A recent New York Times Magazine article by Michael Pollan highlights the potential momentum for a new “food movement” in America if California voters decide to enforce the labeling of genetically modified organisms (GMO) foods by passing Proposition 37, the Genetically Engineered Foods Right to Know Act next month. Proposition 37 proposes to label all GMO foods, including processed foods that contain GMO ingredients, and to prevent GMO foods from being labeled or advertised as “natural.” Agriculture industry giants opposed to Prop 37 are pouring money into California to defeat the ballot measure. According to the California watchdog group, Maplight, agribusiness giants have already sunk $35.6 million into defeating the prop with agrochemical titans Monsanto and DuPont emerging as the top two proponents with contributions totalling $7.1 million and $4.9 million, respectively. The bulk of that money has gone to the committee, No on 37: Coalition Against the Deceptive Food Labeling Scheme, Sponsored by Farmers and Food Producers. Other agrochemical and agroscience institutions like BASF Plant Science, Syngenta Co., Bayer Cropscience and Dow Agrosciences LLC have each contributed $2 million to the cause. Meanwhile, advocacy and industry groups in support of Prop 37 have only managed to raise $7.7 million in support.
Continue readingRealtors take out big mortgage on California House race
Tuesday's contest in California's 31st Congressional District morphed into the biggest outside money spending spree of any House primary so far, thanks a massive influx of funds by the National Association of Realtors on behalf of Rep. Gary Miller.
Late unofficial returns from the California Secretary of State's office show that Miller, a seven-term Republican running in a new district, topped a six-person field with nearly 27 percent of the votes cast, winning a slot on November's ballot. Because of a new California primary system that sends the top two finishers in a free-for-all primary to ...
Continue readingGuess Who’s Coming to TCamp12: The TCamp Scholars Edition
“Guess Who’s Coming to TCamp12” is an mini-series we started to introduce some of the faces you’ll see at TCamp,... View Article
Continue readingSunlight Weekly Roundup: New open government law makes “great strides towards increasing transparency”
This week, a comprehensive overhaul of the Georgia’s open government laws unanimously passed the Senate. House Bill 397 will now... View Article
Continue readingSunlight Weekly Roundup: “The right of the people to know what their government is doing is fundamental to democracy”
California Councilwoman Teresa Barth recently wrote an open letter publicizing her support for increased government transparency. In the letter, Barth... View Article
Continue readingSunlight Weekly Roundup: Thanks to Citizens United, Americans “don’t think the government works for them anymore”
In our continued effort to highlight the anniversary of January 2010’s Citizens United decision, this month’s weekly roundups will take... View Article
Continue readingPublic Online Information Act Inspires Transparency Advocacy in California
Transparency advocates in California are drawing inspiration from the Public Online Information Act (POIA) to pursue disclosure improvements in California. POIA... View Article
Continue readingSunlight Weekly Roundup: “Transparency with conditions is not transparency”
The Austin Independent School District agreed to release a report that deals with the closing, repurposing, and consolidation of nine... View Article
Continue readingSunlight Weekly Roundup: New York Govenor Andrew Cuomo launches new website to increase transparency and emphasize citizen engagement
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has made good on his campaign promise to increase his own transparency by launching a... View Article
Continue readingDigitizing the California Budget
by policy intern Eric Dunn Budget transparency for the state of California is the subject of California Common Sense, a new... View Article
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