The California Clean Money Campaign (CCMC) is an advocacy group that supports left-of-center campaign finance policies, including proposals to require advertisements to disclose major donors like the 2016 Voters’ Right to Know Act, a proposed state constitutional amendment that did not qualify for the ballot.

CCMC is funded by members and small donations and at one time claimed 100,000 members ¹ and 150,000 donors. ² Though its revenue reached over $100,000 annually in the 2010s, the group’s annual funding likely fell below $50,000 after 2013.

CCMC is affiliated with the California Clean Money Campaign Action Fund, a political advocacy group. ³

Activity

The California Clean Money Campaign’s nonprofit status was revoked by the Internal Revenue Service in 2018 for failing to file a Form 990 for three consecutive years. ⁴ The organization’s website’s page that outlines “The Problem” CCMC is dedicated to fighting has not been updated since near its founding in 2002, ⁵ the website’s “Our Progress” page has not been updated since 2014, ⁶ the “Members” page is broken, ⁷ and only one of the six listed CCMC board members have changed since March 2016. ^{8 9}

However, CCMC continues to officially support campaigns and other organizations largely through the efforts of its president Trent Lange. Lange is best known for leading the successful campaign to pass AB294 in California, 2017 legislation that requires super PACs to list major donors on campaign material. ¹⁰

In September 2022, CCMC endorsed the Oakland Fair Elections Act, which proposes to create a publicly funded campaign finance pool that provides four vouchers worth $25 each to every Oakland citizen which can be donated to candidates. Other supporters of the bill include Causa Justa Just Cause, the Service Employees International Union, the Sierra Club, Public Citizen, RepresentUs, and Bend the Arc. ¹¹

In 2022, CCMC and Assembly Member Miguel Santiago (D-CA) sponsored the Ballot DISCLOSE Act in the California legislature. The bill, which passed, requires California ballots to provide a short list of supporters and opponents on each ballot item. ¹²

In early 2022, the CCMC endorsed SB1439, which proposed extending a law prohibiting political donations of more than $250 from government contractors to local elections. ¹³

In 2016, the CCMC supported the Voters’ Right To Know Act, which proposed a state constitutional amendment for a slate of campaign finance reforms, including doubling campaign finance violation fines and requiring political ads costing more than $50,000 to display their top three donors. The measure was ultimately not put on the ballot. ^{14 15}

The bill was endorsed by the Voters’ Right To Know Coalition, of which CCMC was a partner along with the Analyst Institute, California Forward, Common Cause, the Campaign Legal Center, End Citizens United, MapLight, RepresentUs, and YouGov. ¹⁶

CCMC volunteers collected 30,000 signatures for the Voters Right To Know Act. ¹⁷

Funding

The California Clean Money Campaign claims that its funding comes entirely from members and small donors. In 2018, its largest single donation was for $5,000 and the average donation was for $28. ¹⁸

The CCMC’s most recent publicly disclosed tax returns as of October 2022 show that the group generated almost $94,000 in 2013 and almost $157,000 in 2012. ¹⁹

1. “About the California Clean Money Action Fund.” Yes Fair Elections. Accessed October 8, 2022. https://www.yesfairelections.org/about/aboutus.php.
2. “California Clean Money Campaign.” California Clean Money Campaign. Accessed October 8, 2022. http://www.caclean.org/.
3. “Board of Directors.” California Clean Money Campaign. Accessed October 7, 2022. http://www.caclean.org/aboutus/boardofdirectors.php.
4. “California Clean Money Campaign (Julie Rajan).” Internal Revenue Service. Accessed October 7, 2022. https://apps.irs.gov/app/eos/detailsPage?ein=912105611&name=CALIFORNIA%20CLEAN%20MONEY%20CAMPAIGN%20&city=CULVER%20CITY&state=CA&countryAbbr=US&dba=JULIE%20RAJAN&type=REVOCATION&orgTags=REVOCATION.
5. “The Problem.” California Clean Money Campaign. Accessed October 7, 2022. http://www.caclean.org/problem/.
6. “Our Progress.” California Clean Money Campaign. Accessed October 7, 2022. http://www.caclean.org/problem/.
7. “Members.” Yes Fair Election. Accessed October 7, 2022. https://www.yesfairelections.org/contacts/civicrm/contribute/transact?reset=1&id=18.
8. “Leadership.” Ballotpedia. Accessed October 7, 2022. https://ballotpedia.org/California_Clean_Money_Campaign.
9. “Board of Directors.” California Clean Money Campaign. Accessed October 7, 2022. http://www.caclean.org/aboutus/boardofdirectors.php.
10. Christopher, Ben. “Last-minute special interest cash pours through California’s $50,000 loophole.” Cal Matters. March 1, 2020. Accessed October 7, 2022. https://calmatters.org/politics/california-election-2020/2020/03/special-interest-money-california-campaign-loophole-legislature-rubio/.
11. Moore, David. “Oakland Voters Decide on Fair Elections Measure.” Read Sludge. September 28, 2022. Accessed October 7, 2022. https://readsludge.com/2022/09/28/oakland-voters-to-decide-on-fair-elections-measure/.
12. “Sign the petition for the Ballot DISCLOSE Act!” Action Network. Accessed October 7, 2022. https://actionnetwork.org/letters/ab1416-governor?source=direct_link&referrer=group-progressive-democrats-of-america.
13. ^[1] Patel, Julie. “State Legislation to Close ‘Pay-to-Play Loophole’ for Local Officials and Contractors Is Up for Vote.” KCET. March 25, 2022. Accessed October 8, 2022. https://www.kcet.org/news-community/state-legislation-to-close-pay-to-play-loophole-for-local-officials-and-contractors-is-up-for-vote.
14. “California Voters’ Right to Know Act (2016).” Ballotpedia. Accessed October 8, 2022. https://ballotpedia.org/California_Voters%27_Right_to_Know_Act_(2016).
15. “Ballot Measures.” Ballotpedia. Accessed October 8, 2022. https://ballotpedia.org/California_Voters%27_Right_to_Know_Act_(2016).
16. “About Us.” Voters’ Right To Know. Accessed October 8, 2022. https://votersrighttoknow.org/about-voters-right-to-know/about-us/.
17. “About Us.” Voters’ Right To Know. Accessed October 8, 2022. https://votersrighttoknow.org/about-voters-right-to-know/about-us/.
18. “About the California Clean Money Action Fund.” Yes Fair Elections. Accessed October 8, 2022. https://www.yesfairelections.org/about/aboutus.php.
19. “Finances.” Ballotpedia. Accessed October 8, 2022. https://ballotpedia.org/California_Clean_Money_Campaign.