YesonCAProp59.com
How did the
Constitutional
Amendment
movement
start?
The drive to place a measure
instructing Congress to overturn
Citizens United on the California ballot
began with a national Common Cause
campaign known as Amend 2012. The
campaign was launched with a video by
Common Cause Board Chair Robert
Reich that drew 135,000 views in its
first week during January of 2012.
The Road to Prop 59
CA LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION. In 2012, the CA Legislature passed a joint
resolution, AJR 22, calling on Congress to propose a constitutional
amendment that would overturn Citizens United, pushed by Public Citizen,
CA Common Cause, CALPIRG, CA Labor Federation, CA Council of Churches,
CA League of Conservation Voters, CREDO Action and others.
CITY RESOLUTIONS. California Common Cause and many other groups organized
in cities and counties to secure resolutions, including: Claremont, Los
Angeles, Nevada City, Oakland, Redlands, San Francisco, San Diego, Santa
Monica.
LOCAL VOTER INSTRUCTIONS.
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VOTERS INSTRUCTIONS IN OTHER STATES. In 2012, Common Cause backed
measures in Montana and Colorado which voters passed overwhelmingly.
LEGISLATIVE MEASURE for CA VOTER INSTRUCTION.
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Paid for by California Common
Cause -- Yes on 54 and 59
(nonprofit 501(c)(4)
FPPC# 1389997)
Nov. 2012: San Francisco (81%) and Richmond (72%) voters passed voter
instruction measures drafted by Common Cause.
March 2013: Los Angeles voters (77%) passed Prop C voter instructions,
led by CA Common Cause, CA Clean Money Campaign.
Arcata and Chico voters passed, led by Move To Amend.
CA Assemblymember Bob Weickowski worked with Common Cause to
introduce AB 644 in 2013. This bill was killed.
CA Senator Ted Lieu introduced Senate Bill 1272, the Overturn Citizens
United Act on February 21, 2014, led by Money Out Voters In with the
fiscal sponsorship of Common Cause. After receiving at least 40,000 emails, 55,000 petition signatures, and 176,000 faxes (yes faxes!) and
watching dozens of activists march all the way from Los Angeles to
Sacramento in support of the measure, the insider resistance gave way
and the Legislature approved and the Governor allowed SB 1272 to
appear on the November 2014 ballot. After the California Supreme
Court temporarily stalled the measure, the legislature placed it back on
the ballot for 2016 and the California Secretary of State gave it a new
number as Proposition 59.