As the House considers amendments to H.R. 1, the “For the People Act,” NTU urges Representatives to protect freedom of speech, avoid increasing costs to taxpayers, limit the expansion of government authority, and oppose amendments that would impede the role of citizens to hold their elected officials accountable. To that end, NTU urges all Representatives to vote as follows on amendments to H.R. 1.
NTU urges all Representatives to vote “YES” on the following amendments:
Amendment #6, Scanlon (D-PA): This amendment would help provide additional oversight of Election Security Grant funds.
Amendment #17, Foxx (R-NC), Rouda (D-CA): This bipartisan amendment would codify a Senate requirement for Congressional fellows to report sources of outside compensation. Consistent application of this commonsense rule would help increase transparency and avoid conflicts of interest or other ethical lapses.
Amendment #18, Lawrence (D-MI): This amendment would extend the same prohibition against personally benefiting from government contracts, currently in force for Members of Congress, to Cabinet Members, in addition to the President and Vice President as delineated in the underlying bill. This is a reasonable safeguard against potential conflicts of interest, wasteful spending, and abuse of power.
Amendments #31, Davidson (R-OH): This amendment would prevent unnecessary federal interference and overreach with state administration of elections.
Amendment #32, Davidson (R-OH): This amendment would preserve the rights of public corporations to make political contributions without fear of reprisal and reduce the disproportionate regulation of corporate political speech.
Amendment #33, Davidson (R-OH): This amendment would strike a provision that allows the IRS to collect sensitive information and impose excessive regulations on certain not for profit organizations. The persistent threat of unauthorized disclosures, such as leaking confidential donor information included on the Schedule B form, could create a significant barrier to donating and have a chilling effect on the free speech of both individuals and nonprofit organizations, disrupting our robust charitable sector that serves such an essential role in our society. Congress should take steps to reduce opportunities to exploit private data, particularly when doing so will not negatively impact the Treasury’s administrative role. **This amendment will be significantly weighted.**
Amendments #51, #52 & #53, O’Halleran (D-AZ): These amendments would reduce wasteful spending and increase oversight of Executive Branch travel costs.
NTU urges all Representatives to vote “NO” on the following amendments:
Amendment #3, Raskin (D-MD): This potentially unconstitutional amendment would restrict free speech while also creating burdensome requirements for corporations engaging in the political process.
Amendments #20 Rouda (D-CA) & #64, Kim (D-NJ): These amendments would impose costly and unnecessarily restrictions on paper ballots that would not serve any purpose, apart from favoring certain industries, toward increasing electoral integrity.
Amendment #43, Beyer (D-VA) & Butterfield (D-NC): This amendment would allocate a $25 million increase to federal spending for the funding of needless grant programs for state governments. This additional spending is not offset elsewhere in the budget.
Amendment #55, McAdams (D-UT): This amendment would amend the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 by decreasing the qualifications for which individuals must identify as a “lobbyist.” By lowering the threshold, it would subject more Americans who wish to engage in the political process to new regulations.
Amendment #56, Case (D-HI): This amendment would increase federal engagement in political party committee operations, improperly favoring the current party structure, and could increase spending.
NTU continues to oppose the underlying bill and urges all Representatives to vote “NO” on H.R. 1.
If you have any questions, please contact Thomas Aiello, Policy and Government Affairs Associate, at (703) 683-5700