Last night, on Thursday, July 21, 2016,  the St. Petersburg City Council voted 6-1 to move forward for consideration our proposed ordinance to abolish super PACs and ban foreign corporate money in local elections.  The vote followed passionate statements made by many St. Petersburg residents who attended this discussion and packed the city council hearing room.  American Promise-Tampa Bay, the League of Women Voters of St. Petersburg, and other allies played a critical role in showing the public support for this proposed ordinance.

This is a key victory and we are now preparing for the next stage of this campaign, with a City Council “Committee of the Whole” meeting on the ordinance to take place this fall. YES! Magazine shared the news last night, and we issued a press release in advance of this hearing

Our newest initiative was reviewed in an important article in The American Prospect, on our legal strategy to abolish super PACs.  On the article, John Bonifaz notes that: We see this St. Petersburg initiative as another important piece of a multi-pronged campaign to advance a new jurisprudence on money in politics, alongside our recently-filed FEC complaint to abolish super PACs (not in place of it).

Finally, in case you missed it, here is a Tampa Bay Times oped, co-authored by Free Speech For People Counsel Scott Greytak and St. Petersburg City Councilwoman Darden Rice on our proposed ordinance.  The oped appeared in the Tampa Bay Times this past Monday.

We are thrilled to continue our work in St. Petersburg and proud of the momentum we are building. For more information on our FEC complaint and proposed ordinance in St. Petersburg, visit www.endingsuperpacs.org

• Download our proposed St. Petersburg ordinance
• Download the St. Petersburg ordinance referenced statutes