Don't Listen to the Pundits
Dispatches on the For The People Act (Edition #16)
Hello friends. It’s Kevin, back from vacation.
This week, I have some updates about the For The People Act and an event reminder. I’ll also try to persuade you against a terrible idea floated by the pundits in D.C. — narrowing the scope of the For The People Act to make it more “likely to pass.” (Lessig just published a great blog post on this subject, too, which you can read here.)
Tonight (6/4) at 5:30 pm, Equal Citizens is hosting an event with Seinfeld’s Jason Alexander about the For The People Act. Alexander will be interviewing our founder Lawrence Lessig and the Brennan Center’s Elizabeth Hira. It will be an exciting comedic conversation and you won’t want to miss it. There are still a few “tickets” left. RSVP here!
And if you can’t make it tonight, don’t worry we will highlight the best moments next week on our Instagram. So don’t forget to follow us there!
A BIG update on the For The People Act: For weeks, we have been hoping that President Biden — like Lyndon B. Johnson before him — would take up the cause of democracy and lead using his bully pulpit. We are thrilled to report that earlier this week, President Biden began to do exactly that. After remarks that he would fight like “heck” for the For The People Act, the president announced that he is tapping Vice President Harris to lead the administration's efforts to pass democracy legislation. Deploying the second-in-command for a policy item is a major signal that the administration means business and it greatly lifted the spirits of our coalition fighting for the For The People Act.
We will update you with specifics about Vice President Harris’ role in the fight once we have more information. Next week we will also give a more extensive update on Senator Joe Manchin’s stance on the For The People Act. (Manchin is meeting with civil rights groups on Monday to discuss the bill).
The final update for this week is that the Brennan Center for Justice published an updated Voting Laws Roundup. We just wanted to take a moment to highlight one key insight of the report:
“Between January 1 and May 14, 2021, at least 14 states enacted 22 new laws that restrict access to the vote. The United States is on track to far exceed its most recent period of significant voter suppression — 2011.”
The Case for Comprehensive Reform:
Since I joined the fight for H.R. 1 / S. 1 in January, an increasing number of pundits have begun arguing for a narrow, targeted bill instead of the For The People Act as written. The most common proposals usually involve removing everything except some voting rights and gerrymandering reforms.
If you haven’t already guessed, we at Equal Citizens oppose any attempt to gut the For The People Act. Today, I wanted to take a moment to explain why.
First, voter suppression is not the only thing fundamentally plaguing our broken democracy. It’s true that we face an aggressive assault on the right to vote. Just since January, over 360 voter suppression bills have been introduced in states across the country, and 22 have passed across 14 states. But the attacks on our democracy are so much broader than that — and unless we address all of them, our system will continue to deteriorate, leading to something akin to minoritarianism. Gerrymandering has all but rigged elections for the past decade (and longer). And for too long, Americans have watched monied interests hold far too much sway over politicians. The For The People Act not only protects us against gerrymandering and dark money, but also brings innovative solutions like a small-donor matching program to the forefront of our democracy. Besides voter access, redistricting reform, and campaign finance reform, S. 1 also revamps our election infrastructure and security. All of these reforms are imperative to fix our broken system. And they build on each other, making each of them more powerful than if we just focused on one area.
Second, the main argument for a narrow bill is based on political calculations and fear. Pundits claim that a narrow voting bill will have a better chance of securing Sen. Joe Manchin’s vote and overcoming the Senate filibuster. This is not the case.
It’s true that no Senate Republicans are supporting the For The People Act as written — nor will they in the future. That said, there is absolutely no evidence that 10 Republicans would support a narrow bill to break the filibuster, either. The national GOP, like their state-level affiliates, is united in their opposition to pro-voter policies. (And lest we forget, there weren’t even 10 Republican Senators willing to create a bipartisan commission to study an insurrection against our democracy...) There’s just no way around it: whether passing the For The People Act or a narrow bill, the Senate Democrats will have to reform the filibuster. The political hurdle is the same.
This brings us to the question of whether the bill has to be watered down to secure the support of Sen. Joe Manchin. Most point to the statements the senator has made that the bill is too broad for him to support (despite the fact that he was a cosponsor of the bill in the previous legislative session). Pundits have used this statement to argue that the money in politics provisions must go. But again, this makes little political sense. Sen. Manchin was a huge supporter of public campaign financing as governor of West Virginia, and has continued to claim that money in politics should be addressed as part of a democracy package. Might there be negotiations that have to happen to secure Manchin’s support? Yes. Does that mean getting rid of the omnibus nature of the bill? Absolutely not!
Finally, the For The People Act has something in it for everyone. If your state, for example, has shown competence in addressing gerrymandering, then voters in that state might not care as much for the independent redistricting commissions provision in S. 1. But these same voters will likely see the need for the bill’s small-donor public financing program. In this respect, S.1’s comprehensive approach is actually one of its biggest strengths and leads to the most powerful movement for reform possible, bringing all of us to the table no matter what state we live in.
Overall, the comprehensive approach desired by advocacy groups, and championed by Rep. Sarbanes, is the way to go. It is not only what the American people want, but it is also what they deserve. We understand the fears that push some to advocate for a narrow voting reform bill, but now is the time to go big. You don’t solve a massive problem with a small strategy. S. 1 is what we need, the most effective approach, and the most likely to become law. For more detail on why the For The People Act is the best approach, check out Lawrence Lessig’s Washington Post op-ed on the topic. Also, don’t forget to share this Substack to spread our message far and wide.
In the News:
Texas Democrats—who just thwarted a voter suppression bill— are calling on federal Democrats to pass the For The People Act. Democrats in the Texas State House courageously walked out of session late Sunday night, preventing the Republicans from having enough legislators for quorum. Republicans were therefore unable to pass their restrictive voting law by the time the legislative session ended. This effort bought Texas Democrats time, but the only way to more permanently thwart voter suppression is through federal action.
Vanity Fair emphasizes the dwindling timeframe for Senate Dems to pass the For The People Act and protect voting rights. Journalist Eric Lutz highlights the key elements of the battle for the For The People Act, including Democratic holdouts on the filibuster and the Republican attack on democracy.
The Washington Post’s Greg Sargent reports on a letter from a hundred leading experts warning that our democracy is in desperate need of protection. Academic experts, including ones that study democratic backsliding, are sounding the alarm for action. After emphasizing that “our entire democracy is now at risk,” the scholars ask Congress to protect it at all costs, even if that means suspending the filibuster.
Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-Illinois) penned an informative piece in The Hill arguing for the small-dollar matching program within the For The People Act. She explains how the small-dollar empowerment provisions of H.R. 1 will empower and increase the representation of non-wealthy Americans within our political process.
Check out our Substack 3 for more information on the small-dollar matching program in H.R. 1.
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!
Common Cause and Center for Common Ground are organizing regular phonebanks to voters in Arizona and West Virginia in support of the For the People Act. This is a great opportunity to spread the word about H.R. 1 and help constituents contact their Senators in support of the bill. Check them out here and here.
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. Additionally, the Brennan Center published a piece to help you decipher fact from fiction. Check it out here.
More About Me:
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 Kevin, then subscribe here!