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League of Women Voters of CA, ACTION ALERT from May 23, 2022
Politicians should make decisions in the interest of their community and not big money donors. SB 1439 (Glazer) closes a pay-to-play loophole that allows local elected officials to accept huge campaign contributions from donors who seek permits, licenses, or entitlements from the officials. Take action to support SB 1439
Most state and local officials are already prohibited from accepting large contributions from donors who are seeking permits, licenses, or entitlements before them. Yet local elected officials, like city councilmembers and county supervisors who routinely approve permits and contracts for new developments, variances for zoning, and other projects, can accept huge sums of money from those same donors. SB 1439 ends this pay-to-play scheme by:
- Prohibiting local elected officials from accepting more than $250 from anyone who is in the process of applying for a permit, license, no-bid contract, or entitlement.
- Extending this prohibition on contributions to 12 months after a final decision on the matter is reached.
Extending this prohibition on contributions to include an interested party’s spouse if the contributions come from a shared bank account.
This isn’t hypothetical–this loophole has corrupted the local decision-making process on numerous occasions. In one instance, the owner of the Rams NFL team contributed over $100,000 to Inglewood’s mayor and two Inglewood councilmembers, enough to buy a majority of votes needed to secure permits for what is now the largest stadium in the NFL.
We need your help to protect fair decision-making in our communities–take action today and urge your State Senator to vote YES on SB 1439
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