Tag: campaign finance reform

Campaign reform bill needs your support

A bill to reform election rules, campaign finances and lobbying has passed the U.S. House. Make it a priority.

I have been in the room where it all happens.

Most of the time it’s a boardroom, conference room or club room, where a politician’s big political donors line up for cocktails, hors d’oeuvres and, for an extra charge, a personal photograph.

As a successful businessman, I was invited to countless functions like this over the past 20 years. And with each invitation, my frustration grew.

View the complete March 11 commentary by Congressman Dean Phillips on The Star Tribune website here.

Phillips cosponsors campaign finance reform bill

Credit: Phillips campaign

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Newly sworn-in Rep. Dean Phillips has cosponsored a bill that would reform voter protection and campaign finance laws, known as The For the People Act of 2019, said the Phillips team in a press release on Jan. 4. Phillips introduced the bill with Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rep. John Sarbanes, the chief author and chair of the Democracy Reform Task Force.

The bill would expand voter protection through automatic voter registration and increased access to early voting and vote-by-mail, and strengthen ethics laws. The legislation also seeks to expand campaign disclosure requirements, establish a public-matching system of individual campaign contributions and expand the campaign finance oversight powers of the Federal Elections Commission.

“The partisanship and gridlock that plagues our government is a symptom of a larger disease,” said Phillips in the release. “That disease is the corrupting influence of special interest money in our politics. In November, communities across our nation came together to demand a disruption of politics as usual. The For the People Act will begin the important work of elevating common interests over special interests, and I am proud that it is the first bill I have the honor of cosponsoring in service to the people of Minnesota’s third district.”

View the January 8 article by Eden Teller on The Eden Prairie News website here.

House Democrats unveil their first bill in the majority: a sweeping anti-corruption proposal

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi approaches the microphones to speak to journalists during the Democratic caucus vote on the speaker’s nomination on November 28, 2018. Credit: Melina Mara, The Washington Post via Getty Images

Democrats will take up voting rights, campaign finance reform, and a lobbying crackdown — all in their first bill of the year.

House Democrats unveiled details of their first bill in the new Congress on Friday — a sweeping anti-corruption bill aimed at stamping out the influence of money in politics and expanding voting rights.

This is House Resolution 1 — the first thing House Democrats will tackle after the speaker’s vote in early January. To be clear, this legislation has little-to-no chance of passing the Republican-controlled Senate or being signed by President Donald Trump.

But by making anti-corruption their No. 1 priority, House Democrats are throwing down the gauntlet for Republicans. A vast majority of Americans want to get the influence of money out of politics, and want Congress to pass laws to do so, according to a 2018 Pew Research survey. Given Trump’s multitude of scandals, it looks bad for Republicans to be the party opposing campaign finance reform — especially going into 2020.

View the complete November 30 article by Ella Nilsen on the Vox.com website here.

Third District forum in Edina focuses on campaign finance reform

The following article by Kelly Smith was posted on the Star Tribune article August 28, 2018:

It was the first policy forum that DFLer Dean Phillips is holding as he challenges U.S. Rep. Erik Paulsen in the west metro congressional district.

3rd Congressional District Candidate Dean Phillips Credit: Glen Stubbe, Star Tribune

Campaign finance reform and outside spending have emerged as contentious issues in the west metro’s Third Congressional District, where DFLer Dean Phillips is challenging U.S. Rep. Erik Paulsen.

Phillips made campaign finance reform the focus of a Monday public forum in Edina with Tiffany Muller, president of End Citizens United, a national political action committee (PAC) that’s targeting Paulsen and 19 other Republicans in Congress.

“We have to get our system back to you,” Muller said. Phillips is “people-powered, not special interests-powered.”

View the complete article here.

Dean Phillips will listen

To the Editor:

Dean Phillips says, “Representation begins with listening.”

He wants to listen to me! And all of the constituents in Congressional District 3. I am a citizen of Plymouth and I work on any campaign that I believe in. I have no job title or positions with campaigns. I am simply one of your neighbors who believes in speaking up. I try to go out and attend (free) voter forums like Phillips had Aug. 21, so I can learn about who I am voting for and where they stand on issues (not just what party they are associated with).

Phillips seems very accessible to me. I believe the representative’s job is to represent. Many do not. It is always interesting when a congress person is not running for re-election that they start to ‘speak their mind’ more freely. They should always be doing that. That is their job. To represent me in Washington. Continue reading “Dean Phillips will listen”