigns the traditional way, but the clean-money candidates would get enough to remain competitive.

Read the rest of the article by clicking here.

BERKELEY LEADERS TO PARTICIPATE IN COMMUNITY READING EVENT ON SATURDAY

Friends,
I hope you can come out and join us!

CBS 5: More than 45 Berkeley community leaders will join in reading sections of the book "The House on Mango Street" at a community reading event on Saturday.
The event is part of the "Berkeley Reads Together" initiative launched in October with Mayor Tom Bates and Library Director Jackie Griffin.
Officials say "Berkeley Reads Together" is a program to encourage all Berkeley residents to read the same book at the same time and then discuss it with their families, friends and neighbors.
This year, Bates and the Berkeley Public Library have selected "The House on Mango Street" by Sandra Cisneros.
Berkeley officials say that "The House on Mango Street," which consists of 44 short stories, is a powerful book told by a young girl named Esperanza Cordero. Each chapter tells a gripping story about the girl's childhood on Mango Street.
Readers at the community event include Mayor Bates, Assemblywoman Loni Hancock - a former Berkeley mayor who is Bates' wife - Councilmember Darryl Moore, School Superintendent Michelle Lawrence and Chamber of Commerce President Carolyn Henry Golphin, as well as city staff, teachers and many others.
The reading event will take place at the South Berkeley Senior Center at 2939 Ellis St. in Berkeley from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Saturday.

It's an Educational Crisis!

Friends,

The number of young people dropping out of California schools has reached the crisis stage. In particular, the number of African American and Latino youth who have dropped out or simply walked away from school is alarming. According to a recent Harvard Civil Rights Project Report, approximately 40% of African American and Latino students drop out of high school.

At our Select Committee on Bridging the Achievement Gap hearing in Richmond this week, we heard from researchers about the failure of California schools to graduate large numbers of students, in particular low income students of color. To further complicate the issue, the California High School Exit Exam requirement for the class of 2006 will mean that more than 50,000 current seniors who have failed at least one section of the test will not get their diploma next June. (Some estimates are as high as 100,000 students won’t graduate because of the Exit Exam.)

At the hearing we also focused on collaborative solutions to this crisis facing our community. We heard the latest research on “school to career” programs such as ACME Animation, the San Francisco Law Academy and the Berkeley Biotechnology Education, Inc. ACME Animation is a series of interactive courses linking professionals from PIXAR, Disney, Warner Brothers and other smaller companies with animation students in 27 high schools in California. The programs, most of which are offered in schools with high dropout rates, give students real hands-on skills development opportunities that can lead them to community college, CSU or the work world.

The San Francisco Law Academy and the Berkeley Biotech programs give young people internships with mentors to help them experience the work world along with the related academic classroom instruction. These two programs have been in existence for more than a decade and have graduated students capable of working in office or lab environments.

For more information about the Berkeley Biotechnology Education, Inc. go to http://www.bbei.org and for the San Francisco Law Academy to http://www.sfbar.org/charitable/lawacademy.aspx.

PLEASE JOIN US!

Assemblywoman Loni Hancock will chair a hearing of the Select Committee on Bridging the Achievement Gap:

Seeking Solutions to California’s High School Dropout Crisis
School-to-Career: A Pathway to Success

Featured panelists include Dr. Russell Rumberger, Linguistic Minority Research Institute/UC Santa Barbara and Paul Warren, Principle Analyst, Office of the Legislative Analyst, who will examine the many challenges currently facing California’s high schools and how to improve them. Other panelists will explore school-to-career programs and the state’s role in providing multiple pathways to success for California’s students.

Tuesday, November 15, 2005
9:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Richmond High School (Little Theater)
1250 23rd Street, Richmond

Please call (510) 559-1406 for more information.

We Are On the Cutting Edge!

Friends,
The Contra Costa Times did a great article on "new" trend towards political Blogs and how much we are able to accomplish together with this great forum.

You can read the article at Contra Costa Times.

A Clean Money System In California!

Friends,

Hardly a day goes by without an article in the news about “contributions” of millions of dollars flowing into campaign coffers or out-of-state fundraisers provided by major corporate contributors with an interest in legislation or thoughtful public policy.

The time, energy and money spent in fundraising shifts the focus of government from working on solutions for everyday people to focusing on solutions for special interests. It is because of this dysfunctional system that I have made campaign finance reform a top priority of my legislative agenda. This year, I introduced legislation to establish a “Clean Money” public financing system for all California elections. A Clean Money system, based on the successful Arizona model, would allow anybody to run for office without taking a single dime from special interests.

Clean Money is the only solution that eliminates the corrosive influence of money on public policy. It is the only solution to deal with sneak attack ads by independent expenditure committees. It is the only solution that will make legislators beholden only to the people that elected them...you.

The LA Times editorialized in favor the Clean Money system in California. Here is the link http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-campaign28oct28,0,3701374.story?coll=la-news-comment-editorials

You can also see a copy of my legislation at http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/postquery?bill_number=ab_583&sess=CUR&house=B&author=hancock

Governor, Recall the National Guard!

