Don't Let Power Hide in the Dark
Dispatches on the For The People Act (Edition #9)
Spring has arrived! And in honor of the sun hitting our windows, we are going to dedicate this newsletter to the DISCLOSE provision of the For The People Act. After all, as Justice Louis Brandeis once quipped, sunlight is the best disinfectant.
Make sure to subscribe and share if you haven’t already, and check out the action items at the bottom of the newsletter for ways that you can get involved in this critical fight for democracy.
Before we begin, tonight (April 8th) at 5:15pm, we will be interviewing best-selling author and gerrymandering expert David Daley on Facebook Live. We will talk about his books, Ratf**ked and Unrigged, as well as — you guessed it — the For The People Act. RSVP here.
There’s also a new episode of Another Way. This week, Larry Lessig spoke to Weston Wamp, senior political strategist for Issue One and host of the podcast, Swamp Stories. The two discuss congressional fundraising, the January 6th insurrection, and the Republican Party's relationship to democracy reform. Listen here.
Mark your calendar! We will be having a live discussion about the For the People Act with two members of the Demos team, Laura Williamson and Shruti Banerjee, next Friday, the 16th, at 5 pm. Stay tuned for an RSVP page.
Provision of the Week: The DISCLOSE Act (Title IV, Subtitle B)
What is it?
The DISCLOSE Act of 2021 (aka the Democracy Is Strengthened by Casting Light On Spending in Elections Act of 2021) closes key loopholes that allow for dark money spending in federal elections. In addition to increasing the transparency requirements for U.S.-based companies and political groups, the provision will also strengthen protections against foreign interference in elections, including any Kremlin-backed efforts to influence election outcomes.
This is going to get a bit wonky, so stay with us. Let’s start with part one.
The first part of the DISCLOSE Act would create tougher restrictions on foreign spending in elections. While foreign nationals, or citizens of other countries who do not hold dual citizenship or a Green Card in the United States, are currently prohibited from contributing to political campaigns, parties, or PACs, that ban does not apply to the corporations they control, or to state and local ballot referendum campaigns. Section 1 of the DISCLOSE Act, therefore, makes clear that foreign nationals cannot participate in any part of a decision-making process, directly or indirectly, by a company, union, or any type of political organization with regards to its political participation. Before any organization makes a campaign contribution or expenditure, the head of the organization must also file a certification stating that no foreign national participated in any way in their decision-making.
Part one of the DISCLOSE Act also clarifies that these spending regulations apply to state and local campaigns and ballot referenda, as well as federal campaigns. And it further cracks down on foreign interference by expanding the types of communication the existing ban on foreign nationals covers, which would stop foreign nationals from paying for ads which promote, attack, or oppose legislative issues on TV, satellite, and online. This broader ban, then, would curtails some of the most widely-used techniques by Russian agents to interfere in American elections.
There’s more: Part one would additionally make it illegal for corporations to hide campaign spending or participation in political decision-making by foreign nationals, and require the FEC to publish an audit of foreign spending interference after each election cycle, including whether any foreign spending was intended to suppress the votes of marginalized communities.
Now for the other parts...
The other parts of the DISCLOSE Act focus on transparency requirements for dark money groups, effectively forcing them to disclose their donors and large contributions. Part 2 of the DISCLOSE Act requires any entity spending over $10,000 in political disbursements during an election cycle to share with the FEC their large donors (people who contributed over $10,000), all campaign disbursements over $1,000, and the names and addresses of the group’s “beneficial owners,” even owners who control the company through another legal entity. This provision also applies to disbursements in the forms of giving money to others with the purpose of them engaging in political spending. There are certain exceptions to this disclosure requirement, such as protections against harassment for donors, which are detailed in our “Extra, Extra” section.
Finally, the Act requires political committees to immediately disclose contributions of $5000 or more that they receive in the 20 days prior to Election Day, stopping large donors from anonymously influencing elections at the last minute. And the bill includes administrative reforms that would permit Members of Congress to participate in judicial challenges to transparency laws and would require that challenges to these laws be filed in the federal courts of Washington, D.C.
In short, the DISCLOSE Act would protect our elections from dark money interference, both foreign and domestic.
Why does it matter?
