TO: CVF-NEWS FROM: Kim Alexander, CVF President DATE: October 12, 2001 RE: California online disclosure update
Hi Folks,
In this issue of CVF-NEWS:
* Improvements made at California's disclosure web site * New campaign finance disclosure reports online; more to come * Candidates for statewide office raise millions
Improvements made at California's disclosure web site
California Secretary of State Bill Jones this week unveiled a newly-redesigned campaign finance disclosure web site;
http://cal-access.ss.ca.gov now features new graphics and a new interface to access California's disclosure reports.
The changes make the site easier to navigate than before, and are part of an ongoing effort by the Secretary of State's office to improve the site and make it more user-friendly.
One of the challenges with online disclosure in California is that our disclosure process is quite confusing to begin with, for filers and the public alike. Recent changes in the law enacted by the Legislature have expanded and accelerated the disclosure process, but usually without the resources appropriated to disclosure agencies that are needed to implement the changes.
Fortunately some additional funding for web site work has recently been made available to the Secretary of State's office. I have also been told by several people at the Secretary of State's office that they are working toward providing a relational database online for the public to use to query the disclosure reports.
A relational database will allow the public to search across numerous disclosure reports by specific fields, such as donor, zip code, occupation, date, etc. The California Voter Foundation is committed to continue working with the Secretary of State's office to make a relational database of California campaign finance data available on the Internet, which we believe will best serve the public's need for user-friendly, online access to campaign finance data.
New campaign finance disclosure reports online; more to come
This week California candidates disclosed new financial reports disclosing contributions through September 30. In addition, a new disclosure law (Senate Bill 34) was recently enacted that requires state candidates and ballot measure committees to disclose online all contributions of $5,000 or more within ten business days; those reports are now showing up online at the Secretary of State's disclosure site as well. Another new disclosure law, implemented by voters in the last election when Prop. 34 was passed, will require state candidates and ballot measure committees to disclose contributions of $1,000 or more online within 24 hours in the 90 days prior to an election (for the March 2002 Primary that date will be Dec. 5). Disclosure data is online at http://cal-access.ca.gov.
Candidates for statewide office raise millions
If you're wondering how the various candidates for California statewide office are doing on the fundraising front, Dan Weintraub, a columnist for the Sacramento Bee, has put together an overview and distributed it to his electronic newsletter (which you can subscribe to online if you like at http://lists.nandomedia.com/mailman/listinfo/california_insider):
Dan writes:
"Here's the bottom lines from campaign finance reports filed this week, for the period covering July 1 through Sept. 30:
Governor
Gray Davis........raised $2.8 million, cash on hand: $30.8 million
Bill Simon..........raised $437,000, cash on hand: $2.1 million
Dick Riordan......raised $2.6 million, cash on hand: $2.3 million
Bill Jones...........raised $1 million, cash on hand: $1.3 million
Lt. Gov
Cruz Bustamante.....raised $421,000, cash on hand: $1.3 million
Bruce McPherson...raised $355,000, cash on hand: $345,000
Atty. Gen.
Bill Lockyer.........raised $167,000, cash on hand: $3.9 million
Treasurer
Phil Angelides....raised $194,000, cash on hand: $2.7 million
Controller
Steve Westly........raised $672,000, cash on hand: $1.9 million
Johan Klehs.........raised $144,000, cash on hand: $473,000
Dean Andal.........raised $75,000; cash on hand: $840,000
Tom McClintock....raised $436,000, cash on hand: $500,000
Secretary of State
Kevin Shelley......raised $144,000, cash on hand: $1.1 million
March Fong Eu...raised $37,000, cash on hand: $142,000
Keith Olberg.......raised $35,000, cash on hand: $608,000
Insurance Commissioner
Tom Umberg.......raised $112,000, cash on hand: $1.6 million
Tom Calderon.....raised $473,000, cash on hand: $1.1 million
John Garamendi...raised $155,000, cash on hand: $126,000
Supt. Of Public Instruction
Jack O'Connell....raised $602,000, cash on hand: $1.5 million
Lynne Leach.......raised $30,000, cash on hand: $176,000"
More information about these candidates and the upcoming California Primary, including links to statewide candidates' web sites, disclosure reports, and recent news articles, is available from CVF's 2002 Election Preview: http://www.calvoter.org/2002.
* * * * * *
Wishing everyone a peaceful weekend,
-- Kim Alexander, California Voter Foundation
kimalex@calvoter.org, (916) 452-7706, www.calvoter.org
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This page was first published on October 12, 2001 | Last updated on October 12, 2001
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