Newsom signs elections bills allowing public financing, curbing voting incentives
Californians will decide next year whether to repeal a ban on public financing in elections per a new law signed Wednesday, along with another that bans offering payouts or other incentives to people for registering to vote.
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed two related bills from Sen. Tom Umberg, D-Villa Park, which he said would curb election interference and the influence of billionaire-backed dark money in politics, taking a shot at President Donald Trump and his wealthy benefactors like Elon Musk.
Senate Bill 42 puts an initiative on the November 2026 ballot that asks voters to repeal a statewide ban on public financing in elections, which allows candidates to receive government funds for their political campaigns instead of relying solely on private donations.
“Right now, our founding ideals and values are being shredded before our eyes in Washington D.C., and California will not sit idle,” Newsom said in a signing statement. “These new laws further protect Californians’ voices and civic participation in what makes our state and our country great.”
Proponents of SB 42, like the League of Women Voters, say public election financing allows a more diverse pool of people to run for public office by reducing barriers like a reliance on wealthy donors.
Several charter cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles have public financing, but after former Gov. Jerry Brown signed similar legislation in 2016 expanding the practice, courts ruled voters would need to approve lifting a statewide ban on public financing that was voted on by a ballot initiative in the late 1980s.
Umberg’s other bill, Senate Bill 398, makes it a crime to pay someone money to register to vote or to cast a ballot. The punishment would be up to a year in prison, a maximum fine of $10,000, or both.
Umberg said both bills “sent a clear message: our democracy belongs to the people.”
“These laws reaffirm California’s commitment to fair, transparent, and accessible elections,” he said in a statement.
Newsom, who amassed his own private fortune via his hospitality businesses, has tapped a network of powerful donors from Silicon Valley to House Democrats for his campaigns – and most recently, for his efforts to pass Proposition 50, which asks voters to approve a mid-decade congressional redistricting.
His “Yes on 50” campaign has framed the redistricting effort as an existential referendum on whether democracy can survive under Trump as the White House has sent troops to Democratic cities, ensnared U.S. citizens in its crackdown on alleged undocumented immigrants, and ignored court orders to halt deportations.
“The bottom line is, there are no kitchen tables when he’s (Trump) burning down the house. I mean, this thing goes away, disappears,” he told a Sacramento Bee reporter during a McClatchy Editorial Board endorsement interview. “You’re seeing what folks are doing, which richest people, the most well heeled, most connected, powerful people, selling out in this country, selling out our democracy.”
His Prop. 50 campaign has netted $76.6 million in donations since July 1 and had $54 million in cash on hand as of last week, according to campaign finance records.
On Wednesday, Ballotpedia reported that Proposition 50 has become the 10th most expensive ballot measure in state history.
