Kuster Helps Introduce Constitutional Amendment to Reform Campaign Finance System

Press Release

Congresswoman Annie Kuster (NH-02), has helped introduce a constitutional amendment that would reform the campaign finance system by giving Congress and state governments the right to pass legislation to limit the influence of money in federal elections. H. J. Res. 119, the Democracy for All Amendment, would largely overturn the controversial Supreme Court decisions in Citizens United v. FEC and McCutcheon v. FEC., which ruled that corporations and Super PACs can spend unlimited amounts of money to benefit political campaigns.

"The Citizens United and McCutcheon Supreme court decisions made a bad situation much worse by opening the floodgates for even more outside spending and undue influence on our elections," said Congresswoman Kuster. "For our democratic government to be truly accountable and responsive to the American people, we must reform our electoral system so that every American can play an active and equal role in our elections. This amendment will go a long way towards restoring the voices of everyday people in our democracy."

"I additionally urge Congress to pass the Government by the People Act, which would help return the power to the people by implementing a number of initiatives to boost the voices of small, grassroots donors. Together, this bill and the Democracy for All Amendment would help return us to the days when individuals, not corporations, had the greatest sway over our election results," Kuster continued.

The Democracy for All Amendment is the House companion to S. J. Res. 19, an amendment that passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee on July 10, 2014, and is scheduled for a vote in the U.S. Senate later this year.

In January, 2014, Congresswoman Kuster helped introduce the Government by the People Act, legislation that would amplify the voices of individuals by creating a number of public financing alternatives for grassroots donors and candidates. As part of her commitment to curbing special interests in the electoral system, Congresswoman Kuster also hosted a roundtable earlier this year with Rep. John Sarbanes (MD-03) and other stakeholders to discuss the importance of campaign finance reform.

Source