King Votes "NO" on Pelosi's Bill Forcing Taxpayers to Fund Political Campaigns

Statement

Congressman Steve King releases this statement following his vote against H.R.1, legislation introduced by House Democrats that seeks to force American taxpayers to fund political campaigns. Speaker Pelosi's partisan legislation passed the House without a single Republican vote.

"Speaker Pelosi's House Democrats have gotten a taste of power, and to ensure they never lose it they have made their top priority in Congress the introduction of a sweeping bill that rigs future elections in their favor," said King. "H.R. 1 not only forces taxpayers to fund political campaigns, it does so by insisting that for every one dollar raised by a candidate, six dollars of taxpayer money will be used to match it. The Democrats won't fund President Trump's wall, but they can't wait to spend the same tax money on Democratic campaigns and Democratic political consultants. H.R. 1 doesn't "Drain the Swamp,' it floods it with money extracted from taxpayers by the IRS."

During consideration of the underlying legislation, Congressman King introduced an important campaign-finance reform amendment that sought to end the influence of out-of-state money by large donors in state and local political races. The King Amendment contained two essential components:

The King Amendment to H.R.1 requires that not less than 50% of candidate funds come from in-state (or in district) individuals. This provision ensures that out-of-state interests cannot "spend their way" into office by crowding out the importance of local contributions and local voices.
The King Amendment also strikes a blow against the flow of money into Political Action Committees and other national party fundraising vehicles. Under this subsection, no individual may give more to entities such as PAC's and National Party Committees than they are entitled to give to an individual candidate or candidate committee
Tellingly, the King amendment was killed in the House Rules Committee. House Democrats don't want to protect elections "For the People," they want to protect the interests of deep-pocketed coastal elites intent on drowning out local voices talking about local issues in areas of the country the elites have no intention of representing.

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