Sacramento – Today, Assembly Speaker pro Tem Kevin Mullin introduced AB 214 which would reinstate funding that could be leveraged and utilized to attract private investment for spinal cord injury research grants at California research institutions.

“I am very excited to be working with Roman Reed and many other advocates to restore state funding for the Roman Reed Spinal Cord Injury Research Act,” Mullin stated. “Sadly, efforts to continue this funding stream that expired in 2011 have failed and critical research in this area has suffered. The absence of state funds has limited the programs ability to attract private investment, limiting the work being done.”  

California leads the nation in social media finance disclosure

Sacramento - Today, Governor Jerry Brown signed the Social Media DISCLOSE Act (AB 2188), another landmark campaign disclosure bill that makes California a national leader in the area of disclosure in online political ads.

"Last year, AB 249 (the DISCLOSE Act) set the standard for campaign finance disclosure for print, television and radio ads, generated for and against state initiatives and candidates," Mullin said. "AB 2188 extends those tough requirements to social media, giving voters the ability to see the top three funders of political ads on the various social media platforms."

Sacramento – Speaker pro Tem Kevin Mullin’s elections legislation headed to Governor Brown reflects his commitment to disclosure in political ads, voter accessibility, empowerment and engagement.

AB 2188, The Social Media DISCLOSE Act, will be a nation leading campaign finance disclosure law on political ads appearing on social media platforms. After the 2016 election, it became increasingly clear that while political ads appearing on social media platforms had significant influence on voters, they were largely unaware of who was paying for them. 

“Campaign ads on social media have taken on a life of their own,” Mullin stated. “AB 2188 extends the requirements of AB 249 (the DISCLOSE Act) to social media, giving voters the ability to see the top three funders of political ads on the various social media platforms.”

I chose to author AB 84 (Legislative Leadership Committees) because of my role as Assembly Speaker pro Tem, as well as my commitment to disclosure, transparency and the need to counter unlimited money that pours into campaigns from Independent Expenditure Committees and SuperPacs.