TO: Interested Parties
FROM: Kim Alexander, California Voter Foundation
DATE: April 1, 1997
RE: Hearing on electronic filing delayedThe hearing on two electronic filing bills, SB 7/Kopp and SB 49/Karnette, has been delayed. The Senate Elections Committee had been scheduled to take up the bills at its hearing tomorrow, April 2 at the State Capitol, but the legislation is now instead scheduled to be heard at the committee's April 16th hearing. At this point it is unclear what specific provisions will be included in the legislation scheduled to be heard on the 16th - details are still being worked out among the legislative proponents. I will be sure to keep everyone posted on the contents of the legislation as it takes shape. In the meantime, it is still important to communicate with your legislators on this issue and share with them your opinions about the need for Internet access to political disclosure records.
In other news.....I just finished reading Jon Katz' "Birth of a Digital Nation" article in the April edition of Wired Magazine, and I strongly encourage anyone and everyone who believes the Internet can improve the state of American politics to take a look at his story. I personally found it to be one of the most compelling and inspiring articles I've read in a long time.
Finally....for those of you interested in the issues of money and politics, there is a new gold mine of information available on the Internet. The Ottinger Foundation has published a new Money and Politics Handbook, Web site and bibliography. While the material is targeted to funders and prospective funders of money and politics projects, it is of value to all of us working in this field. The Web site, at
http://www.igc.org/ottingerfeatures profiles of more than 90 organizations across the country (including the California Voter Foundation) involved in money and politics, along with links to the organizations' Web sites. Ottinger's resources provide a way for groups to become acquainted with each other, and for citizens to find out what is going on and which groups you might want to get involved with (and, hopefully, some assistance in bringing new funding to this important field!).
Kim Alexander, Executive Director, California Voter Foundation
cvf@netcom.com
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