A Big Week for H.R. 1
Dispatches on the For The People Act (Edition #14)
As many of you already know, the Senate Rules Committee marked up the For The People Act on Tuesday. This was a major step forward for S. 1, and now Senate Majority Leader Schumer can bring the bill to the Senate floor for debate.
Because this event is so important, our Substack today will focus entirely on the markup — we’ll give a brief rundown of what happened and where we go from here, and share some news coverage and tweets about the event (and, as always, share ways that you can help). Kate also penned an op-ed about the markup, which you can read here.
So, what actually happened during the markup?
Markup is the part of the legislative process in which the committee can amend the bill before voting on whether to advance it to the Senate floor. On Tuesday, the Committee voted on 40 amendments, but only a few minor changes were made. The 9 Democrat/Independent - 9 Republican makeup of the Committee meant that for any amendment to be adopted one side had to convince one member of the other side to support it. Despite this gridlock, the meeting included brief moments of bipartisan collaboration, reminding us how the government could work if our representatives worked for the people over parties and special interests. Below we will summarize some of the most important events.
Notable Accepted Amendments:
Senators Capito and Klobuchar collaborated on an amendment to S. 1’s requirement that polling places use paper ballots, in order to increase accessibility for the blind. Senator Capito originally proposed striking the paper ballot requirement entirely, but Senator Klobuchar offered to collaborate on an amendment to preserve paper ballots while making voting accessible for the blind. The committee later adopted that collaborative amendment by unanimous voice vote.
Senator Klobuchar also introduced an amendment that would require the Attorney General to submit a report to Congress on the cybersecurity measures required to defend voter registration data collected by local election officials. This amendment would then help preserve online voter registration as a convenient and secure way to register to vote. Senator Klobuchar noted that this idea was introduced by a Republican in the House and adopted on a bipartisan basis. The committee accepted this amendment by unanimous voice vote.
Notable Failed Amendments:
Senator Klobuchar proposed a full bill replacement, known as a manager’s amendment. It included tweaks based on feedback from secretaries of state, mostly to delay some implementation dates to reduce the burden on election administrators. The manager’s amendment is a standard practice meant to improve the bill, but Republicans blocked the manager’s amendment entirely.
Senator Ossoff proposed an amendment that would prevent states from implementing laws against providing food and water to those waiting to vote. This amendment was prompted by GOP-backed legislation in Ossoff’s home state of Georgia that criminalized the distribution of food or water to voters as they wait in line (often for hours at a time). Unfortunately, not a single Republican supported Ossoff’s amendment, meaning that it was not added to the bill in Committee. (Hopefully, the larger Senate will add it later).
Senator Cruz introduced an amendment to strike the small-donor matching program from S. 1. In response, Senator King asked Cruz whether or not he would support the bill if Democrats included all of his amendments. Cruz’s answer boiled down to “No”. This increasingly common and frustrating hardline approach suggests that Democrats will not find support from the Republican Party and should not make the mistake of the Obama-era by waiting for it. Thankfully, this amendment failed along partisan lines.
What Happens Next?
Despite the final deadlocked vote in the committee, thereby not sending the bill to the Senate floor, Senate Majority Leader Schumer can add the For the People Act to the Senate calendar and open it up for full debate. It is currently unclear when this will occur, but as soon as we know we will give you a full update. So don’t forget to subscribe to stay in the loop if you haven’t already!
In the News:
The Washington Post’s Paul Waldman discusses the diminishing possibility of bipartisanship on the For the People Act. Pointing to Senator Cruz’s actions during markup, Waldman notes that, as with the Affordable Care Act, there will be no Republican support for the bill. It will therefore be on Senator Manchin to decide if the filibuster is more important than protecting our democracy.
NPR reports on the highlights of the Senate markup. This article describes most of the major changes to the bill. Again, it emphasizes just how unlikely it is that Republicans will work with Democrats to pass S. 1. This leaves Senate Democrats with no other option but to reform the filibuster.
PBS and the Associated Press published an extensive look at the state of the For The People Act, with a video of the entire markup proceedings. The authors describe just how determined Republicans are to prevent the legislation from passing, noting the rare appearance from McConnell at the markup to argue against the bill. Additionally, the piece reports that Senators Manchin and Sinema are meeting with President Biden about infrastructure this week. Biden is a firm supporter of the For the People Act and we hope he can also use this opportunity to convince them to ditch the filibuster for fair elections reform.
Social Media Roundup:
Let’s be frank: there are A LOT of tweets, posts, and general conversation about the For The People Act. In this section, we give you an overview of the tweets and media you really need to see.
How you can help:
One of our previous Substacks included 5 quick and easy ways to join the fight for H.R. 1! You can learn more about how to get involved here. In the meantime, you can:
Call your senators and tell them that you support reforming the filibuster to pass H.R. 1. You can find your senators’ phone numbers, as well as where they stand on the filibuster, using our handy filibuster tracker!
Write a letter to the editor in your local paper sharing your support of H.R. 1 and urging your Senators to pass it. Not sure how to write a letter to the editor? Reach out to us at info@equalcitizens.us and we can help!
Share our newsletter, our podcast, the articles included above, and the resources on H.R. 1 below on social media and tell your friends why you support #ForThePeopleAct
If you have questions about H.R. 1 you want us to answer in our Substack, tweet at us with #HR1Substack!
Extra, Extra:
If, after reading our newsletter, you still want to know more about the For The People Act, Equal Citizens, or the two of us, you can find more information here!
Relevant Resources:
Here are a few resources on the “For the People Act” if you have questions:
Equal Citizens recently launched a filibuster tracker, so you can see where your senator stands on the filibuster. It also includes their phone numbers and their Twitter handles, so you can get in touch with them directly and push them to support filibuster reform!
The Brennan Center for Justice created a wonderful guide to H.R. 1. Check it out here. They also created an in-depth report about racism and disenfranchisement due to incarceration.
Here is the link to the House website on the For the People Act.
Flood social media with these awesome graphics about the For the People Act!
There is a lot of misinformation about H.R. 1, and the amount of misinformation will only grow as the fight heats up. That’s why it’s more important than ever to make sure everyone has all the facts on the bill - here is an article from Media Matters that can help you fact check.
More about us:
Kate Travis is a fellow at Equal Citizens and a junior at Harvard studying History and Literature with a minor in Government. When she’s not fighting for democracy, you can find her running, playing the cello, and drinking copious amounts of coffee (maybe even all at once). Follow her on Twitter at @mkht930.
Kevin Rissmiller is a fellow at Equal Citizens and a Goodwin-Niering Scholar at Connecticut College majoring in Government and exploring sociology, economics, and applied statistics. In his free time, you will find him at Dunkins or (pre-pandemic) playing ultimate frisbee. Connect with him on LinkedIn.
If you want more updates on H.R. 1 from Kate and Kevin, then subscribe here!