Issue link: https://nnumagazine.uberflip.com/i/447737
Editor Lucia Hwang Executive Editor Rose Ann DeMoro Graphic Design and Production Jonathan Wieder Communications Director Charles Idelson Contributors Hedy Dumpel, RN, JD California Nurse March 2006 Volume 102/2 (ISSN 0008-1310) is published by the California Nurses Association, 2000 Franklin Street, Oakland, CA. 94612-2908. It provides news of the Association's activities and reports on developments of concern to all registered nurses in the state. It also carries general coverage and commentary on matters of nursing practice, community health, and healthcare policy. It is published ten times a year with combined issues in the summer and winter. Periodicals postage paid at Oakland, California. Postmaster send address changes to California Nurse, 2000 Franklin Street, Oakland, CA. 94612-2908. To send a media release or announcement: Phone: 510-273-2200 Ext. 249 Fax: 510-663-0629 California Nurse is carried on the CNA website: www.calnurses.org. For permission to reprint articles write to Editorial Office. To subscribe: Send $40 ($45 foreign) to Subscription Department. CaliforniaNurse Letter from the President President's Note The first time I heard of "clean money," I thought it referred to money laundering or something along those lines. I couldn't have been farther from the reality! Clean money is the expression used by people to refer to a new system of funding elections that cures the unhealthy dependence by candidates on Big Business and wealthy special interests for their next campaign dol- lar. Instead of letting these corporate groups influence policy against the public interest, clean money frees officials to cater to the constituents that matter most: the people. It does this by setting up a publicly-financed elec- tion system. Under clean money elections, candidates who agree to not raise money from private sources, and meet eligibility requirements to show that they have broad support—by collecting a certain number of signatures and $5 donations from supporters—get public money to fund their campaigns. The CNA/NNOC board and leadership have thought long and hard about this issue, and we concluded that the corrupting influence of corporate money in our political system is a major obstacle blocking our path to real healthcare reform and to a single-payer healthcare system. That's why we recently filed an initiative to institute a clean money system in California, and why nurses should care enough to help qualify it for the November 2006 ballot. The initiative would not only set up clean money elections, but limit outrageous contributions by big corporations like we saw during the November 2005 special election, where pharmaceutical companies gave more than $80 million to block genuine drug pricing reform. In states like Maine that already have clean money elections, we've even seen working RNs elected to state legislatures. Now, imagine if people like us nurses made the rules. For more information about clean money elec- tions and the stories of these nurses, check out our feature story on clean money in this issue. We're also happy to announce that NNOC is campaigning for an RN-to- patient ratio bill in Illinois that's similar to what we already have in California, so the push for patient safety is spreading to the Midwest. Please get involved with the California Nurses Clean Money and Fair Elections Act of 2006. You can visit our website at www.calnurses.org for more information. Deborah Burger, RN CNA and NNOC president