Opioids killing 65,000 in U.S. per year Rep. Tom Marino backing law - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
Lakewood Library November 4 th , 2017 A collaboration between Jeffco Political Action Taskforce Common Cause Represent.Us With support from Jefferson Humanists Jefferson County League of Women Voters M AKING T HE S
Lakewood Library November 4th, 2017
A collaboration between
With support from
MAKING THE SWAMP GO AWAY
SPEAKERS & TOPICS
MC: Ralph Hughes, Jefferson Political Action Taskforce It’s Clear that Our System Has A Problem Caroline Fry, Common Cause How Special Interests Commandeer Our Legislators Dan Silbaugh, Represent.Us What Is The American Anti-Corruption Act? Representative Joe Salazar How to Make a State Anti-Corruption Act Effective & Durable
➢ Q&A with the panel ➢ 15-minute Workshops: Answer questions and sign petitions
Jeffco chapter of Represent.Us
OBSERVABLE CORRUPTION
Slide 3
Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens Martin Gilens and Benjamin I. Page, Perspectives on Politics, American Political Science Association, September 2014
30% 60%
Jeffco chapter of Represent.Us
HOW A BAD LAW GETS PASSED
➢ Opioids killing 65,000 in U.S. per year ➢ Rep. Tom Marino backing law to remove DEA’s power to
seize suspect pill shipments
➢ Law passed in 2016 after Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah)
negotiates a final version with the DEA
➢ Pharmaceuticals & Health Products campaign contributions:
▪ $1.5M to 23 sponsored & co-sponsored for four versions of the bill ▪ Marino $151,000 overall, $72,000 during 2016 election cycle ▪ Hatch $2.8M overall, $764,000 during the 2016 election cycle
Slide 4 Jeffco chapter of Represent.Us
IT’S NOT JUST THE REPUBLICANS
➢ Statistical analysis of political money on the votes of
Democrats who has voted for Dodd-Frank in 2010
➢ For every $100,000 in contributions, they were
14% more likely to vote for amendments during 2013 to 2105 to weaken the law
➢ Those Democrats who switched sides
typically received $200,000 to $400,000 from the financial sector
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Authors from the University of Massachusetts and the University of Texas
Jeffco chapter of Represent.Us
SENATORS MUST RAISE $1,650 FOR EVERY HOUR THEY SERVE
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Don’t you think I know that?
$10.4M per winning candidate. Eight hours per day for 133 days over six years. Or $893 for every hour of a regular person’s working year.
Jeffco chapter of Represent.Us
C A R O L I N E F RY C O L O R A D O C O M M O N C A U S E
OVERVIEW
ISSUES
– “If you want to know how much money is being spent on a specific issue [in Colorado], there’s not a simple way to do it” - Center for Public Integrity
– Who is paying attention?
– Congress and Federal agencies
– Two-year revolving door restriction for state legislators – No recent data re: number of Colorado legislators who become lobbyists
– The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is a nonprofit
legislators and private sector representatives who draft and share model state-level legislation for distribution among state governments in the United States
OVERVIEW
2016
– TRACER
for compliance
– Private citizens expected to prosecute ethics complaints at their own expense
local ballot initiative/question
– From anyone! – No contribution limits
– Voter education / advertisements
– Must be done independently of a candidate's campaign
– Can receive unlimited contributions from corporations, unions, associations, and individuals
– May not give money directly to candidate committees, political parties, or otherwise coordinate with candidates – May engage in express advocacy
who is supporting him (Better Now Colorado)
knew every city she was traveling to ahead of time and drove people to her
speaking directly into the camera… as if he recorded it
“unaffiliated” Super PAC, Right to Rise, which raised over $100 million
welfare
– Allowed to participate in politics, as long as it does not become their primary focus – Are tax-exempt
– Unlimited donations from individuals, corporations, businesses
– Cannot directly donate to federal candidates – Can directly donate to political committees, super PACs
– Not required to report donors or spending to the FEC – Not required to report donors or spending to the CO SOS – Revenue and expenditures are reported on 990 tax form
CAROLINE FRY ADVOCACY & MEDIA MANAGER CFRY@COMMONCAUSE.ORG COLORADOCOMMONCAUSE.ORG
– http://www.denverpost.com/2016/02/27/colorado-lobbying-law-offers-murky-picture-of-influence-
– https://www.publicintegrity.org/2015/11/09/18347/colorado-gets-d-grade-2015-state-integrity- investigation
– https://www.followthemoney.org/show-me?dt=3&lby-f-fc=2&lby-s=CO&lby-y=2016# – https://www.followthemoney.org/show-me?dt=3&lby-f-fc=2&lby-s=CO&lby-y=2016#[{1|gro=lby-f-cci
– https://www.sos.state.co.us/lobby/Home.do
– http://tracer.sos.colorado.gov/PublicSite/homepage.aspx
– https://www.opensecrets.org/states/donors.php?state=CO
WHAT IS THE AMERICAN ANTI-CORRUPTION ACT?
Dan Silbaugh, Represent.Us
Jeffco chapter of Represent.Us
CORRUPTION IS LEGAL IN AMERICA
➢ Lobbyist can donate money to candidate, representative can take and
pass laws written by lobbyist
➢ Lobbyists can curry favor with representatives ➢ Not all political spending is required to be reported ➢ Gerrymandering, Primary system, First Past the Post, “independent”
expenditures, etc…
Jeffco chapter of Represent.Us
THE AMERICAN ANTI-CORRUPTION ACT
➢ Model Legislation, adaptable to municipal, county, state and federal law.
