Whoops, it appears I'm six years too late. Proposition 34 was approved in 2000 by 60.1 percent of the voters. Honestly, I don't even remember much about the initiative. If I recall, 2000 was the year I was just really waking up to what was going on around me politically. In early November 2000, President George W. Bush was still just a neocon dream.
So, when I saw many of those opposing Prop 89 claim that we already have campaign finance reform through Prop 34 I became curious...
Turns out Prop 34 was placed on the ballot by the legislature, the same people that risked being impacted by the more restrictive campaign finance reform of Prop 208. The same people who drew our congressional districts so that incumbents would be protected. Prop 34 promised reform, but actually repealed Prop 208 and
opened up loopholes to allow them to raise more from special interests. And these same politicians bowed to special interests and
abandoned real campaign finance reform in the form of AB583.
Those who oppose and those who support Prop 89 all find common ground in one fact: our system is broken. And that means Prop 34 isn't the solution as promised.
But that's not a surprise to some organizations. Prop 34 was opposed by AARP, California Common Cause, the League of Women Voters of California and CalPIRG. And this year, they're backing Proposition 89. So let's listen to the people who knew that back in 2000. They've already demonstrated that they know what they are talking about when it comes to what's really right for Californians and our government.
Unless you've got a time machine, you can't go back and vote "No" on 34. But you CAN vote "Yes" on 89.