With talk of election primaries and “culture wars” dominating the political discussion lately, we thought we should update you on our legislative efforts.  Despite chronic inaction by lawmakers, CREW and our allies have moved ahead with a number of key pieces of reform legislation, working to change the “business as usual” attitude of Washington.  Below are brief updates on three items on our radar.

Cantor’s Gutless STOCK Act 

What was beginning to look like the most sweeping ethics reform package passed by Congress in years ended with a whimper when Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) gutted the Senate version of the STOCK Act.  The Senate bill went far beyond banning insider trading in Congress by including, among other things, two key anti-corruption provisions: one giving law enforcement officials the tools they need to detect and prosecute public corruption, and another requiring political intelligence firms to register like lobbyists.    

Majority Leader Cantor stripped these out of the bill before bringing it to the House floor for a vote.  Consequently, CREW is now lobbying Majority Leader Harry Reid to restore these provisions to bring real and immediate change to Washington.  This may be a tough road to hoe, but we are keeping at it.

The DISCLOSE Act is Back

Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) recently reintroduced the DISCLOSE Act and we are working hard to increase the number of cosponsors, focusing particularly on House members who voted for the legislation last Congress but have yet to cosponsor it this year.  As of today, there are 142 cosponsors.  This version of the DISCLOSE Act requires all corporations, unions, other outside groups, and super PACs to report to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) within 24 hours of making a $10,000 or more campaign expenditure or financial transfer to another group that then funds campaign-related activity. 

Last Friday, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) announced that Democrats were determined to force a vote on the DISCLOSE Act.  If Democrats can get 218 signatures for what is known as a discharge petition, the bill will go to the floor for a vote.  Odds of the bill’s passage are slim to none in the House this year.  When millions of dollars are being spent by shadowy, outside groups, pushing the issue into the national conversation is critical. 

Federal Election Commissioners

On the heels of CREW’s successful drive to garner 25,000 signatures asking President Obama to nominate five new commissioners to the FEC, we sent a letter to the president asking him to nominate commissioners who will faithfully enforce existing campaign finance laws and close existing loopholes. 

As it stands now, the FEC is widely recognized as a dysfunctional agency that consistently refuses to enforce federal campaign finance laws enacted to prevent the corruption of federal officeholders and government decisions.  Five of the six current commissioners are serving despite expired terms, and three openly flaunt their routine refusal to enforce existing campaign finance laws, even where the FEC’s professional staff has called for an investigation.  This is an unacceptable situation and we’re continuing our efforts to change it.