Californians for an Effective Legislature
This article is outside of Ballotpedia's coverage scope and does not receive scheduled updates. If you would like to help our coverage scope grow, consider donating to Ballotpedia.
| Californians for an Effective Legislature | |
 | |
| Basic facts | |
| Location: | California |
| Type: | PAC |
| Top official: | Steven Maviglio, Director |
| Website: | Official website |
As of 2019, Californians for an Effective Legislature (CEL) was a PAC based in California. In 2016, the committee opposed California's Public Display of Legislative Bills Prior to Vote proposition. During the 2016 election cycle, the committee was led by Steve Maviglio, a political consultant and former press secretary to former California Governor Gray Davis (D).[1]
Background
Californians for an Effective Legislature was a PAC that, according to its website, was "a coalition of Democrats, Independents, and Republicans opposed to the big money power grab to rewrite California's constitution to benefit special interests."[2] The group wass supported by the Democratic Party of California and the California Labor Federation among others.[2]
Political activity
Ballot measure activity
California Proposition 54, Public Display of Legislative Bills Prior to Vote (2016)
In 2016, the Californians for an Effective Legislature opposed California's Public Display of Legislative Bills Prior to Vote proposition, which proposed to prohibit the legislature from passing any bill until it has been in print and published on the Internet for 72 hours prior to the vote. The measure appeared on the ballot on November 8, 2016.[3]
Argument against Prop 54
According to the committee's website, its argument in opposition to prop 54 was as follows:[4]
| “ |
Proposition 54 is complicated and unnecessary. It is on your ballot solely because one California billionaire, after spending millions of dollars trying to influence California policy and elections, is now using our citizen initiative process to pursue his own political agenda. Prop 54 introduces unnecessary new restrictions on the way laws are crafted by the Legislature. It empowers special interests under the guise of “transparency.” Rather than promoting accountability, Prop 54 will slow down the ability for legislators to develop bipartisan solutions to our state’s most pressing problems. For example, many bipartisan balanced budget agreements, the Fair Housing Act (which ended housing discrimination), and last year’s bond measure to address California’s drought likely never would have happened if this measure had been enacted. Prop 54 will throw a monkey wrench into the ability of our elected officials to get things done. It will give special interests more power to thwart the will of our elected officials. It makes it more difficult to address state emergencies. DON’T GIVE SPECIAL INTERESTS EVEN MORE POWER. VOTE NO ON PROP 54. While it sounds good, requiring the legislature to wait three days before voting on a bill will give powerful lobbyists and well-funded special interests time to launch campaigns to attack bipartisan compromises. Special interests already have too much power in Sacramento. Prop 54 will give them more. PROP 54 WILL INCREASE TAXPAYER COSTS Anytime a comma is changed in a bill, lawmakers will now be forced to wait three days to vote on it. That will mean unnecessary and costly delays that the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst Office estimates will be in the millions of dollars -– funds that could be used to improve education, lower tuition costs, or help create jobs. PROP 54 WILL INCREASE POLITICAL ATTACK ADS Current law prohibits the use of Legislative proceedings in political campaign ads. Prop 54 eliminates that rule, paving the way for millions of dollars in ugly campaign attacks ads that will flood your screen before each election. DON’T LET A BILLIONAIRE REWRITE CALIFORNIA’S CONSTITUTION FOR POLITICAL GAIN. Who’s behind this measure? Charles Munger Jr. – a billionaire with a long history of contributing millions to candidates that oppose increased education funding, the minimum wage, plans to make higher education more affordable, and other progressive issues -- is the only donor to Prop 54. He has spent more than $5.5 million to put this measure on the ballot. Don’t let a single wealthy Californian bypass the Legislature to rewrite our state’s constitution to his own liking. Even the California Newspaper Publishers Association, which supports many of the concepts in this measure, has told the Capitol Weekly newspaper, it "doesn’t feel the initiative process is a good way to deal with public policy."[5] |
” |
Overview of ballot measure support and opposition
The following table details Californians for an Effective Legislature's ballot measure stances available on Ballotpedia:
| Ballot measure support and opposition for Californians for an Effective Legislature | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Ballot measure | Year | Position | Status |
| California Proposition 54, Public Display of Legislative Bills Prior to Vote (2016) | 2016 | Opposed |  Approved
|
Leadership
During the 2016 election cycle, CEL was led by Steve Maviglio, a political consultant and founder of the consulting firm Forza Communications.[6][1] Prior to establishing Californians for an Effective Legislature, Maviglio served as press secretary to former California Governor Gray Davis (D) and as the deputy chief of staff for California state legislators Fabian Nunez (D) and Karen Bass (D). Maviglio has also worked under former President Bill Clinton as the director of public and legislative affairs in the U.S. Department of Justice's Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program and served as a special assistant for public affairs to the director of the U.S. Trade and Development Agency.[1]
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 'Californians for an Effective Legislature'. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- California Proposition 54, Public Display of Legislative Bills Prior to Vote (2016)
- Ballot measure influencers, 2016
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Forza Communications, "Head Honcho," accessed October 31, 2016
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 No on Proposition 54, "About Us," accessed October 4, 2016
- ↑ Sacramento Bee, "Proposition 54 is a special interest ploy" accessed September 29, 2016
- ↑ No on Prop 54, "Ballot Arguments," accessed October 4, 2016
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ SF Gate, "Charles Munger’s Prop. 54 would boost scrutiny of lawmakers," October 21, 2016
| |||||||
