Democracy Happy Hour – March 31, 2021

03/31/21 Topic: Disclosure & Campaign Finance Reform

Democracy Happy Hour, March 31, 2021 - Meeting Recordings & Chat:

• Speaker View Recording‍
• Gallery View Recording‍
• Chat file‍

Upcoming Democracy Happy Hour Topics:

• 04/07/21 – For the People Week of Action
• 04/14/21 – Democracy & Climate Reform
• 04/21/21 – Local Reforms' Impact on National Policy
• 04/28/21 – Court Cases Impacting Democracy

Actions, Events & Links

• The IF Project – Film Screening & Panel Discussion – April 6th @ 5 pm PT - https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_v-w1LYyDRXubOdrzgs2g7Q

• For the People Week of Action – April 5-9 - https://dfadcoalition.org/ftpweek/

• Sign Up for a Virtual Lobby Visit with your U.S. Senator to urge them to Pass the For the People Act - https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSev4SvZr_ejakS2QPH18Uu9vL_BE11sGRfSIiNueV_lSoxJ-Q/viewform

• Speak Up Schools - https://www.lwvwa.org/speakup

• FDF Events Page - Past Events- https://www.fixdemocracyfirst.org/events#past-events

• FDF Donation Page - http://fixdemocracyfirst.org/donate
  

Democracy in the News Links:

• Interactive Map Reveals Which Indigenous Lands You’re Living On - https://mymodernmet.com/interactive-map-indigenous-lands/ - Native Land - https://native-land.ca/

• Bill restoring voting rights to Washingtonians with felonies heads to Gov. Inslee for signature - https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/bill-restoring-voting-rights-to-washingtonians-with-felonies-heads-to-gov-inslee-for-signature/

• Georgia governor signs into law sweeping voting bill that curtails the use of drop boxes and imposes new ID requirements for mail voting - https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/georgia-voting-restrictions/2021/03/25/91009e72-8da1-11eb-9423-04079921c915_story.html

• Georgia Lawmaker Arrested As Governor Signs Law Overhauling Elections - https://www.npr.org/2021/03/26/981471672/police-arrest-georgia-lawmaker-as-governor-signs-law-overhauling-elections

• Stacey Abrams-Founded Group Sues Georgia Over ‘Voter Suppression Bill’ - https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicholasreimann/2021/03/26/stacey-abrams-founded-group-sues-georgia-over-voter-suppression-bill/?sh=180f9cf13d0a

• Voting Rights Groups Sue To Stop Voter Suppression Bill in Georgia - https://www.lwv.org/newsroom/press-releases/voting-rights-groups-sue-stop-voter-suppression-bill-georgia

• How Trump’s Big Lie Is Fueling the Voting Rights Battle in Georgia - https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/georgia-voting-bill-geoff-duncan-1146755/

• The State Assault on Voting Rights Hurts All of Us - https://thebulwark.com/the-state-assault-on-voting-rights-hurts-all-of-us/

• Threats to US voting rights have grown – what's different about this moment? - https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/mar/25/us-voting-rights-threats-voter-suppression-republicans-stacey-abrams

• Republicans Aim to Seize More Power Over How Elections Are Run - https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/24/us/politics/republicans-election-laws.html

• The States Where Efforts to Restrict Voting Are Escalating - https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-states-where-efforts-to-restrict-voting-are-escalating/

• Virginia is first Southern state to adopt its own voting rights act - https://thefulcrum.us/virginia-voting-rights

• Inside the Koch-Backed Effort to Block the Largest Election-Reform Bill in Half a Century - https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/inside-the-koch-backed-effort-to-block-the-largest-election-reform-bill-in-half-a-century

• GOP Recruits Trump Conspiracy Theorists to Fight the ‘For the People Act’ - https://thebrick.house/gop-recruits-trump-conspiracy-theorists-to-fight-the-for-the-people-act/

• Should Congress pass the For the People Act or John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act? Answer: They must pass both. - https://www.commoncause.org/democracy-wire/should-congress-pass-the-for-the-people-act-or-john-lewis-voting-rights-advancement-act-answer-they-must-pass-both/#

• D.C. Statehood Backers Want to Be Part of Broad Voting Rights Measure in the Senate - https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/26/us/district-of-columbia-statehood.html

• Democrats Splinter Over Strategy for Pushing Through Voting Rights Bill - https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/30/us/politics/democrats-voting-rights-bill.html

• Manchin pushes Dems for voting rights compromise amid talk of killing filibuster - https://www.politico.com/news/2021/03/25/manchin-voting-rights-compromise-477976

• Most people are open to changing the filibuster to pass voting rights legislation - https://www.vox.com/2021/3/25/22347322/filibuster-voting-rights-poll

