California State & Local

Cal-Access Data,
Finally Usable

California campaign finance data is notoriously difficult to work with. PolicySpan fixes that, clean dashboards for Assembly races, Senate campaigns, IE committees, and local elections.

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The problem

Cal-Access is notoriously difficult to use

  • ✕ Opaque interface designed for regulators, not researchers
  • ✕ Data spread across dozens of tables with inconsistent formatting
  • ✕ Amendment filings create duplicate rows without clear audit trails
  • ✕ No built-in analytics, just raw transaction exports
  • ✕ Schedule D and F496 data inflate totals if naively summed
The PolicySpan solution

We do the hard work for you

  • ✓ Clean, visual dashboards built directly on Cal-Access data
  • ✓ Amendment deduplication, only the latest filing version counts
  • ✓ Correct totals: Schedule E only for expenditures, F460 only for receipts
  • ✓ Automatic committee type detection, candidate vs. IE
  • ✓ Enter a filer ID and your dashboard is ready in seconds
Live dashboard, Keeping Californians Working (IE committee, 2024)
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policyspan.ai/ca/1365806
PolicySpan California dashboard showing Keeping Californians Working IE committee, Total Raised $2.2M, Total Spent $2.9M, Spend by Target, Top Donors, and Monthly Fundraising
Real Cal-Access data. Amendment deduplication and schedule filtering applied automatically.
What's covered

Built for the full California ballot.

From statewide races to local city council contests, if it's in Cal-Access, PolicySpan can analyze it.

🏛️
Assembly & Senate Races
Track any California state legislative candidate. Donor geography, fundraising momentum, and contribution size breakdown for every district.
⚡
Independent Expenditure Committees
See exactly which candidates and ballot measures IE committees are supporting or opposing, and how much they're spending on each.
🗺️
Donor Concentration
Understand where campaign money is coming from. In-district vs. out-of-district ratios, top donor cities, and industry breakdowns for IE committees.
💰
Spend by Target
For IE committees, a full breakdown of which candidates and measures received support or opposition, by dollar amount and percentage of total spend.
📊
Expense Type Analytics
Analyze how campaigns are spending, TV/radio, digital, mail, consulting, salaries, and more. Built from Cal-Access expenditure codes.
🗳️
Ballot Measures
Ballot measure committee analytics coming soon, track initiative and referendum campaigns the same way you track candidates.
Coming Soon
New, Filing Compliance

From analytics to compliance, in the same platform.

PolicySpan now includes a built-in California filing tracker. Log contributions and expenditures, and the system tells you exactly what form to file, what's missing, and when the clock is running, before you export.

📋
Automatic Form Assignment
Every transaction is classified automatically, Form 460 for standard filings, Form 497 when a contribution of $1,000 or more lands within 90 days of your election.
⚠️
Threshold-Aware Validation
The system knows employer and occupation are required at $100. Below that threshold, they're optional. Above it, they're flagged as required, right in the form.
⏱️
24-Hour Filing Alerts
Form 497 requires filing within 24 hours of a qualifying late contribution. PolicySpan flags this the moment the transaction is logged so nothing slips through.
✏️
Edit and Fix Inline
Incomplete entries are highlighted directly in the ledger. Log what you have now, fill in missing details later, nothing is lost, and the export gate keeps you honest.
🔒
Export Gated on Compliance
The .CAL file export is blocked until every required field is complete. No partial filings, no accidental omissions. If it exports, it's clean.
📁
Cal-Access .CAL Export
Export a properly formatted .CAL file ready for submission to Cal-Access. No manual formatting, no separate software.
Read the launch post → How the Filing Tracker works

Supported race types

PolicySpan automatically identifies the race type and applies the right analytics.

State Assembly State Senate Governor Lt. Governor Attorney General Secretary of State Controller Treasurer Superintendent of Public Instruction Mayor City Council IE Committees
Who it's for

Built for everyone who covers California politics.

State Campaign Staff
Stop wrestling with Cal-Access raw data. Get your full fundraising picture, donor cities, repeat givers, spending breakdown, in one dashboard.
Political Consultants
Pull California competitive intelligence in minutes for any district. No Cal-Access account needed. No manual data cleaning required.
Journalists & Researchers
Track IE committee spending in state legislative races. Instantly see which committees are targeting which candidates, and how much.

Ready to analyze a California committee?

Enter any Cal-Access filer ID and get a full analytics dashboard, no Cal-Access account needed.

🎉 You're on the list! We'll reach out within 24 hours.

No credit card required. We'll reach out personally within 24 hours.

Integrations

Real-time donation sync

Connect your fundraising platform and every gift lands in your dashboard the moment it hits — pacing, refcodes, and pledges included.

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