Skip to main content
Image
Photo of the iconic bean in Chicago

What's in HR1 Which We Just Passed in the House

March 11, 2019

This past week, the House passed this historic package of democracy and anti-corruption reforms to the Floor:

  • Campaign Finance Reform: Ending the dominance of big money in politics –ending the dominance of big money in our political system by requiring transparent disclosure of big-money contributors and special interests; creating a powerful matching system for small donations that amplifies citizens’ voices in politics and breaks the special interest stranglehold on Congress; pushing back on Citizens United; and strengthening oversight of campaign finance by tightening rules on super PACs, empowering the Federal Election Commission’s enforcement abilities, and repealing GOP rules that prevent government agencies from requiring commonsense disclosure of political spending.
  • Restoring Our Democracy: Ensuring clean and fair elections – improving access to the ballot box by combatting institutional barriers to voting, creating nationwide automatic voter registration, ensuring that individuals who have completed felony sentences have their full rights restored, expanding early voting and absentee voting, and modernizing the U.S. voting system; by building the constitutional record necessary to restore the Voting Rights Act; and by prohibiting voter roll purges and ending partisan gerrymandering. H.R. 1 also protects our election systems from attack by enhancing federal support for voting system security, increasing oversight over vendors and developing a national strategy to protect our democratic institutions.
  • Ethics and Accountability: Ensuring public officials work for the public interest – breaking the influence economy in Washington and increasing accountability by expanding conflict of interest law and divestment requirements, slowing the revolving door, preventing Members of Congress from serving on corporate boards and requiring presidents to disclose their tax returns. H.R. 1 also strengthens ethics enforcement by closing loopholes for lobbyists and foreign agents, empowering watchdogs, overhauling the Office of Government Ethics and creating a code of ethics for the Supreme Court.