FAQ

Why should I support using tax dollars to fund political campaigns?

If we don’t fund political campaigns – billionaires and big corporations who want special treatment will.

Citizen-funded elections are a way to level the playing field for working class voters who are too-oftened ignored by political candidates and for everyday Californians who want to run for office but can’t afford to in this landscape.

With publicly funded campaigns, local communities regain their power in elections because candidates are incentivized to rely on them to fund their campaigns and usually have limits on additional outside fundraising. It also means qualified people who have wanted to run for office but don’t have personal wealth or connections to wealthy donors can run competitive campaigns that are constituent-centered and don’t break the bank.

You can learn more about the benefits of public financing of campaigns and Prop 4 here.

Does Proposition 4 enact public financing across California?

No. Proposition 4 repeals the current ban on public funding of campaigns. This would allow any city, county, district, or the state as a whole to pass public financing systems that adhere to the following requirements:

Require that public funding candidates must abide by expenditure limits and meet strict criteria to qualify.
Prohibit the use of public funds to pay for legal defense or fines.
Prohibit candidates that receive public funds from repaying personal loans with public funds, or repaying personal loans with private donations after the campaign ends.
Prohibit public funding from discriminating based on party or against challengers in favor of incumbents.

Does Proposition 4 do anything about foreign campaign contributions?

If passed, it would triple the maximum fines for illegal foreign campaign contributions and expenditures, strengthening penalties for those who attempt to interfere in California’s elections.

Are there other places that have public financing systems for elections?

In California, five charter cities have public funding of campaigns, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, and Long Beach. It is currently not allowed outside of these five cities.

Public financing options also exist in places like Seattle, WA and New York, which allowed candidates, like Mayor Zohran Mamdani, to overcome the millions that billionaires and corporations spent to defeat them.

What does public funding for campaigns look like in practice?

Here are examples of public funding systems:

Small-dollar Matching Funds: Donations from small donors are magnified by matching them with public funds. Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Berkeley all provide 6-to-1 matching funds on small donations. New York City provides 8-to-1 matching funds on donations up to $175. This empowers small donors to compete with larger ones and incentivizes candidates to engage grassroots donors, not just millionaires and billionaires.
Democracy Vouchers: Residents receive vouchers they can give to candidates who agree to abide by specified contribution and spending limits. Seattle provides four $25 vouchers to every eligible resident, allowing them to help fund the candidate of their choice even if they can’t afford to donate.
Full Public Funding, aka Clean Elections: Candidates qualify by raising enough small contributions and then receive a public grant to fully fund their campaign provided they raise no additional private funds, ensuring candidates aren’t influenced by private donations.

What tools can I use to advocate for Prop 4 with my community?

We encourage you to use this website as a resource along with the following documents to help build a strong case for why others should support Prop 4: