Ca for More Transp and Effect Govt
oci 8 26
PROP 41
• Californians for a More Transparent and Effective Government campaign website:
Reform California
• Sergey Brin - Google Co-Founder
• Patrick Collison - CEO of Stripe
• John Doerr - Chairman of Kleiner Perkins
• Max Levchin - CEO of Affirm
• Stewart Resnick - President and Chairman of The
Wonderful Company
• Eric Schmidt - Former CEO of Google
• Tony Xu - CEO of DoorDash Reform California
Donors for Prop 42
As of July 28, 2026
Sergey Brin $83,000,000
Includes funding of parallel Prop 41
No others known
Committee to Build an Affordable
California. (sponsored by Cal Chamber of Commerce)
Building a Better California (Sergey Brin and Michael
Moritz)
Building Resilient Infrastructure for a
California Building Industry Non donor Funds
Biggest cash donors included Sergey Brin, L. John Doerr, III, Michael Moritz(CEO Stripe) and
Eric Schmidt (Sequoia venture capital)
Opponents of Prop 45
• People over Polluters is leading the effort https://
peopleoverpollutersca.com/about
• This measure is opposed by the CADEM,
Working Families Party, California Environmental
Justice Alliance, the California State Building and
Construction Trades Council, California Young
Democrats, California Enviro Voters and more than
250 other organizations, including housing, labor,
health, environmental justice, and conservation
groups.
• OCI Environmental Justice opposesd this measure
• See https://peopleoverpollutersca.com/endorsements for more details
-=-=
-=-=
local news
The California Secretary of State's office is investigating apparent ballot initiative petition fraud in San Francisco stemming from a video circulating online.
The video was posted by a city street videographer known as JJ Smith. The video appears to show paid signature collectors offering $5 to people on the streets if they signed petitions using other people's voter registration information.
In an interview with KCRA 3, Smith described the people lining up to sign the petitions as those who are "down on their luck."
He said he was on the corner of 6th and Mission Street when he started capturing the scene of an apparent crime.
In emails and text messages with KCRA 3, three campaigns acknowledged their petitions were being passed around by the petition circulators seen in Smith's video.
Two of the campaigns are backed by billionaires known as Building a Better California and Californians for a More Transparent and Effective Government. The two are fighting a proposed billionaire's tax with a series of anti-tax measure.
The third campaign involved is backing the Retirement and Personal Savings Protection Act of 2026.
Spokespeople for the three campaigns said the circulators were not directly affiliated with the campaigns and noted they were paid by unnamed signature gathering firms.
All three are demanding the firm identify the circulator and reject their petitions.
"Our campaign is absolutely incensed and under no circumstance do we tolerate this type of activity in the signature gathering process," said Molly Weedn on behalf of Californians for a More Transparent and Effective Government.
"We do not tolerate this or any type of fraudulent activity in the signature-gathering process," said Abby Lunardi on behalf of Building a Better California.
"We are requiring the signature-gathering firm to ensure that all protocols are strictly enforced. Our attorneys are also alerting the appropriate authorities," said Nathan Click, a spokesman for the Retirement and Personal Savings Protection Act.
While his video is just under two minutes long, Smith said he was in the area watching the scene for hours. He said none of the proposals were actually explained to the hundreds of people he saw come and go to sign the petitions.
Smith said the secretary of state's chief investigator contacted him late Tuesday afternoon.
"Under California law, it is illegal to give money or other valuable consideration to another in exchange for their signature on an initiative petition," a spokesperson for the Secretary of State's office said in a statement Tuesday. "It is also a crime to circulate, sign and/or file those signed petitions with an election official any initiative petition that is known to include forged names. In California, the initiative process is an important part of our democracy and those who abuse our system will be held to accountable."
The office encouraged anyone with information on the matter to contact the office.
Meanwhile, Smith said this wasn't the first time he saw signature collectors apparently breaking the law. He said the same group was in the area four days ago.
-=-=
lAT
Poison-pill effort to cancel proposed billionaire tax hits voters’ mailboxes
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) kicks off the campaign for the California billionaire tax at the Wiltern in Los Angeles on Feb. 18. (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
Seema Mehta.
By Seema Mehta
Staff Writer
March 10, 2026
Opponents of a proposed 5% billionaire tax are flooding mailboxes with a rival ballot measure designed to block it. The effort is funded by Silicon Valley billionaires.
The competing initiatives highlight a rare progressive divide as Democratic Gov. Newsom opposes the $100-billion healthcare-funding measure while Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) champions it.
The billionaire tax has already prompted some of California’s wealthiest residents to leave the state, threatening the revenue projections underlying the proposal.
California voters are being urged to put a poison-pill effort on the November ballot that would nullify a proposed tax on the state’s billionaires.
Neither proposal has yet qualified for the ballot — supporters of each need to gather the verified signatures of hundreds of thousands of voters. But petitions that have been mailed and texted to California voters in recent days demonstrate the stakes in a contest that has already drawn tens of millions of dollars in campaign spending.
Subscribe to Continue Reading...
