U.S. Rep. Ben Ray LujánCONGRESSIONAL News:
WASHINGTON, D.C. ― U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) has joined House Democrats in introducing H.R. 1, the For the People Act.
The legislation, sponsored by Congressman Jon Sarbanes (D-MD), would enact reforms to expand Americans’ access to the ballot box, reduce the influence of big money in politics, and strengthen ethics rules for public servants across all three branches of government.
“I am thrilled to join my colleagues in introducing this historic reform package to restore the promise of our nation’s democracy, end the culture of corruption in Washington, and reduce the role of money in politics so more Americans can exercise their fundamental right to participate in our democratic process. With this legislation, we are making it easier to vote and returning power back where it should be – with the American people,” Luján said.
The legislative package includes several of the Congressman’s priorities, including:
- Promoting Native Americans’ constitutionally guaranteed right to vote, including voter registration, equal access to all voting mechanisms, and a commitment to restoring the Voting Rights Act.
- Empowering voters by implementing automatic voter registration and creating a federal holiday for voting.
- Securing our elections by establishing standards for election vendors, maintaining the designation of election infrastructure as critical, and creating a National Commission to Protect United States Democratic Institutions.
The For the People Act will:
- Make it easier, not harder, to vote by requiring states to provide early voting and vote by mail, ensuring the integrity of our elections by modernizing and strengthening our voting systems, and ending partisan redistricting.
- Reform big money politics by requiring all political organizations to disclose large donors, updating political advertisement laws for the digital age, establishing a public matching system for citizen-owned elections, and revamping the Federal Election Commission to ensure there’s a cop on the campaign finance beat.
- Strengthen ethics laws to ensure that public officials work in the public interest, extending conflict of interest laws to the President and Vice President and requiring the release of their tax returns, closing loopholes that allow former members of Congress to avoid cooling-off periods for lobbying, breaking the revolving door between industry and the federal government, and establishing a code of conduct for the Supreme Court.
A one-pager and a detailed section-by-section can be found here.
