WASHINGTON, D.C. – Newly sworn-in Rep. Dean Phillips has cosponsored a bill that would reform voter protection and campaign finance laws, known as The For the People Act of 2019, said the Phillips team in a press release on Jan. 4. Phillips introduced the bill with Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rep. John Sarbanes, the chief author and chair of the Democracy Reform Task Force.
The bill would expand voter protection through automatic voter registration and increased access to early voting and vote-by-mail, and strengthen ethics laws. The legislation also seeks to expand campaign disclosure requirements, establish a public-matching system of individual campaign contributions and expand the campaign finance oversight powers of the Federal Elections Commission.
“The partisanship and gridlock that plagues our government is a symptom of a larger disease,” said Phillips in the release. “That disease is the corrupting influence of special interest money in our politics. In November, communities across our nation came together to demand a disruption of politics as usual. The For the People Act will begin the important work of elevating common interests over special interests, and I am proud that it is the first bill I have the honor of cosponsoring in service to the people of Minnesota’s third district.”
View the January 8 article by Eden Teller on The Eden Prairie News website here.