On August 3, a federal campaign finance constitutional amendment with public financing authority was referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary’s Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice.

House Joint Resolution 113, introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on July 20, 2017, proposes an amendment to the Constitution of the United States granting explicit authority to Congress and to the states to regulate contributions and expenditures in political campaigns and to enact public financing systems for such campaigns.

Rep. Adam Schiff introduced the legislation with the intent to increase regulation of campaign contributions and spending.

“The regulatory process is at a standstill as we watch billions of dark money pour into elections,” Schiff said in a press release.

U.S. Representative Adam B. Schiff has introduced a constitutional amendment to reverse the resulting outcomes of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decisions in Citizens United and Arizona Free Enterprise Club’s Freedom Club PAC V. Bennett, an Arizona public financing law struck down by the Court.

The amendment, proposed in House Joint Resolution 111, reads as follows: “Nothing in this Constitution shall be construed to forbid Congress or the states from imposing content-neutral limitations on private campaign contributions or independent political campaign expenditures. Nor shall this Constitution prevent Congress or the states from enacting systems of public campaign financing, including those designed to restrict the influence of private wealth by offsetting campaign spending or independent expenditures with increased public funding.”

In his press release, Congressman Schiff said: “I have always been loath to amend the constitution, but this tragic line of reasoning by the Supreme Court has so threatened the health of our democracy that I am moved to introduce today’s amendment.”