Today, Common Cause urged every member of the U.S. Senate to vote “yes” to advance the For the People Act in a vote expected later this week. The letter notes that Common Cause plans to score this vote in the next version of our Democracy Scorecard which we send to our 1.5 million members. The pro-voter, anti-corruption bill contains the most comprehensive set of democracy reforms to be introduced in Congress since the post-Watergate reforms were passed in the 1970s. The letter emphasizes that our democracy faces a crisis in the wake of insurrectionists storming the Capitol and hundreds of GOP voter suppression bills – largely targeting Black and Brown Americans - introduced in state legislatures since Republicans lost the White House and control of the Senate in the November election. It points to the fact that at least 14 states have already passed nearly two dozen restrictive voting bills already this year.

The fight for voting rights does not end with an op-ed. The For the People Act (S. 1) has overwhelming bipartisan support nationwide and in West Virginia 79% of Senator Manchin’s constituents support the bill – including 76% of registered Republicans. Leader Schumer should advance the bill to a full Floor debate. If Senate Republicans try to filibuster such a motion to proceed to a full Floor debate, Senator Manchin should not join such a filibuster. He should vote to allow the debate to take place on the Floor and not just in the op-ed pages. The bill has already passed the House, had a Senate markup that adopted 5 Republican amendments, and is poised for Floor action.

Today’s news of a $187,500 fine for AMI’s knowing and willful violation of campaign finance law is a win for democracy and for Common Cause. But the FEC’s failure to hold former-President Trump and his campaign accountable for this violation lays bare the dysfunction at the FEC. Less than a month ago we learned that GOP Commissioners had similarly blocked enforcement against Trump for the illegal Stormy Daniels hush payment. And the agency has again shown itself incapable of fully enforcing the campaign finance laws passed by Congress.

Today, all but six of the Republican Senators turned their backs on democracy and on their nation. History will not be kind to those Senators who voted against even allowing a debate on a bill to create an independent 9/11-style commission to investigate the violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol by an armed mob bent on overturning the results of the 2020 election by force. That attack left 5 dead and scores injured – including more than 130 law enforcement officers who suffered injuries while defending the Capitol and the members of Congress inside.

Common Cause is urging every member of the U.S. Senate to vote for cloture on the motion to proceed and support the House-passed H.R. 3233 to establish a 9/11-style commission to investigate the violent attack January 6th on the United States Capitol in an attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. The letter notes that Common Cause plans to score this cloture vote on the motion to proceed to this legislation to create the “National Commission to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the United States Capitol Complex” in the next version of our Democracy Scorecard which we send to our 1.5 million members.

Change is long overdue to a system that has delivered unequal justice to far too many in our state for far too long. In the year since the tragic murder of George Floyd, we have seen the conviction of Mr. Floyd’s murderer, but Minnesotans are still waiting for justice. Minnesotans deserve real reforms to prevent what happened to Mr. Floyd, and others, from ever happening again. Our legislative leaders must make commonsense policing reforms a top priority and they must not come up short again.