Despite many baseless claims of voter fraud, foreign money poses a very real threat to our election security. National security agencies have reported that President Vladimir Putin authorized extensive attempts at spreading misinformation online to influence the results of the 2020 election. Although social media companies have improved the speed with which they take down posts with disinformation, officials have warned that foreign interference in U.S. elections will only increase in the coming years if we do not take swift action to stop it.
The DISCLOSE Act’s strengthened ban on foreign nationals will help curb this interference, both by getting foreign money out of politics and by regulating the ads that foreign agents can buy. So, ads like these would be much harder for foreign agents to purchase in the next election cycle.
Additionally, the transparency sections of the DISCLOSE Act take the first step towards solving a problem that affects both sides of the political aisle: the influence of dark money in politics. Dark money, or political expenditures from organizations that do not have to disclose their donors, has expanded rapidly in the ten years since the Citizens United decision. These political organizations spend millions of dollars on ads and we have no idea who is funding them.
If Americans don’t have access to information about who is trying to influence elections, it is impossible to make fully informed decisions. For example, if an ad attacking a candidate for state office is secretly funded by an oil baron, it would be imperative to know that the ad came from big oil. Transparency is essential to a fair election, and the DISCLOSE Act is a key step towards finally getting big money out of our politics, and creating transparency in all aspects of our political process.
In the News:
The President of the Brennan Center for Justice, Michael Waldman, forcefully argues why breaking up the For the People Act would be a huge mistake. Waldman rightfully claims that a comprehensive bill on democracy reform is much more popular — and has a greater chance of passage — than narrower, more targeted bills. The filibuster threatens any election bill, regardless of its size, so instead of narrowing the bill, we should focus on reforming the filibuster.
Equal Citizens Executive Director Adam Eichen and author David Daley explain why calls for a skinnier For the People Act are misguided. Eichen and Daley argue that the attacks on our democracy have been multifaceted and therefore our response should be equally as broad-based. Like Waldman, the two argue that a narrower bill is no more likely to get past the filibuster than the For the People Act as written.
Eric Carlson penned an op-ed in the Fulcrum explaining why his conservative values lead him to support for the For the People Act. Highlighting the provisions to address gerrymandering and dark money in politics, Carlson argues that conservatives should fight for the passage of the For the People Act.
Politifact fact-checked numerous bits of misinformation about the For the People Act. Louis Jacobsen, the author, assesses the validity of a number of (mostly false) claims about the For the People Act and provides clarity on what the legislation would actually do. In an age of immense misinformation, it is important to absorb and share credible information.
We hope that this Politifact piece clarifies any misunderstandings and we will keep it in our relevant resources section in future Substacks!
And now, a word from our (co)sponsors:
Now that the fight for H.R. 1 has become the fight for S. 1, we want to highlight and thank some key supporters in the Senate. Their advocacy for the For The People Act is crucial to its passage - and here we want to share their own words about why they support the bill!
“Voting is the foundation of our democracy and the nationwide attacks on the right to vote must end … The For People Act would take long-overdue steps to protect the voting rights of all Americans and help put an end to voter suppression tactics that have disproportionately impacted people of color and young people” - Senator Hassan
“I’m proud to support the #ForThePeople Act! The right to vote is the bedrock of our democracy & we must protect it. This bill not only does that—and expands that right—but helps get dark money out of our politics. It’s time to pass #S1” - Senator Peters (via Twitter)
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:
H.R. 1 is the most important democracy reform bill in half a century, but to get it through the Senate, 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:
Call your Senators at (202) 224-3121 and tell them why they should do everything in their power to pass the For The People Act (S. 1) in the Senate, including getting rid of the filibuster.
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!
More on the transparency requirements in the DISCLOSE Act:
As we mentioned earlier, Part 2 of the DISCLOSE Act requires that corporations, unions, or political organizations spending over $10,000 per election cycle disclose their big donors each cycle. However, there are exceptions to protect the privacy of certain donors. Exceptions include:
If the funds were received in “the normal course of business.” (So if someone buys an item from a corporation worth $10,000, and that corporation then engages in political activity, that person must not be listed as a donor.)
If the funds are restricted or earmarked for a specific person by the donor
If disclosure could lead to threats or harassment against a donor
If an organization does not want to disclose all their donors, they can set up a separate fund for all political activities, and only donors to that fund would need to be disclosed.
The DISCLOSE Act doesn’t fix all our transparency and money in politics issues, but it’s definitely a start.
Relevant Resources:
Here are a few resources on the “For the People Act” if you have questions:
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!