-=-=
evil but
Type:Non-profit, 501(c)(4), Organization
Ideological Alignment:Centrist
Issue Areas:Economic Policy, Housing Policy
Formation:
2026
Spokesperson:
Abby Lunardi
Contents
Contents Background and ActivitiesLeadership
Background and Activities
Proposed California Wealth Tax
Building a Better California was established in January 2026 as a social welfare organization with an affiliated political action committee. The group was established by Google co-founder Sergey Brin and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt. According to the New York Times and New York Post, the group was formed to organize the political efforts of billionaire residents and former residents of California in response to a proposed one-time wealth tax of five percent on all asset value over $1 billion. Brin, a long-time California resident, moved out of the state following the proposal and terminated or moved numerous California business ventures. Prior to Building a Better California, Brin had not donated to a California political cause since 2010. Venture capitalist Peter Thiel and investor and second Trump administration adviser David Sacks have also transferred significant assets out of California. ^1 ^2
The tax, which is projected to raise $50 to $60 billion for healthcare funding, would include stock equity in asset values, potentially costing billionaires like Brin tens of billions of dollars, which could only be paid by selling off long-held assets like stocks, thereby limiting the controlling interest of their shares. According to critics, the “fine print in the bill” would also impact the assets of non-billionaires. ^1 ^2
At its launch, Building a Better California claimed to not have taken an official stance on the billionaire tax. However, Nielsen Merksamer, the firm handling Building a Better California’s legal filings, had as of January 2026 already filed five ballot-initiative proposals designed to undermine the proposed tax, including a potential prohibition on retroactive taxes. ^1 ^2
Building a Better California initially raised $35 million, with $20 million coming from Brin, who had engaged in discussions with California business leaders about “raising hundreds of millions of dollars for a California influence campaign.” The largest non-tech donor was Wonderful Company co-owner Stewart Resnick, who contributed $2 million. Other donors to Building a Better California include cryptocurrency investor Chris Larsen; venture capitalists Mike Moritz, Peter Thiel, and John Doerr; DoorDash co-founder Tony Xu; Affirm CEO Max Levchin; and Stripe co-founder Patrick Collison. ^1 ^2
Within its first month, the group spent $11 million supporting ballot initiatives. One initiative, on which the group spent $6 million, would create a $25 billion program to subsidize downpayments on new homes. Building a Better California also contributed $5 million to an initiative to alter parts of the California Environmental Quality Act to speed up home construction. ^1 ^2
Proposed CA Transparency Act
As of 2026, Building a Better California was listed as a sponsor and “top funder” for Californians For A More Transparent And Effective Government, a ballot committee pushing for including the “Improving Transparency, Effectiveness, and Efficiency in California Government Act of 2026 (“Transparency Act”) on the California state November 2026 ballot.
According to handouts promoting the Transparency Act as well as instructions on how to get petition signatures for approving the Act’s placement on the ballot, the new bill would allege to cut down on spending waste and fraud by requiring state auditors to “conduct performance and financial audits of new taxes,” would require findings “to be posted publicly,” and require any excess tax revenue to be “refunded to taxpayers.” ^3 ^4
Leadership
As of 2026, Abby Lunardi was a spokesperson for Building a Better California and the chief marketing officer of Truity, a personality and career testing service. She previously worked as the chief communications and brand officer of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, and led branding and marketing efforts at Virgin America. ^1 ^5
-=-=
duck 826
InfluenceWatch
https://www.influencewatch.org › organization › building-a-better-california
Building a Better California - Influence Watch
As of 2026, Building a Better California was listed as a sponsor and "top funder" for Californians For A More Transparent And Effective Government, a ballot committee pushing for including the "Improving Transparency, Effectiveness, and Efficiency in California Government Act of 2026 ("Transparency Act") on the California state ...
FPPC
November 2026 Pending & Circulating Ballot | FPPC
25-0038A1 Not a Qualified Ballot Measure Supporting Californians for a More Transparent and Effective Government, sponsored by Building a Better California, #1488421
Transparency USA
Californians for a More Transparent and Effective Government Sponsored ...
Apr 18, 2026THE ANSWERS YOU NEED ABOUT THE MONEY IN STATE POLITICS
Images for **Californians for a More Transparent and Effective Government campaign
AI ima
KCRA Channel 3
California investigates ballot initiative petition fraud after viral ...
Mar 11, 2026Two of the campaigns are backed by billionaires known as Building a Better California and Californians for a More Transparent and Effective Government.
theballotbook.com
https://theballotbook.com › campaign_finance › committees › 20201
The Ballot Book | Californians for a More Transparent and Effective
Detailed campaign finance information for Californians for a More Transparent and Effective Government, Sponsored by Building a Better California, a political committee. View filings, contributions, expenditures, and financial summaries.
Los Angeles Times
Poison-pill effort to cancel proposed billionaire tax hits voters ...
Mar 10, 2026Californians for a More Transparent and Effective Government was funded by another group, called Building a Better California, according to the California secretary of state's office.
Los Angeles Times
Video: $5 to sign a ballot petition with someone else's name ...
1:23
Mar 11, 2026One political committee, Californians for a More Transparent and Effective Government, confirmed its petitions were among those whose signature gatherers were allegedly paying people to sign and ...
Author:Cierra Morgan
POLITICO
The sleeper initiative that could upend more than the wealth tax
Mar 16, 2026Brin's PAC, Californians for a More Transparent and Effective Government, donated $40,000 to Assemblymember Carl DeMaio 's Reform California ballot measure committee.
KMPH
https://kmph.com › news › local › video-in-san-francisco-appears-to-show-petition-fraud
Video in San Francisco appears to show petition fraud
Mar 11, 2026In a statement, Californians for a More Transparent and Effective Government said it does not tolerate that type of activity in the signature-gathering process. The group said it has taken immediate action and demanded the signature-gathering firm identify the people involved and reject their petitions.
elections.cdn.sos.ca.gov
https://elections.cdn.sos.ca.gov › ballot-measures › top-funders › 2017-top-funders-03-02-26.pdf
Petition circulation paid for by Californians for a More Transparent and Effective Government, Sponsored by Building a Better California
--=-=