Betsy Butler for Assembly, California's 50th Assembly

I am running for State Assembly to fight to end the corporate domination of the state legislature that is slowly strangling our great state.

It is time to face facts. Massive campaign contributions and lavish special favors controlled by powerful corporate lobbyists have made state government completely unresponsive to critical public needs. Special interests spend over a half-billion dollars to buy influence every legislative session.

There are 2,375 lobbyists in Sacramento – for 120 state legislators. That’s 20 lobbyists for every legislator.

In 2007 the oil companies bragged in an industry newsletter that the $10.5 million that they spent lobbying the legislature and state agencies had paid off – 51 of the 52 priority bills they opposed had been killed.

Last year the chemical industry spent $4.7 million to defeat one bill which would have banned toxic chemical (bisphenol-A) commonly used in plastic toys and sippy cups for babies.

And with our state facing a massive budget shortfall forcing closures of health clinics and domestic violence shelters, pro-corporate legislators witheld votes to fund these services as a way to extort tax favors for Chevron.

We need to drive the lobbyists out of the Capitol and return the voice of the people.

I have spent my life fighting to give people a voice. As an environmental leader and consumer advocate I have taken on corporate polluters.  As our Assemblymember, I will fight to dramatically reduce the influence of lobbyists and corporate interests. I will fight for fair and clean elections that get politicians out of the fundraising business for good. I will fight to ban all gifts and luxury junkets from anyone with business before the legislature and will expose and slam shut special interest tax loopholes that are starving our state’s budget and making it impossible for local governments to fund schools, public safety and health care