Scorecard Announced with Two-Page Ad in Roll Call
In 2019, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats delivered on their promise to fight corruption and protect the right to vote, according to End Citizens United Action Fund’s first-ever legislative scorecard released today.
The full list of House members and Senators, along with their scores and legislative records, was printed in the Wednesday, January 15th edition of Roll Call. View the scorecard here.
“Under the Leadership of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, House Democrats spent the first year of the 116th Congress passing transformative legislation to end the dominance of big money in politics, secure our elections from foreign interference, and protect and expand the right to vote,” said Tiffany Muller, president of End Citizens United Action Fund. “Sadly, despite the tremendous efforts of Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Democrats, the Republican Senate has sided with big money special interests and refused to allow consideration of these vital House-passed bills.”
In addition to the advertisement in Roll Call, the scorecard was shared with End Citizens United Action Fund’s four million members. It makes clear to Americans across the country whether their elected officials have been standing with their constituents to clean up Washington or have been siding with wealthy special interests.
Below is the list of criteria used to determine the grades in the scorecard:
Rejects Corporate PAC Money: 60 members of the 116th Congress have chosen to reject contributions from corporate PACs for their campaigns.
For the People Act (H.R. 1, S. 949): The most transformative anti-corruption and government reform legislation since Watergate, the For the People Act ends the dominance of big money in politics, protects and expands the right to vote, and ensures public officials are working in the public interest. It passed the House in March 2019.
Democracy for All Amendment (H.J. Res 2, S.J. Res 51): The Democracy for All amendment effectively overturns the Supreme Court’s Citizens United v. FEC decision by giving Congress and the states the ability to set commonsense limits for campaign fundraising and spending.
The DISCLOSE Act (H.R. 2977, S. 1147): The DISCLOSE Act brings dark money into the light by requiring all groups that spend money on elections to report major campaign donations and expenditures.
The Voting Rights Advancement Act (H.R. 4, S. 561): The VRAA restores key sections of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to ensure every eligible voter can cast their ballot free from discrimination. It passed the House in December.
Motion to Recommit, H.R. 4: The motion to recommit on the House version of the Voting Rights Advancement Act threatened to undermine the For the People Act (H.R. 1). It failed.
The SAFE Act (H.R. 2722): The SAFE Act strengthens our elections by providing states the resources they need to shore up our voting systems and set federal standards to maintain the integrity of our elections. It passed the House in June.
The SHIELD Act (H.R. 4617): The SHIELD Act closes loopholes that allow foreign interests to spend money to influence our elections and requires campaigns to report any offers of campaign assistance from foreign governments. It passed the House in October.
End Citizens United Action Fund, an arm of the campaign finance reform group, encourages ECU’s four million members to call their elected officials, host petition drives, participate in letter to the editor campaigns, and join coalitions of other grassroots advocacy groups to pass legislation to help get big money out of politics.
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