News Conference Extra with Conan Nolan Interviews CA Common Cause’s Kathay Feng On Why Voters Should Support Prop 54

(SACRAMENTO, California) – September 19, 2016 – Yesterday, Kathay Feng, Executive Director of California Common Cause, appeared on NBC Los Angeles’s News Conference Extra with Conan Nolan to explain how Proposition 54 will improve voter participation and transparency in the State Legislature.

Below are excerpts from the interview, “NewsConference EXTRA – Prop. 54 Changing How Ca. Legislature Operates”:

“What we really are concerned about is voter participation and legislative transparency…

“The 21st Century is here and in 2016 for every other thing we expect to be able to go online, Google it, and be able to find footage or coverage of an important issue…

…When it comes to hearings that are happening in the legislature, the problem is that not everything is recorded, not everything is televised and certainly not everything is on the web. And so, if I’m down in Los Angeles or San Luis Obispo or San Diego or any part of the state that’s not in Sacramento, I’m basically out of luck because I can’t really track what’s going on…

…Now on the other side, once a bill makes its way through the hearings and it’s about to have a vote, we also care about making sure that there’s full transparency, that the thing that’s being voted on is not something that was crafted last minute without any public oversight or input from various parties. But that it really came through in a deliberative process and isn’t just what we call a ‘gut-and-amend’.

…Every other county, every other city in California has to follow the Brown Act, which means they have to post a bill for 72 hours before they vote on it, and we think what’s good for our cities and counties is good for our state…

…the 72-hour rule would allow for that sunshine to happen, so that bills can’t just be gutted and amended so even legislators can find out what it is they’re voting on before they cast their vote.”

View the entire interview on the NBC Los Angeles website: http://tinyurl.com/hvj3p84.

To learn more about Proposition 54 or to join the coalition, visit the website at www.YesProp54.org.

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