 About a month ago, the good people of Tallahassee, Florida woke up to this headline. Tallahassee voters will decide ethics proposal. Nice. Now, at first glance, that probably sounds like the most boring thing any human has ever typed. But if you're sick of getting sold out to special interests, no matter how many different parties or politicians you vote for, this is really, really good news. Because right now, the capital city of Florida is on the verge of amending its city charter and passing the first citywide anti-corruption act in the United States. And if our friends in Tallahassee can pull this thing off, they'll create a model for anti-corruption advocates across the country to get money out of politics at the local, state, and federal level. And all without waiting for Congress to... do... things. You've probably noticed it's not really their strong suit. We've got a real chance for a big win down in Tallahassee. So, let's talk about what's going on down there and what we can do to help. So, I think bipartisan is one of those terms that modern politicians have overused to the point of complete meaninglessness. You know, it's one of those empty phrases they throw around, like middle-class jobs, or we swear not to f*** you over this time. Real bipartisanship is an endangered species in 2014, and that's what makes what's happening in Tallahassee right now so important. We've partnered with an organization called Citizens for Ethics Reform, which is a group of locals that's leading the charge for the Tallahassee Anti-Corruption Act. And Citizens for Ethics Reform is led by an amazing and genuinely bipartisan group, including a Democratic County Commissioner, the head of the local Tea Party Network, and an independent Ethics Watchdog. And that probably sounds pretty unlikely, right? Like, how often do you see progressives in Tea Party conservatives playing on the same team? But this actually shouldn't be that surprising. Every poll we've ever done has shown really strong support from Republicans, Democrats, and Independents for tough new laws that would get money out of politics. The Anti-Corruption Initiative in Tallahassee would create an independent Ethics Board and Ethics Officer to keep an eye on taxpayer money and, you know, actually enforce the law. What a concept. Cut the amount of money politicians can take from donors by 75%, and create a citizen funding system that makes it possible for candidates to run viable campaigns without having to sell out to big donors. And that means less cronyism and more efficient use of taxpayer money in the long run. And what's really cool here is that Team Tallahassee used an initiative process to put an Anti-Corruption Act directly on the ballot. We didn't have to wrangle with local lawmakers and watch a good proposal get filled with loopholes. We just wrote a tough new Anti-Corruption Law, took it to the people, and got over twice the number of signatures we needed to put it on the ballot. But this is bigger than just Tallahassee. We all know this is a national problem. But we also know that real reform isn't going anywhere in Washington anytime soon. If we want to break through at the national level, we have to start by building momentum at the state and local level first. Now, I grew up in the great state of Colorado. And at the risk of playing into certain stereotypes, I think the recent campaign to legalize marijuana is a perfect example of this strategy in action. Like, I don't know if anyone remembers when legalizing it was considered a pipe dream, but by picking smart local battles and appealing to a joint coalition of progressives, independents, and libertarians, legalization advocates have been racking up local wins. By winning locally, they've redrawn the political map nationally. In the early 90s, barely 20% of the public supported legalizing marijuana. Now, legalization is polling at record highs. Bombs. Now, whether you think marijuana should be legalized or not isn't the point. What we should learn from this is that with the right political strategy, you can take an issue that everybody thought would be impossible to move and start to drive real change on a national scale. And there are dozens of cities and states all over the country where we can bypass compromised local legislatures and put tough new anti-corruption laws directly on the ballot right now. No congressional intervention or constitutional amendment required. One of the biggest misconceptions out there is that the only way to change anything is by amending the Constitution to overturn rulings like Citizens United and McCutchen VFEC. And don't get me wrong, those rulings suck something awful, but they only affect certain aspects of a very complicated problem. There are a ton of laws we could pass tomorrow that would be 100% constitutional, even to the current Supreme Court. Everything from tougher lobbying laws to new disclosure rules to the ethics enforcement and citizen funding package we're seeing in Tallahassee. These are all things we can and should do right now. That's how we break through the gridlock, and that's how we win, and it all starts in Tallahassee. So what can you do to help? If you don't live in Tallahassee, the most important thing you can do is share this video. Most Americans overwhelmingly agree that we need to root corruption out of our government, but most of them also don't believe it's possible. So if we want to build the kind of movement we'll need to win this thing, we need to show people that change isn't just possible, it's already happening right now. If you live in Tallahassee, register to vote and turn out on November 4th to help pass this measure. Vote yes on the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Charter Amendment. I'm Monsour for Represent Us, and I will see you next time.