• At a turning point for voting rights, direction signals point both ways - https://thefulcrum.us/voting/voting-rights-legislation-2651256319

• Behind the dark-money web that put Barrett (and Kavanaugh and Gorsuch) on the Supreme Court - https://www.salon.com/2021/03/30/behind-the-dark-money-web-that-put-barrett-and-kavanaugh-and-gorsuch-on-the-supreme-court/

• An Overlooked Idea for Fixing the Supreme Court - https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/overlooked-idea-fixing-supreme-court

• US conducted more than two dozen cyber operations targeting foreign threats to the 2020 election - https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/25/politics/us-cyber-operations-election-threats/index.html

• Jack Dorsey says Twitter played a role in U.S. Capitol riot. - https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/25/business/jack-dorsey-twitter-capitol-riot.html

• On Google Podcasts, a Buffet of Hate - https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/25/arts/google-podcasts-extremism.html

• Facebook and Amazon are now the top lobbying spenders in the US - https://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-and-amazon-are-countrys-top-lobbying-spenders-report-2021-3

• States can't sue to speed census finish, judge rules, assuring gerrymander chaos - https://thefulcrum.us/census-2020-deadline

• Report: Few Americans have a say in most congressional elections - https://thefulcrum.us/big-picture/partisan-primary

• To increase women in US politics, upgrade the electoral process - https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/544150-to-increase-women-in-us-politics-upgrade-the-electoral-process?rl=1#bottom-story-socials

• News Deserts Lead to Loss of Engagement - https://catalyst.independent.org/2021/03/25/news-deserts-lead-to-loss-of-engagement/

• ‘Democracy dollars’ proposal looks to spread influence, participation in elections - https://www.austinmonitor.com/stories/2021/03/democracy-dollars-proposal-looks-to-spread-influence-participation-in-elections/
• Why Are Seattle Democracy Voucher Users Funding Opposing Campaigns? - https://www.theurbanist.org/2021/03/23/why-are-seattle-democracy-voucher-users-funding-opposing-campaigns/

• Voting in America: Ensuring Free And Fair Access To The Ballot - https://cha.house.gov/committee-activity/hearings/voting-america-ensuring-free-and-fair-access-ballot

• Applications are Open for the City of Seattle Districting Commission - http://www.seattle.gov/council/issues/apply-to-the-districting-commission
  

Disclosure & Campaign Finance Reform Links:

• Campaign Finance Reform - https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/campaign-finance-reform

• Disclosure - https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/disclosure

• Campaign finance regulation - https://ballotpedia.org/Campaign_finance_regulation

• Campaign Finance and the Supreme Court - https://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/campaign-finance-and-the-supreme-court.aspx

• The History of Campaign Finance Reform and what Joe Biden’s Presidency means for US Elections - https://medium.com/international-junior-economist/the-history-of-campaign-finance-reform-and-what-joe-bidens-presidency-means-for-us-elections-50d6b8c4417f

• SpeechNow.org v. FEC - https://campaignlegal.org/cases-actions/speechnoworg-v-fec

• Supreme Court Delivers a Blow to Secret Campaign Spending - https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/supreme-court-delivers-blow-secret-campaign-spending

• 20 Things We Learned About Money in Politics in 2020 - https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/20-things-we-learned-about-money-politics-2020

• Campaign Finance Victories in 2020 Elections - https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/campaign-finance-victories-2020-elections

• Court will hear Koch-linked group’s appeal over disclosure - https://apnews.com/article/san-francisco-charles-koch-us-supreme-court-california-courts-0c61a138f17e1b5458b8fa4c602ac48c

• Campaign Finance Disclosure and Transparency - https://www.amacad.org/ourcommonpurpose/recommendation-1-6

• The State of Campaign Finance Policy: Recent Developments and Issues for Congress - https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R41542.pdf

• Federal Election Commission - https://www.fec.gov/

• Campaign Finance - https://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/ncsl-s-campaign-finance-webpages.aspx

• How Congress Can Better Represent the People - https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/how-congress-can-better-represent-people

• Small Donor Public Financing Could Advance Race and Gender Equity in Congress - https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/small-donor-public-financing-could-advance-race-and-gender-equity

• SB 5991 - 2017-18 - Increasing transparency of contributions by creating the Washington state DISCLOSE act of 2018 - https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=5991&Year=2017

• HB 1379 - 2019-20 - Concerning disclosure of contributions from political committees to other political committees - https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=1379&Year=2019&Initiative=False

• WA Public Disclosure Commission - https://www.pdc.wa.gov/

• Open Secrets - https://www.opensecrets.org/

• Follow the Money - https://www.followthemoney.org/