League of Women Voters of California, California NAACP, and California Business Roundtable Endorse California Legislature Transparency Act

Over One Million Signatures Submitted for November Ballot Measure
Random Sample Signature Count Has Begun and Must Be Completed by June 30

May 23, 2016 – The League of Women Voters of California, the California State Conference of the NAACP, and the California Business Roundtable have joined a growing bipartisan coalition of supporters by endorsing the California Legislature Transparency Act slated for the November statewide ballot. The California Legislature Transparency Act will help rein in the special interests, ensure legislation is given proper time for input and debate, and give voters more access to the legislative process.

“As longtime advocates for open government, the League of Women Voters supports the California Legislature Transparency Act. The League believes that our democracy is stronger when more people participate, and that in order to have meaningful participation, we need to have adequate notice of actions, open meetings, and access to public records. Having advance notice of the content of bills slated for legislative action and recordings of legislative proceedings available in a timely fashion greatly enhances active public participation,” said Helen Hutchison, League of Women Voters of California President.

The California Legislature Transparency Act requires all legislation to be publicly posted online in its final form at least 72 hours before a vote on the Assembly or Senate floor, requires all open legislative meetings to be video recorded and posted online within 24 hours, and guarantees the right of every individual to record and share videos of open legislative meetings.

“Giving all people the opportunity to review, debate, and contribute to laws that impact us is our goal – a goal that will be furthered by passage of the California Legislature Transparency Act,” said Alice Huffman, President of the California State Conference of the NAACP.

“The California Legislature Transparency Act is a simple but critically important reform. It mandates that the public can actually read proposed laws before they are voted on. This will help ensure good public policy for all Californians,” said Rob Lapsley, president of the California Business Roundtable.

More than one million signatures have been submitted and enough county registrars have completed their raw counts, which triggered the Secretary of State to notify all counties on May 18, 2016 to begin the random sample count of signatures.  All counties are thus legally obligated to complete the random sample count on this initiative by June 30, the deadline for qualification for the November 2016 ballot.  Given the submission of more than one million signatures and the fact that the random notification date requires counties to complete verification no later than June 30, the qualification of the measure for the November 2016 ballot is virtually assured.

The California Legislature Transparency Act is also supported by a broad range of organizations and individuals including California Common Cause, California Forward, the California Chamber of Commerce, the National Federation of Independent Business/CA, the Small Business Action Committee, Californians Aware, the First Amendment Coalition, the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, the California Black Chamber of Commerce, the Fresno Chamber of Commerce, and the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, among others.

To learn more about the California Legislature Transparency Act or to join the coalition, visit the website at www.holdpoliticiansaccountable.org.