Democrats Make Voting Rights, Campaign Finance & Ethics Laws Top Priority

by Future Majority | 12.3.18

H.R. 1 in the News

“Earlier this month, Americans went to the polls and sent a powerful message: The election not only was a resounding verdict against Republicans’ assault on Americans’ health care and wages, but it also was a vote to rescue our broken democracy.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-democratic-majoritys-first-order-of-business-restore-democracy/2018/11/25/9aeb3dbe-ece2-11e8-96d4-0d23f2aaad09_story.html?utm_term=.3ccb6dd449cc

“But by making anti-corruption their No. 1 priority, House Democrats are throwing down the gauntlet for Republicans. A vast majority of Americans want to get the influence of money out of politics, and want Congress to pass laws to do so, according to a 2018 Pew Research survey. Given Trump’s multitude of scandals, it looks bad for Republicans to be the party opposing campaign finance reform — especially going into 2020.”

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/11/30/18118158/house-democrats-anti-corruption-bill-hr-1-pelosi

“Democrats will take control of the U.S. House in January with big items topping their legislative to-do list: Remove obstacles to voting, close loopholes in government ethics law and reduce the influence of political money.”

https://www.npr.org/2018/11/12/665635832/democrats-say-their-first-bill-will-focus-on-strengthening-democracy-at-home

“House Democrats on Friday unveiled the outline for their first legislative push in the new Congress -- a bill that would be aimed at substantial government reforms on everything from voter rights to campaign finance to ethics requirements in Washington to the documents presidential candidates must hand over when they win the nomination.”

https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/30/politics/house-democrats-trump-tax-returns-government-reform/index.html

“Flanked by newly elected freshman lawmakers Friday, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi revealed the Democratic Party’s first piece of legislation for 2019: a package of voting rights, campaign finance and ethics reforms that is meant to help restore integrity in government, one of the party’s key campaign promises in the 2018 midterm elections.”

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/pelosi-democrats-campaign-finance-voting-rights_us_5c01c43fe4b04fb211681759

“The first bill Democrats plan to move in January when they take control of the House will mark a major step forward on a longstanding progressive goal: public financing of congressional campaigns.”

https://theintercept.com/2018/12/02/public-campaign-finance-hr1/

“No member of the House will want to be on the record as having opposed all of the items on that list since most of them poll very well. Some Republicans will probably vote for the bill for that reason, but I doubt there will be many defectors because most of the truly vulnerable Republicans have already been defeated.”

https://washingtonmonthly.com/2018/11/30/house-dems-settle-on-big-anti-corruption-push/

“House Democrats set to retake the majority unveiled a political-reform bill Friday that would bolster ethics rules in Congress, push for automatic voter registration and require presidential nominees to release their tax returns — a direct rebuke of President Trump.”

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/nov/30/house-dems-unveil-sweeping-political-reform-bill/

“Sarbanes hopes to have the legislation ready for the first day of the next Congress, Jan. 3. Much of it will be modeled on legislation that he and more than 160 House Democrats introduced in May.”

https://www.apnews.com/21c560f890e74964a05e9e36271a760e

"Our best friend in this debate is the public," Pelosi said. "We believe that it will have great support and that message won't get lost on the Senate or on the president of the United States."

https://www.newschannel6now.com/2018/11/30/house-democrats-st-bill-targets-big-donors-voting-access/

“The measure contains ethics reform, campaign finance reform and voting rights protections, and is designed “to make a powerful statement right out of the gate,” said Sarbanes, the Baltimore County Democrat who is the measure’s principal author. It is to be introduced when the new Congress convenes Jan. 3.”

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/politics/bs-md-sarbanes-democrats-20181130-story.html

“House Democrats are making reform a priority for the new Congress, but they are expected to have trouble passing the package in the Republican-controlled Senate. Some advocates hope that, after the House passes the bill, pieces of it could be broken off and negotiated with the Senate or included as policy riders in government spending bills or other large pieces of legislation.”

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/11/30/house-democrats-campaign-finance-ethics-laws-1034657