Press Releases

ECU Praises Once-in-a-Generation Anti-Corruption and Reform Package

Mar 27, 2019

Washington D.C. — End Citizens United Action Fund today praised the introduction of the For the People Act in the Senate. The bill is a comprehensive set of anti-corruption, government and election reforms aimed at ending the dominance of big money in politics, ensuring officials are working in the public interest, and making it easier for people to vote.

“We applaud Senators Udall, Merkley and the entire Senate Democratic caucus for introducing the For the People Act, the most sweeping package of reforms since Watergate,” said Tiffany Muller, president of End Citizens United Action Fund. “The For the People Act will unrig our corrupt pay-to-play system so that the voice of the people is no longer drowned out by big political donors and special interests. These reforms will ensure that our government is always putting the interests of everyday families first.”

“Usually people are afraid of the dark, but Senator McConnell seems to be afraid of sunlight. The For the People Act would pull back the curtain on the dark money that is destroying our politics and Sen. McConnell should let this important piece of legislation come to the floor for an up or down vote. The House has done its job, now it’s time for the Senate to do theirs,” Muller said.

The Senate For the People Act was introduced with 47 cosponsors, which includes the entire Senate Democratic caucus.

The introduction of the Senate For the People Act follows the passage of companion legislation in the House. That bill, H.R. 1, had 100 percent cosponsorship in the House Democratic caucus and every Democrat present voted for it. Both bills follow an election cycle in which reform was front and center. Candidates across the country campaigned on fighting corruption in Washington and supporting bold policies to reduce the power of big money in politics. Almost a quarter of all Democrats’ ads in the 2018 cycle focused on good government and reform.

ECU and its four million members played a central role in helping its endorsed candidates run grassroots-powered campaigns and use the issue of reform to win. ECU organized a letter in October, signed by three-quarters of the incoming class, demanding reform be the first item on the agenda in the new Congress. ECU also led the movement among candidates to forgo corporate PAC money in their campaigns. Fifty-four of the 116th Congress are refusing to take corporate PAC money in their campaigns.

End Citizens United Action Fund, an arm of the campaign finance reform group, has played a pivotal role in harnessing the power of its four million members to pressure Congress to pass campaign finance reform legislation. As part of its work, ECU Action Fund encourages ECU members to call their members of Congress, host petition drives, letter to the editor campaigns, as well as join coalitions of other grassroots advocacy groups to pass legislation to help get big money out of politics.

# # #