Dispatches on the For the People Act (Edition #1)
Welcome to the Equal Citizens H.R. 1 Substack!
The three of us, Megha Prasad, Kevin Rissmiller, Kate Travis (check out our bios at the end), will send out this weekly newsletter every Thursday to keep you posted on the “For The People Act” (H.R. 1) — the most significant democracy reform bill in generations — as it moves through Congress.
Today’s issue will feature a brief overview of H.R. 1. And then each subsequent week, we will devote a section of this Substack to a specific aspect of the bill — we’ll share what the provision does and why it matters.
Equally important, we will also share news coverage about the legislation (which you should share widely!) and we will end each newsletter with a few simple actions that you can take to help us in this fight for democracy.
In essence, our goal is to provide you with a one-stop-shop for all news about H.R. 1. We hope that you will join us in this critical fight for the future of our democracy. Make sure to subscribe if you haven’t already, and share the word about this substack with your friends and on social media.
So, what is H.R. 1?:
H.R. 1 is a sweeping democracy reform bill that has, among other things, three primary goals: to ensure everyone can vote, to create a campaign finance system that empowers everyone (not just big donors), and to end gerrymandering once and for all.
Here are a few ways the bill does it:
Ballot Accessibility
Registration: Enacting nationwide automatic, same-day, and online voter registration and preventing discriminatory voter purges.
Voting: improving and clarifying the vote by mail process, modernizing voting infrastructure to prevent hacking and improve election security, and limiting the negative impact of voter ID laws.
People-Powered Campaign Finance
Creating a system of public financing for Congressional elections that will allow citizens to multiply the impact of their small campaign donations, financed by surcharges on corporations who break the law.
Upgrading disclosure laws to force special interest political groups to disclose their large donors.
Greatly improving lobbying disclosure laws and cracking down on the “revolving door” between government and private industry.
Nonpartisan Redistricting
Ending partisan gerrymandering by mandating that states use independent commissions to draw Congressional district lines.
Of course, this is just a brief and incomplete overview of this amazing bill. And we will be going into more details soon. But if you can’t wait, you can find more information about the bill, written by its architect, Rep. John Sarbanes, here.
In the News:
The Hill reports that Senate Democrats are making the For The People Act a top legislative priority for the upcoming session. The bill, known in the Senate as S. 1, is sponsored by Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon, and has the strong support of Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Rules Committee Chairwoman Amy Klobuchar. The principal challenge to the bill is the Senate’s filibuster. If the Democrats keep the filibuster, the bill will need 60 votes (meaning all 50 Democrats plus 10 Republicans) to pass. Democrats have not yet laid out a plan of action for the future of the filibuster. Read more about the bill and its future in the Senate here.
The Fulcrum breaks down how the majority of Americans support the For The People Act, even though the fight in Congress is currently “one sided.” A poll commissioned by Equal Citizens and conducted by Data for Progress found that Americans on both sides of the aisle support H.R. 1, despite opposition from Republicans in Congress to the bill. Although Democrats supported H.R. 1 by the widest margin (77%), the poll also found that 68% of Independents and 56% of Republicans were in favor of the bill. (Bonus, this article quotes Equal Citizens’ Executive Director, Adam Eichen!). You can read the full article here.
Want more data on public support for H.R. 1? Check out Data for Progress’ and Equal Citizens’ poll results here!
A new Washington Post opinion article discusses how the For The People Act will benefit Republicans, too. Lee Drutman, a senior fellow at the New America think tank, analyzed how aggressive gerrymandering and voter suppression may help Republicans in the short term but will eventually lead to a collapse of our democratic system and the Republican Party in the long term. The article discusses how an independent redistricting commission requirement will reverse this trend, as the GOP will have to nominate more moderate Republicans to win competitive districts. You can read more of this opinion here.
End Citizens United and Let America Vote Action Fund is leading a coalition of groups to run a $1.3 million ad campaign in support of H.R. 1. The ads will run in 18 battleground districts and thank members of Congress for supporting the For The People Act and defending American democracy. The coalition includes Common Cause, Communications Workers of America, Brady PAC, and Public Citizen. You can read more about the ad campaign and watch some of the ads here.
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.
The AFL-CIO supports the For The People Act:
Fair Fight and Stacey Abrams talk about why the Act is necessary:
Dan Pfeiffer shares why we need to eliminate the filibuster to pass H.R. 1:
Norman Ornstein says the For The People Act is good for the Republican Party:
And finally, if you haven’t already listened to the interview between Lawrence Lessig and Rep. John Sarbanes, the architect of the For the People Act, be sure to check it out here and subscribe to our podcast, Another Way, here!
How you can help:
H.R. 1 is the most important democracy reform bill in half a century, but to get it through Congress, we need your help. That’s why we’ll end this newsletter every week with a few quick and easy ways to join the fight for H.R. 1. This week, you can:
Subscribe to our substack for the most up-to-date news on H.R. 1
Share our newsletter and the articles included above on social media and tell your friends why you support #ForThePeopleAct!
Subscribe to our podcast, Another Way, for even more information on H.R. 1
And, of course, call your members of Congress and let them know you support H.R. 1, and they should, too.
More about us:
Hello! I’m Megha Prasad, I am a sophomore at Northeastern University, majoring in Political Science & Business Administration. I previously did election protection work with Common Cause for the 2020 election and saw first-hand just how many institutions were trying to prevent people from exercising their right to vote. I’m excited to work for Equal Citizens and advocate for H.R. 1 so we can make our democracy more accessible to all.
Hi! My name is Kevin Rissmiller, I am a sophomore at Connecticut College, majoring in Government and Economics, with a minor in Applied Statistics. My research at college focuses on youth climate activism and the political impacts that young people have. I have also studied our voting reforms and extensively researched Independent Redistricting Commissions. Recently, I joined the Equal Citizens Team to help fix our democracy!
And I’m Kate Travis! I’m a junior at Harvard, majoring in History and Literature with a minor in Government. Before I joined the Equal Citizens team, I was an organizer during the 2020 election cycle, and I worked for a startup voter registration organization. My work in voter registration showed me that it is much too hard for most people, especially young people, to vote, so I am excited about H.R. 1’s proposals to make voting more accessible!