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“Not in numbers but in unity that our great strength lies.” —Thomas Paine
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The influence of big money, greatly exacerbated by the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling in 2010, is undermining the very legitimacy of our government. Now, wealthy donors and special interests are free to spend without limits and politicians increasingly rely on a reduced number of large donors. As a result, our public policies can often represent the desires of special interests, not the interests of average Americans.
In Virginia, this is particularly problematic because we are one of only five states which has no limitations on campaign finance contributions and no restrictions on politicians or their relatives spending campaign funds for personal expenses.
The stakes could not be higher. Now is the time to stand united in demanding a government that is responsive to the will of the people.
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“We, the undersigned, support passing and enforcing strong campaign finance reforms in Virginia that help guarantee a democracy responsive to the people.“
American Promise is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization working to end the domination of our political system by the money of the powerful few. The Virginia chapter is supporting a national initiative aimed at passing an amendment to the U.S. Constitution which would allow Congress to legislate campaign finance rules. The Virginia Chapter advocates also for campaign finance reform in the Commonwealth.
Clean Money Squad: The goal of Represent Roanoke Valley is a ‘Totally Clean Money Squad of political representatives and candidates ‘. Our goal is to get candidates, of all parties, at all levels and jurisdictions of government in Virginia to pledge not to take contributions from special interest individuals and groups, in particular public utilities and fossil fuel-related interests. We are affiliated with
Represent.US and work to pass the
American Anti-Corruption Act. Represent Roanoke Valley and the Clean Money Squad are cross partisan
Coalition for Integrity: The Coalition for Integrity is a non-profit, non-partisan 501(c)(3) organization working to promote integrity and combat corruption in public and private sector. Given the importance of clean state-level government to the daily lives of persons,the Coalition in 2018 released the S.W.A.M.P Index which ranked 50 states and DC on the laws and regulations on ethics and transparency issues. A follow-up report released in 2019 on
Enforcement of Ethics Rules by State Ethics Agencies: which examines each state ethics agency’s enforcement of their ethics rules, as well as transparency of that enforcement. The Coalition also launched in 2019 the second
Virginia Integrity Challenge urging candidates for the General Assembly to exercise personal transparency and support ethics enforcement legislation.
Coalition for Integrity: At Clean Virginia, we believe our Commonwealth should be leading the transition to a clean energy future. Unfortunately, legalized corruption is holding us back. For too long, energy monopolies have written their own rules in Richmond, rigging the system against Virginian consumers, small businesses, and communities. Weak campaign finance laws allow our politicians to accept unlimited campaign contributions from the very utilities they have a duty to regulate. This corruption stifles job growth and innovation, leads to high energy bills, and hurts our environment.
UnKoch My Campus: The vision of UnKoch My Campus is to preserve democracy by protecting higher education from corporate influence. We build power with young people and partners across the country to disrupt the harm caused by wealthy donors who are exerting undue influence on colleges and universities to further policy agendas that intend to place private interests over the common good.
Sierra Club Virginia Chapter: We are a grassroots-driven organization that advocates for a Virginia where all people may enjoy our natural treasures, access clean air and water, and thrive in a healthy community. At over 20,000 members strong, we coordinate action to promote climate solutions and oppose projects and policies that put the interests of corporate polluters above the needs of communities. We know a cleaner, more equitable future in the commonwealth is possible if we fight for it together.
Democracy4Change features inspiring stories about ordinary citizens’ efforts to galvanize public support and overcome obstacles to change. These stories are about actions that you can join, support or replicate on your own. Our hope is that more Americans will become motivated to actively engage on issues that affect their communities.
The Voters’ Right to Know project has a simple goal: make the money that influences our elections and laws transparent to voters. Since Federal reform is not tractable, we seek to secure ground-breaking, state-level, rights and laws that give voters a RIGHT to know the influences present in their political system.
MAGNNISS+DEL NINNO
ARCHITECTS
Maginniss + Del Ninno Architects: Maginniss + Del Ninno Architects is a Virginia-based design-oriented architectural firm. Our thoughtful, collaborative approach leads to sustainable results for our clients. We serve our clients by preserving and enriching existing environments and creating vital new environments while respecting natural resources.
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Virginia Money Out of Politics 