Proposition 89 Launches Latino Website to Reach this Important Segment of Voters in California
Aware of the increase interest in politics and participation by Latinos in California and the importance of offering information in their native language to have educated voters, Proposition 89 has launched the website www.Latinosfor89.org , which offers information in both English and Spanish and has video interviews with key Latino leaders like Dolores Huerta.
“Latinos in the U.S. and particularly in California, are very aware that our votes are our voices and ever since this latest wave of anti-immigrant sentiment, Latinos are willing to come out of the shadow and participate with a voice as big as our number,” said Felipe Agredano of California Clean Money Campaign one of the many groups allied to pass Proposition 89 this November.
“Today, big money interests decide who can run for office and what issues they can raise. Only full public financing can change that,” said Dolores Huerta, Cofounder of United Farm Workers, AFLCIO.
Proposition 89 establishes a voluntary public financing system for candidates running for state political offices. Candidates are required to reject private financing and agree to limit spending to a set amount provided by the public. Additionally, candidates need to demonstrate broad-based public support by gathering a set number of signatures and $5 donations (from 750 for Assembly races up to 25,000 for Governor). Furthermore, they must participate in at least one primary and two general election debates. Proposition 89 also establishes a limit on contributions to candidates and political action committees and places a cap on corporate contributions to ballot measures. The public financing system is patterned after the successful Clean Money systems working in Arizona and Maine since 2000.
“Prop. 89 will allow for voters to support candidates based on their ideas and true intentions for the community and not based on how much money they raised through wealthy contributions,” said Unai Montes-Irueste, Statewide Field Director for 89 Now. “It will make elected officials accountable to voters’ rather than big money contributors and will save taxpayer money since lobbyists and special interests will see their influence greatly reduced.”
Latinos and women candidates as well as voter confidence will increase under Proposition 89. In Arizona, the number of minority candidates and elected officials tripled after just a few elections cycles under their Clean Money system.
Latinos have felt for too long that it did not matter if they voted or not, since only those with lots of money could pay for politicians to have things done their way. A Clean Money system allows communities to choose their own candidates, making elected officials accountable to the voters and not to big money contributors. Public funding of campaigns encourages politicians to listen to voters instead of having to spend their time “dialing for dollars”. With Proposition 89, politicians are more compelled to engage the public and address their issues and concerns.
Officials representing Latino districts will be more directly focused on the needs of their constituents because it will be the people who dictate the decisions, not corporate and special interests. As a result, Latinos will be better represented under Clean Money and an increase in voter turnout of Latinos is very likely to occur. In Arizona, overall voter turnout has increased more than twenty percent since the adoption of Clean Money.
A broad coalition of groups, community leaders, and elected officials have already endorsed Proposition 89, including: the League of Women Voters of California, the California Nurses Association, the California Clean Money Campaign, Public Campaign, Common Cause of California, and the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, as well as the Congress of California Seniors, the Sierra Club of California, SEIU, the William C. Velasquez Institute, and the Consumer Federation of America.
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Clean Money Now - Yes on 89 is a committee of leading reform groups working with Californians for Clean Elections to pass Proposition 89, the California Clean Money and Fair Elections Act. For more info on Prop 89 and its endorsers, go to 89Now.org.
“Latinos in the U.S. and particularly in California, are very aware that our votes are our voices and ever since this latest wave of anti-immigrant sentiment, Latinos are willing to come out of the shadow and participate with a voice as big as our number,” said Felipe Agredano of California Clean Money Campaign one of the many groups allied to pass Proposition 89 this November.
“Today, big money interests decide who can run for office and what issues they can raise. Only full public financing can change that,” said Dolores Huerta, Cofounder of United Farm Workers, AFLCIO.
Proposition 89 establishes a voluntary public financing system for candidates running for state political offices. Candidates are required to reject private financing and agree to limit spending to a set amount provided by the public. Additionally, candidates need to demonstrate broad-based public support by gathering a set number of signatures and $5 donations (from 750 for Assembly races up to 25,000 for Governor). Furthermore, they must participate in at least one primary and two general election debates. Proposition 89 also establishes a limit on contributions to candidates and political action committees and places a cap on corporate contributions to ballot measures. The public financing system is patterned after the successful Clean Money systems working in Arizona and Maine since 2000.
“Prop. 89 will allow for voters to support candidates based on their ideas and true intentions for the community and not based on how much money they raised through wealthy contributions,” said Unai Montes-Irueste, Statewide Field Director for 89 Now. “It will make elected officials accountable to voters’ rather than big money contributors and will save taxpayer money since lobbyists and special interests will see their influence greatly reduced.”
Latinos and women candidates as well as voter confidence will increase under Proposition 89. In Arizona, the number of minority candidates and elected officials tripled after just a few elections cycles under their Clean Money system.
Latinos have felt for too long that it did not matter if they voted or not, since only those with lots of money could pay for politicians to have things done their way. A Clean Money system allows communities to choose their own candidates, making elected officials accountable to the voters and not to big money contributors. Public funding of campaigns encourages politicians to listen to voters instead of having to spend their time “dialing for dollars”. With Proposition 89, politicians are more compelled to engage the public and address their issues and concerns.
Officials representing Latino districts will be more directly focused on the needs of their constituents because it will be the people who dictate the decisions, not corporate and special interests. As a result, Latinos will be better represented under Clean Money and an increase in voter turnout of Latinos is very likely to occur. In Arizona, overall voter turnout has increased more than twenty percent since the adoption of Clean Money.
A broad coalition of groups, community leaders, and elected officials have already endorsed Proposition 89, including: the League of Women Voters of California, the California Nurses Association, the California Clean Money Campaign, Public Campaign, Common Cause of California, and the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, as well as the Congress of California Seniors, the Sierra Club of California, SEIU, the William C. Velasquez Institute, and the Consumer Federation of America.
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Clean Money Now - Yes on 89 is a committee of leading reform groups working with Californians for Clean Elections to pass Proposition 89, the California Clean Money and Fair Elections Act. For more info on Prop 89 and its endorsers, go to 89Now.org.
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