AB 83, The Get Foreign Money Out of California Elections Act, must get an Assembly Floor Vote on or before January 31, 2024.

BREAKING NEWS 11/8/23: Maine just banned foreign money from their elections!

On May 5th, Minnesota became the first state in the nation to prohibit foreign influenced US multi-nationals from contributing to their elections - with AB 83, California can be next! The United States’ largest corporations are spending hundreds of millions of dollars directly from their corporate treasuries to influence elections and much of that money is “indirectly” contributed by foreign investors.

Most Americans rightly believe that foreign money is banned from US elections as it is very clearly prohibited 52 U.S. Code § 30121. 

Here's what Justice Kavanaugh had to say about foreign money in our elections writing in Bluman v FEC (2012), while he was on the DC Court of Appeals:

“[I]t is fundamental to the definition of our national political community that foreign citizens do not have a constitutional right to participate in, and thus may be excluded from, activities of democratic self-government. It follows, therefore, that the United States has a compelling interest for purposes of First Amendment analysis in limiting the participation of foreign citizens in activities of American democratic self-government, and in thereby preventing foreign influence over the U.S. political process.”

Foreign interests can easily diverge from U.S. interests, for example, in the areas of tax, trade, investment, and labor law. Corporate directors and managers view themselves as accountable to their shareholders, including foreign shareholders. As the former CEO of U.S.-based Exxon Mobil Corp, Lee Raymond, starkly stated, “I’m not a U.S. company and I don’t make decisions based on what’s good for the U.S.”

WE NEED YOUR HELP TO PASS AB 83: The Get Foreign Money Out of California Elections Act:

TAKE ACTION! 

1. CALL YOUR ASSEMBLYMEMBER

Click here to find your Assemblymember's number

Script:  I’m calling today because U.S. Election Law is CLEAR – there should be NO FOREIGN MONEY IN OUR ELECTIONS!

Can I count on [ELECTED OFFICIAL’S NAME] to vote YES on AB83?

The Supreme Court Citizens’ United decision created a giant loophole allowing FOREIGN money into U.S. elections through foreign investments in U.S. Corporations. Did you know that foreigner investors own more than 40% of shares of U.S. corporations?

By passing AB 83 – The Get Foreign Money out of California Elections Act, we can close that loophole.  

2. SIGN THE PETITION

3. TEXT FIVE FRIENDS (grab this text for your text)

Take action and then share this text with five friends:

Can you take a minute today to call your CA Aseemblymember and ask them to vote for AB83 to ban foreign money from California elections?  https://findyourrep.legislature.ca.gov/

Need help with what to say? Http://moneyoutvotersin.org

4.  USE THIS SAMPLE TOOLKIT FOR CALLS, EMAILS, SOCIAL MEDIA, etc. ASK THEM TO VOTE YES ON AB83 - AND GET FOREIGN MONEY OUT OF CALIFORNIA ELECTIONS NOW

If you are a small business owner and support AB 83, please sign our petition from small business owners.

**LISTEN TO MICHELE SUTTER ON "CORPORATIONS AND DEMOCRACY" on KZYX**

Other talking points:

1. US Election Code prohibits direct and indirect contributions of foreign money into US elections. (52 U.S. Code § 30121)
2. Citizens United v FEC (2010) created a loophole for foreign money to slide in anyway.  Now it's an avalanche.
3. 40% of all shares held in US corporations are owned by foreign investors!  40%!  (It was 5% in 1982.) That's outrageous.
4. The California Legislature must bring California into compliance with US Code and get the foreign money out of our elections.
5. Close the loophole!  Please co-author AB 83 to Get Foreign Money Out of California Elections.

Did you know that foreign investors currently own 40% of shares of US corporations?  And did you know that 98% of the S&P 500 US corporations qualify as "foreign influenced"!?

LEARN MORE ABOUT WHY WE NEED TO PASS AB 83

• Sign the Petition
• Read the Author's Fact Sheet About AB 83
• Read the MOVI Fact Sheet About AB 83
• Read the MOVI Talking Points About AB 83
• See the Sample Organizational Support Letter
• Read the Free Speech For People Comprehensive Case for AB 83
• Read the Center for American Progress Letter of Support for AB 83
• Read US Election Law
• Written Testimony from Federal Election Commissioner Ellen L. Weintraub for AB 1819 (previous bill)
• Written Testimony from Laurence H. Tribe (Harvard Law School) for AB 1819 (previous bill)
• Written Testimony from John C. Coates IV (Harvard Law School) for AB 1819 (previous bill)
• Rep. Raskin's Letter to the SEC about his Federal Version of this Bill HR 6283

Want to know more about AB 83?  Click here to request a speaker from MOVI at your organization's next online meeting.

Robert Reich explains the problem of foreign influence in our elections

WE ALSO NEED PEOPLE TO WRITE LETTERS TO THE EDITOR OF YOUR LOCAL PAPERS TO TELL THEM WHY YOU CARE ABOUT THIS.  It's not as daunting to write one as it may seem.  If your paper has any articles on this issue, a quick response is usually appreciated to show you are reading closely.  Here is a simple how to write a letter to the editor.

AB 83 has been endorsed by: Center for American Progress, Courage California, End Citizens United, Free Speech For People, Indivisible CASS, The League of Women Voters of California, Our Revolution, PDA-CA, PFAW, Public Citizen, RepresentUS and over 130 organizations.

Watch the testimony from The League of Women Voters of California in support of last year's bill in the clip below.

US Code clearly prohibits foreign money in US elections.  Citizens United v FEC opened our elections to foreign money and influence through foreign investors who now hold over 40% of all shares in US corporations.  The result has been precisely what our founders feared.

Watch the Virtual Town Hall with:

• California Assembly Member Alex Lee (author of AB 83)
• Congressman Jamie Raskin (author of HR 6283)
• Free Speech For People's President John Bonifaz
• Former Seattle City Council President Lorena Gonzalez
• San Jose City Council Member David Cohen (San Jose Motion Author)
• MOVI's Michele Sutter

Want to know more about the campaign to get foreign money out of California Elections?  Click here to request a speaker from MOVI at your organization's next online meeting.

NOW IN CONGRESS: HR 6283, Get Foreign Money Out of U.S. Elections Act (Rep. Jamie Raskin) HR 6283 would prohibit foreign influenced corporations from participating in US Elections.

• Read Rep. Raskin's letter to the Security and Exchange Commission on why foreign influenced corporations should not participate in US elections.

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With the passage of Prop 59 California voters instructed our elected officials “to use all of their constitutional authority” to deliver to the people of California an amendment to the US Constitution which would remove Big Money from our elections.

22 states have passed legislation instructing the US Congress to pass an amendment to overturn Citizens United.  Virginia became the 22nd in January, 2021.  When the Wyoming legislature introduced a 2017 bill to overturn Citizens United that left only 7 states in the entire country with no formal measures undertaken to overturn Citizens United.  

Money Out Voters In, MOVI is an organization of democracy advocates dedicated to ending corporate rule and promoting civic engagement.

Money Out Voters In is a qualified 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization and donations are tax-deductible to the full extent allowed under the law.