March 8, 2019 by David Silverberg
The US House of Representatives today, March 8, passed the For the People Act (House Resolution 1), by a vote of 234 to 193, largely along party lines.
The bill, introduced in January by Rep. John Sarbanes (D-3-Md.) and heavily amended, aims to “expand Americans’ access to the ballot box, reduce the influence of big money in politics, and strengthen ethics rules for public servants,” according to its text.
“HR 1 restores the people’s faith that government works in the public’s interest, the people’s interest, not the special interests,” stated House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-12-Calif.) at a press conference prior to passage of the bill. “It ends the dominance of big, dark, special interest money in politics and it empowers small donors and the grassroots. It ensures clean, fair elections and fights voter suppression. It cleans up corruption, returning integrity to Washington, DC.”
Southern Florida representatives Francis Rooney (R-19-Fla.) and Mario Diaz-Balart (R-25-Fla.) both voted against the measure.
In a statement, Rooney argued that the bill “would take taxpayer money to fund political campaigns, expand the federal bureaucracy, and create opportunities for voter fraud.” Diaz-Balart similarly argued the bill “aims to use the electoral system to achieve a pre-determined result.”
The bill incorporates numerous Democratic and progressive reform proposals, many of which were part of numerous 2018 congressional campaigns. Among its provisions the bill expands early voting, reforms redistricting, makes Election Day a federal holiday, enables automatic voter registration and imposes stricter disclosure rules for a variety of political activities.
The bill also targets President Donald Trump by requiring that presidential and vice presidential candidates publicly disclose 10 years of tax returns.
The bill now goes to the Senate, where Majority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has announced that he will not allow it to come to a vote “because I get to decide what we vote on.” Trump has also vowed to veto it if it gets to his desk.