Questions About How It Works

1.  What offices are covered by Prop 89?

Prop 89 covers all California state legislative and statewide constitutional – in other words, state Assembly and Senate members, and all statewide officers, including the Governor.

2.  How does a candidate qualify for Clean Money?

Candidates must reject private fundraising and agree to limit spending to the amount provided by the public. Then, they must show a broad base of public support by gathering a set number of signatures and $5 contributions from eligible voters in the candidate’s district. For example: A candidate for Assembly will need to gather 750 ($5) contributions, and a candidate for Governor will need to gather 25,000 $5 contributions.

3.  How much Clean Money can a qualified candidate receive?

Candidates receive enough money to run competitive campaigns, with all major party candidates for the same office receiving equal amounts. The amounts range from $250,000 for an Assembly primary to $15 million for a candidate for Governor in the general election. These amounts are based on careful analysis of California races.

4.  What if a Clean Money candidate is outspent by a non-participating candidate?

Proposition 89 provides matching funds on a dollar-for-dollar basis when a candidate is outspent by non-participating candidates, up to five times the initial allocation (four times for candidates for Governor). This makes candidates competitive even in the most highly contested races.

5.  What if outside groups spend money on behalf of a Clean candidate’s opponent?

Proposition 89 provides matching funds on a dollar-for-dollar basis when independent expenditures by outside groups attack a Clean candidate or support one of their opponents. Matching funds are provided up to five times the initial allocation (four times for candidates for Governor). This makes candidates competitive even in the most highly contested races.

6.  Does it keep wealthy self-funded people from running by spending their own money?

Because of Supreme Court rulings, Prop 89 doesn't stop anybody from spending money on their own campaign if they don't take public funding. But using Clean Money, candidates will actually be able to compete on a level playing field with them. Plus, the public will probably look negatively upon candidates perceived as attempting to “buy” an election by trying to substantially outspend a publicly funded candidate.

7.  What if a wealthy candidate spends a lot of money on their campaign against a Clean candidate?

Proposition 89 requires non-participating candidates who intend to spend over $25,000 of their own money to declare in advance how much they intend to spend. And when they do, it doubles the normal maximum amount of matching funds to their Clean opponents, allowing them to compete.

8.  What if someone abuses the system?

Proposition 89 prohibits Clean candidates from spending money on anything other than their campaigns. It has strict reporting requirements to ensure the public knows how the money is spent. People who violate the Clean Money law face jail for up to five years, prohibition from running for office, and removal from office.

9.  How is the system funded?

Funding will not come from individual taxpayers or the state’s general fund. It will come from an increase in the corporate tax equal to 20 cents for every $100 of profit ( 0.2%). This would restore the corporate tax rate to a figure lower than it was from 1980 to 1996. Individuals and the vast majority of small businesses will pay nothing.

10.  Won’t special interests still have a big effect through “independent expenditures”?

Clean Money offers matching funds to clean candidates who are the target of independent expenditures from outside groups to quickly counter attacks made against them. In fact, Clean Money slows the growth of independent expenditures because outside groups will have to think carefully before launching attacks against “Clean” candidates when they know this will simply trigger matching funds

11.  Will it really work?

Clean Money has been working in Arizona and Maine since 2000, where races are now decided by ideas not money. Plus, it saves taxpayers money by ending special giveaways on lobbyist-driven projects. It is extremely popular with voters and candidates of both parties.

Questions About People’s Concerns

12.  The opponents’ ballot argument says that California has campaign limits that are working fine. Are they?

The current law was written by politicians to benefit them and their special interest and lobbyist contributors. No wonder this year’s campaign spending is shattering all records and we’re drowning in negative ads. We need much stricter contribution limits and enforcement, and Prop 89 provides them.

13.  Is it constitutional?

Prop 89 was crafted by experts in constitutional and election law who made sure that it was constitutional. In fact, most of its provisions have recently been challenged and upheld in the courts. Participation is voluntary, limits are strict but constitutional, and the funding source is sound.

14.  Is it complicated?

Here it is in a nutshell: If a viable candidate rejects special interest money, then the state provides reasonable funding for their campaign. For those who choose conventional fundraising there are sensible contribution limits. It provides serious penalties for politicians who break the law. How easy is that? The details were drafted by experts in constitutional and election law.

15.  At 55 pages, is Prop 89 too long?

Of course it's 55 pages. It has to be to close the campaign loopholes that special interests use to get their way, and to define a fair Clean Money system. Experts in constitutional and election law made sure it is legal and thorough.

16.  Can candidates use the funding for negative ads?

Prop 89 is an antidote to negative campaigning. Candidates who accept public financing must participate in real debates and cannot hide behind an unbalanced barrage of negative 30-second ads. Negative advertising has actually decreased in states that have Clean Money public financing like Prop 89's.

17.  But will it raise my taxes?

Prop 89 does not raise individual taxpayers’ taxes. Funding comes from an increase in the corporate tax equal to 20 cents for every $100 of profit (0.2%). This would restore the corporate tax rate to a figure lower than it was from 1980 to 1996. Individuals and the vast majority of small businesses will pay nothing.

18.  How will it affect small businesses?

Prop 89 levels the playing field for small businesses – who typically can’t afford to give thousands of dollars to candidates -- by limiting how much candidates can receive from giant corporations, unions, and wealthy individuals. At last, small businesses will be heard as loudly as big corporations and other special interests.

19.  How can we afford it?

Prop 89’s small cost for corporations is dwarfed by the waste it cures. It’s estimated that $3.3 billion per year is wasted on corporate tax loopholes alone -- $275 per Californian per year – that’s not even counting all the other lobbyist-driven giveaways. The question isn't how we can afford to have Clean Money, but how can we afford not to have it?

20.  Why should the public pay for candidates they don't believe in to run for office?

The public currently pays for most expenses for our elected officials. We pay for their salary, staff, offices, and the ballots that people use to elect them. Why is it that the only thing we don’t pay for is the thing that is most important in determining who gets elected? Worse, letting special interests pay for campaigns costs Californians billions in special interest giveaways each year.

21.  Will fringe candidates be able to get money?

The fact is that fringe candidates with ideas that a broad base of the public doesn’t support will not qualify to receive funding because they won't be able to gather enough signatures and $5 contributions to qualify, as results in Arizona and Maine have shown.

22.  Does public financing of campaigns limit free speech?

Proposition 89 does not limit free speech primarily because it is a completely voluntary system. If a candidate wants to run conventionally or with their own money, they can. In fact, Clean Money increases free speech because it allows people who cannot currently afford to run to have a voice in the political process. According to the U.S. Supreme Court, a voluntary system of public financing of election campaigns is constitutional.

23.  Is it true that just one group put it on the ballot?

The California Nurses Association put Prop 89 on the ballot because they believe Californians' healthcare needs will never be fully addressed without curbing the influence of HMOs, drug companies, and other big donors. Prop 89 has since been endorsed by trusted non-partisan groups representing your interests ― including the League of Women Voters, Common Cause, the Consumer Federation of California, the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, the California Clean Money Campaign, and many others.

24.  Who opposes Prop 89?

The California Chamber of Commerce formed a committee to oppose Prop 89. Expect to see big oil, drug companies, insurance firms, developers, HMOs and other entrenched interests contribute millions to it to keep political power for themselves rather than having fair elections that make politicians accountable to the voters.