The New Democratic House of Representatives has released their first Bill (HR1). To be clear, this Legislation has little-to-no chance of Passing the Republican-controlled Senate or being Signed by President Trump.
The issue is being spearheaded by Rep. John Sarbanes (D-MD, 3rd District ), a longtime Advocate of Campaign Finance Reform who has long Disavowed Corporate PAC Money. Sarbanes and other House Democrats have been working with Progressive heavy hitters in the Senate including Sen. Elizabeth Warren (MA), whose own wide-ranging Anti-Corruption Senate Bill was recently introduced in the House by Sarbanes and Progressive Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA, 7th District).
On Friday morning, Sarbanes, Pelosi, and Rep. Terri Sewell (D-AL) introduced the latest details along with a group of Freshmen Democratic Members, including: Mike Levin (D-CA, 49th District), Angie Craig (D-MN, 2nd District), Ilhan Omar (D-MN, 5th District), Dean Phillips (D-MN, 3rd District), Chris Pappas (D-NH, 1st District), Tom Malinowski (D-NJ, 7th District), Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA, 5th District), Susan Wild (D-PA, 7th District), and Veronica Escobar (D-TX, 16th District).
Sarbanes says the Goal is to have a Bill, which has many Details yet to be hammered out, ready to be voted on by January 3rd, the First day of the New Session.
It includes:
- Getting Money Out of Politics
- Protecting our Right to Vote
- Returning Power to the People
It's not perfect, but it's a start.
The Plan will Address:
- Money in Politics
- Ethics Issues
- Voting Rights
Here’s what the Plan would do:
Campaign Finance
- Public Financing of Campaigns, powered by Small Donations. Under Sarbanes’s Vision, the Federal Government would provide a Voluntary 6-1 Match for Candidates for President and Congress, for every Dollar a Candidate Raises from Small Donations, the Federal Government would Match it Six times over. “If you give $100 to a candidate that’s meeting those requirements, then that candidate would get another $600 coming in behind them,” Sarbanes said. “The evidence and the modeling is that most candidates can do as well or better in terms of the dollars they raise if they step into this new system.”
- Passing the DISCLOSE Act, pushed by Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI, 1st District) and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (RI). This would require Super PACs and “Dark Money” Political Organizations to make their Donors Public.
- Passing the Honest Ads Act, Championed by Sens. Amy Klobuchar (MN) and Mark Warner (VA), which would require Facebook and Twitter to Disclose the Source of Money of Political Ads on their Platforms, and share how much Money was Spent.
Ethics
- Requiring Presidents to Disclose their Tax Returns.
- Stopping Members of Congress from using Taxpayer Money to Settle Sexual Harassment Cases, Pay Legal Fees, or Buy First-Class Plane Tickets.
- Giving the Office of Government Ethics the Power to do more Oversight and Enforcement and put in Stricter Lobbying Registration Requirements.
- Create a New Ethical Code for the U.S. Supreme Court, ensuring All Branches of Government are Impacted by the New Law.
Voting Rights
- Creating New National Automatic Voter Registration that Asks Voters to Opt-Out, rather than Opt-In, ensuring more People will be Signed-Up to Vote.
- Early Voting and Online Voter Registration would also be Promoted.
- Restoring the Voting Rights Act, part of which was Dismantled by a U.S. Supreme Court Decision in 2013.
- Ending Partisan Gerrymandering in Federal Elections.
- Prohibiting Illegal Voter Roll Purging.
- Encouraging Online Voter Registration.
- Beefing-Up Elections Security, including requiring the Director of National Intelligence to do Regular Checks on Foreign Threats.
HR 1 is a large Package, but Sarbanes said in addition to Passing it as the First Bill, Members will likely Break-Out Pieces of it into Smaller Bills as well, that Individually could get Bipartisan Support from Republicans in the Senate, things like the Honest Ads Act and Election Security. “The combination of having some [bills] like that plus having a powerful push out of the gate the public responds to in a positive way creates political pressure for Republicans to get on board,” Sarbanes said. “They are going to discover this sort of thing is popular back in their district.” Democrats want to “walk the walk.”
The Anti-Corruption Reform effort is nothing New for Sarbanes, who stopped accepting PAC Money Seven years ago and once joined a Frigid walk in Zero-Degree Weather across part of New Hampshire to commemorate Doris “Granny D” Haddock, the late Activist who trekked across the entire Nation to make a Point about Campaign Finance Reform.
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
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