AB 700 is no-brainer legislation

By Sergio Klor de Alva, Letter to the Editor

Thank you for writing the story "Tech firms are less than open about 'dark money'" (May 30). However, tech firms are not the only ones who are less than open. Billionaires like the Koch brothers and Foster Friess, presidential candidate Rick Santorum's Super PAC financier, are spending millions and remaining hidden in this election cycle. We need disclosure from the biggest political spenders, whether they're corporations, individuals or unions. We must work to pass AB700 in California, the Disclose Act (Democracy Is Strengthened by Casting Light on Spending in Elections), co-authored by Assemblymen Marc Levine of Marin County and Jimmy Gomez of Los Angeles.

With AB700, we would see who actually pays for ballot proposition ads, by mandating that the top three funders of proposition campaigns disclose themselves clearly in the ads themselves ??" unlike current disclosure policies that let the largest funders hide behind small print and innocuous-sounding committee names. The majority of the Bay Area's state legislators are supporting AB700, as it is a no-brainer legislation to pass to increase transparency in the political process. Unfortunately, East Bay Assemblywoman Catharine Baker has not. Why not?

Sergio Klor de Alva, Oakland

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