March 9, 2021 •
U.S. Senate to Receive “For the People Act 2021” After Passes U.S. House
Legislation aimed at reforming U.S. campaign finance, lobbying, and ethic laws has passed in the U.S. House of Representatives. H.R. 1, For the People Act 2021, is a sweeping 791-page bill. The proposed new law, which passed the House on […]
Legislation aimed at reforming U.S. campaign finance, lobbying, and ethic laws has passed in the U.S. House of Representatives. H.R. 1, For the People Act 2021, is a sweeping 791-page bill. The proposed new law, which passed the House on March 3, now heads to the U.S. Senate.
Among the changes in the bill, H.R. 1 restructures the Federal Election Commission and amends federal conflict of interest and lobbying laws. Introduced by Rep. John Sarbanes, the bill requires enhanced disclosure of donors making political contributions, creates a multiple matching system for small donations for political campaigns, and amends rules governing super PACs.
If passed, the bill also requires presidential candidates to disclose their tax returns, prohibits partisan gerrymandering, increases oversight over election vendors, creates an automatic voter registration across the country, and changes registration requirements for lobbyists and foreign agents.
January 14, 2021 •
Federal Bills Concerning Ethics Being Reintroduced
Legislation aimed at reforming U.S. campaign finance, lobbying, and ethic laws is being reintroduced in the U.S. House of Representatives. H.R. 1, For the People Act 2021, is a sweeping 791-page bill incorporating much of H.R. 1 introduced in 2019 […]
Legislation aimed at reforming U.S. campaign finance, lobbying, and ethic laws is being reintroduced in the U.S. House of Representatives. H.R. 1, For the People Act 2021, is a sweeping 791-page bill incorporating much of H.R. 1 introduced in 2019 by the last Congress. That bill passed the House in the previous Congress but never got a vote in the U.S. Senate.
Among the changes in the bill, H.R. 1 restructures the Federal Election Commission and amends federal conflict of interest and lobbying laws. Introduced by Rep. John Sarbanes, the bill requires enhanced disclosure of donors making political contributions, creates a multiple matching system for small donations for political campaigns, and amends rules governing super PACs. If passed, the bill also requires presidential candidates to disclose their tax returns, prohibits partisan gerrymandering, increases oversight over election vendors, creates an automatic voter registration across the country, and changes registration requirements for lobbyists and foreign agents.
Another bill reintroduced is H.R. 244, Executive Branch Conflict of Interest Act, which expands and establishes new prohibitions related to conflicts of interest involving certain federal government employees, prohibits a federal government employee from accepting a bonus from a former private sector employer for entering government service, and increases lobbying restrictions to two years for certain senior officials. H.R. 244 also prohibits a procurement officer in the federal government from working for a company that received a contract overseen by the procurement officer during the officer’s last two years in government service.
February 27, 2019 •
U.S. House Administration Committee Approves of Campaign Finance and Ethics Legislation
On February 26, legislation aimed at reforming U.S. campaign finance, lobbying, and ethic laws advanced in committee. The House Administration Committee approved of H.R. 1, the For the People Act, by a party-line vote of six to three. In the […]
On February 26, legislation aimed at reforming U.S. campaign finance, lobbying, and ethic laws advanced in committee. The House Administration Committee approved of H.R. 1, the For the People Act, by a party-line vote of six to three.
In the sweeping 571-page bill, corporate PACs would be required to make certifications annually with the Federal Election Commission. Those certifications would include affirming under penalty of law no foreign national participated in any way in the decision-making processes of the PAC; corporate board members who are foreign nationals abstained from voting on matters concerning the corporation’s PAC; and the PAC did not solicit or accept recommendations from any foreign national.
The legislation expands the definition of foreign national to include any corporation, limited liability corporation, or partnership that is not a foreign national but is owned or indirectly controlled by foreign nationals meeting statutory thresholds of ownership or voting. The threshold is five percent of voting shares if the foreign national is a foreign country, a foreign government official, or a corporation principally owned or controlled by a foreign country or foreign government official. The threshold is 20 percent if the foreign national is any other type of foreign national. Corporations not considered foreign nationals would fall under the definition when a foreign national has the power to direct, dictate, or control the decision-making process of the corporation with respect to its interests in the United States or with respect to activities in connection with federal, state, or local elections.
Additionally, the bill restructures the Federal Election Commission, amends the federal conflict of interest law, and expands the revolving door provision by prohibiting Members of Congress from serving on corporate boards. Introduced by Rep. John Sarbanes, the bill requires any organization involved in political activity to disclose its largest donors, creates a multiple matching system for small donations for political campaigns, and amends rules governing super PACs.
If passed, the bill also requires presidential candidates to disclose their tax returns, prohibits partisan gerrymandering, increases oversight over election vendors, creates an automatic voter registration across the country, and changes registration requirements for lobbyists and foreign agents.
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