Friends,

Here is a local article on a press conference held with Cindy Sheehan, myself, Assemblyman Mark Leno, Gold Star Families for Peace and Code PINK. We have joined together in a growing Coalition to support Assembly Joint Resolution 36. I introduced Assembly Joint Resolution 36 to request the Governor to recall the California National Guard from Iraq. Once home, they can act and function in the manner they were originally designed for, namely, domestic security and serving in relief efforts during national emergencies. Please read the following article about this important resolution.

http://www.berkeleydaily.org/text/article.cfm?issue=10-18-05&storyID=22543

"Bay Plan Connects the Dots..."

Friends,
Another great article about our Bay Trail Bill by Herbert Sample of the Sacramento Bee...

Bay plan connects the dots for paddlers
Trail: Plan could eventually include adding launch points
BERKELEY - With an eye on education, environmentalism and a little bit of commerce, efforts have begun to link several dozen locations along San Francisco Bay's shoreline where kayakers, canoeists and human-powered watercraft enthusiasts can launch into the bay.
A measure recently passed by legislators and signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger kick-started the San Francisco Bay Area Water Trail. Much as bicyclists can find their way around the region via the San Francisco Bay Trail, the water trail will eventually provide nonmotorized watercraft users with information on where to enter or leave the bay, as well as improvements to those sites.

Read the rest of the article by clicking here.

Great Article About Great Community Activism

Friends,
This article in the Berkeley Daily Planet is a great piece on local level community involvement... go skaters!

Skate Park Wins Lease Agreement
By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor

The Caltrans sign at the end of the back road out of the Best Buy electronics store parking lot in Emeryville gives an odd command: Left Turn Only. The odd part is that the sign sits in front of a two-way street, Hollis Street, where a right turn appears permissible.

To the left of the Caltrans “Left Turn Only” sign is the East Bay Bridge Shopping Center and the gleaming condominiums and auto-packed streets that mark the entrance to Emeryville. To the right of the “Left Turn Only” sign is Oakland.

The Oakland side is a community so much in transition it cannot be easily characterized.

The neighborhood is evenly divided between small, well-painted, older Victorian houses where old black women still put out neat flower gardens—blocks that once housed Oakland’s thriving middle class African-American community—and gritty, dirty industrial buildings. A demolition contractor’s headquarters sits on one corner. A recycling center—featuring cash for aluminum cans—sits on another.

Two churches—one a solid-built Baptist, the other a ramshackle put-up—sit a couple of doors down from the combination liquor store and check-cashing establishment. In front of the store, two black men sit on a concrete wall, drinking beer from cans barely hidden inside paper bags. Around the corner are two tiny, triangle-shaped parks where the homeless sleep and addicts come at night to shoot or snort their dope.

Intermixed with all of this is the sign of the North Oakland-West Oakland coming gentrification: condominiums, newly painted, with “For Sale” signs on their fences. One of the rows of two-story condominiums shows the schizophrenia of the area: they are made of corrugated tin, purposely constructed to look like the side of an industrial building.

This is Bordertown, the center of all the conflicting social and economic and racial trends blowing across the northwest section of Oakland where it intersects with Emeryville. In the middle, in the shadows under that part of the freeway where I80 splits east and west, Sacramento and San Francisco, sits the Bordertown skatepark.

Earlier this year, Bordertown was a rogue squatters development on vacant Caltrans land where local skateboarders had built themselves an acre-wide skate park, complete with concrete ramps and metal framework. Last July, Caltrans officials discovered the illegal park while preparing plans for construction of a new freeway on-ramp, fenced off the property, and announced they were demolishing the park. But Bordertown quickly became a political issue after the skateboarders took their story to the local media, and Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown and City Council President Ignacio De La Fuente—both with tough election campaigns next year—jumped in to save it. Also intervening in negotiations with Caltrans were U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer, State Senator Don Perata (D-Oakland), and State Assemblymembers Wilma Chan (D-Oakland) and Loni Hancock (D-Berkeley)....

Read the rest of the article in the Berkeley Daily Planet by clicking here.

Break out the kayak!

Friends,
Good article about legislation helping create a new & beautiful way to see the bay.

Bill will boost access to the Bay for boaters
By Denis Cuff of the Contra Costa Times
California is blazing a new path to recreation on San Francisco Bay.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed legislation that will create the San Francisco Bay water trail, a network of launching, landing and camping spots for kayakers, canoers and others in small, nonmotorized boats.

Read the rest of the article by clicking here Contra Costa Times

Governor, Recall the National Guard!

Friends,

The national disaster of Hurricane Katrina cannot be measured. The lack of a response by the federal government compounded the problem risking the lives of thousands of Americans. This is unacceptable! In addition, the relief effort required necessitates substantial public infrastructure investment to levees, ports, roads and the rebuilding of homes. This effort requires all the resources at the federal and state government's disposal. To this end, I introduced an Assembly Resolution to request the Governor to recall the California National Guard from Iraq. Once home, they can act and function in the manner they were originally designed for, namely, domestic security and serving in relief efforts during national emergencies. Please read the following article about this important resolution.

http://www.pww.org/article/articleview/7713/1/286