▪ Living Document ▪ May be enacted in whole, part, or modified
➢ Drafted by election law scholars specifically to be constitutional
▪ Even under the current SCOTUS
Jeffco chapter of Represent.Us
THE AMERICAN ANTI-CORRUPTION ACT
➢ Makes corruption illegal ➢ As it is passed in municipalities, counties and states it will create a “clean”
body of legislators in Washington D.C.
▪ Those clean legislators will then be able to pass a the AACA on a federal level ▪ “Farm Team” system of politician grooming
Jeffco chapter of Represent.Us
CONFLICTS OF INTEREST AND POLITICAL BRIBERY
➢ Prohibit candidates from accepting campaign donations from lobbyists ➢ Prohibit lobbyist bundling ➢ Close the Revolving Door ➢ Prohibit fundraising during “Congress Hours”
Jeffco chapter of Represent.Us
FULL TRANSPARENCY
➢ Automatic disclosure of all political fundraising and expenditures above
$200
➢ Enact DISCLOSE Act (S.229, H. 430) of 2015 ➢ Disclosure of bundlers
Jeffco chapter of Represent.Us
FIX OUR BROKEN ELECTIONS
➢ End Gerrymandering ➢ Change how Elections are Funded ➢ Single, Open Primaries ➢ Ranked Choice Voting
Jeffco chapter of Represent.Us
ENFORCE THE RULES
➢ “Independent” PAC coordination ➢ Increase Lobbying Disclosure Requirements
▪ Change Threshold for Reporting ▪ Transparent Lobbying Disclosure ▪ 2 year suspension for violations
➢ Fix the FEC
▪ Enact Federal Election Administration Act 2016 ▪ Enact Public Corruption Prosecution Improvements Act 2012
Jeffco chapter of Represent.Us
AN EXAMPLE…
➢ Does Jefferson County have it’s own FEC? ➢ Does Jefferson County have it’s own independent election commission? ➢ Could one be created? ➢ How would it be composed? Maintained? Powers?
Jeffco chapter of Represent.Us
ANOTHER EXAMPLE….
➢ Credit/Voucher for small donors? ➢ What mechanism exists to do so? ➢ What mechanism COULD exist? ➢ Alternative method?
Jeffco chapter of Represent.Us
SOUNDS GOOD, HOW DO WE DO IT?
➢ Ask City Council, County Commission to enact laws you want ➢ Nonbinding Resolution ➢ Initiated Measure
▪ Can change ordinance
➢ Initiated Amendment
▪ Can change charter
Jeffco chapter of Represent.Us
UP NEXT: Representative Joe Salazar How to Make a State Anti-Corruption Act Effective & Durable
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WRAP-UP
➢ Corruption is currently legal and a big problem ➢ We understand how it works ➢ We have a way to fix it ➢ So let’s get busy!
Jeffco chapter of Represent.Us
TODAY’S ORGANIZER: JEFFCO POLITICAL ACTION TASKFORCE (JPAT)
➢ We’re focused on the Anti Corruption Act ➢ Official chapter of Represent.Us ➢ You can help with just ½ hour per week ➢ www.actiontaskforce.org ➢ Facebook: search for “JPAT” ➢ Text AACA to 444-999 to link up
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FURTHER LEARNING EVENTS COMING UP
➢ Unrig the System:
A Balanced and Practical Look at Wealth and Power in the U.S.
▪ Relaxed and informational seminar on
the state of oligarchy in the U.S.
▪ Explore practical changes that will fix
the system
▪ List Denver groups working on solutions ▪ Time for participant discussion
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freeu.com
FURTHER LEARNING EVENTS COMING UP
1) What to do about TABOR? 2) Rebuild America in 3 Steps 3) Colorado Education Network: The Promise of Colorado 4) Oil & Gas: What the Frack? 5) Getting a Pulse on Healthcare Proceeds go to the Action Center $3 per ticket Register at tinyurl.com/OFA-Talks
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Jeffco chapter of Represent.Us Slide 36
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA
Q&A WITH OUR PANEL OF EXPERTS
➢ Caroline Fry, Common Cause ➢ Dan Silbaugh, Represent.Us ➢ Representative Joe Salazar
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WORKSHOP OUTLINE
(15 MIN)
➢ Consider the AACA victories in 50+ cities ➢ Look over the AACA template language ➢ Questions about this corner’s
AACA component?
▪ ...re: the cities-first strategy? ▪ ...re: starting with non-binding resolutions?
➢ Four steps to winning:
▪ Petition, language, petition, vote
➢ Focusing on your city:
▪ Good places to petition ▪ Rally points for Saturday petition drives
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➢ Monthly events ahead:
▪ Coffee & petition meetups ▪ Chapter phone meetings:
progress and planning
Jeffco chapter of Represent.Us
WORKSHOPS
➢ Head to the corner labeled for the component that most interests you
▪ Stopping political bribery ▪ Enforcing existing laws ▪ Ending secret money ▪ Fixing the broken election system
Slide 39
We want to answer your questions and empower you to pass anti- corruption acts in your cities
Jeffco chapter of Represent.Us
TRANSITION TO WORKSHOPS
Slide 40
Complaining about a problem without proposing a solution is called whining.
Jeffco chapter of Represent.Us
Tha hank nk you fo
r attending ttending!
Be Be sure to s sure to sign a petition ign a petition
Workshops conclude our program for today.