People's Advocate

People's Advocate is a California-based political watchdog and anti-tax organization formed by Paul Gann in 1974. The group worked to help pass California's Proposition 13, which capped property taxes at 1% of the property's cash value. In 1979, it helped pass the Gann Spending LImit, which limits state spending increases to inflation and population increase, and requires the State to return surplus taxes back to the people. In 1986, it helped pass an initiative making English the state's official language. In 2003, it worked to recall California's then-Governor, Gray Davis.

Campaign to suspend California's Global Warming Solutions Act (greenhouse gas emissions law)
In 2010, People's Advocate started backing a California initiative to suspend the state's Global Warming Solutions Act (also known as Assembly Bill 32), signed into law in 2006. AB 32 requires the state to bring its greenhouse gas emissions down to 1990 levels by the year 2020. The group is part of an effort to gather signatures to put a measure on the state-wide ballot suspending the law until unemployment in the state reaches 5.5 percent for four consecutive quarters. Backers of the suspension effort call their measure the California Jobs Initiative. People's Advocate is listed as a supporter of the effort on a Web site, SuspendAB32.org.

People's Advocate says AB 32 is AB 32 "increases government control of individual decisions" and is "ineffective and counterproductive, massively costly to businesses and families, and will increase our state deficit and/or cut services including those related to public health and environmental protection."

Board and Officers
The CEO of People's Advocate is Ted Costa, whose duties include soliciting memberships, conducting fundraising, and overseeing the drafting and qualification of the initiative to suspend AB 32. Costa is also in charge of People's Advocate's political action committee.

From the group's 2008 Form 990, the other officers are:
 * Esther Rushford Greene, Director; former director of public affairs for the California Chamber of Commerce and former Reagan appointee
 * Jim Cates, Chairman; an electrical engineer
 * Dan Benvenuti, Chairman. (His page on the People's Advocate website lists him as "Boardmember Emeritus".)
 * Major General Sidney Novaresi, President
 * Sonia Sworak, Director

Contact
People's Advocate 3407 Arden Way Sacramento, California, 95825

Phone: 1-916-482-6175

Web site: http://www.peoplesadvocate.org/ Email: tedcosta@tedcosta.com

Related SourceWatch Articles

 * Ted Costa
 * Forde and Mollrich
 * AB 32 Implementation Committee

External articles

 * Samantha Young, Associated Press GOP lawmakers seek to suspend Calif. climate law, February 5, 2010
 * Margo Roosevelt Effort underway to suspend California's global-warming law Los Angeles Times, February 6, 2010