John,

The Senate needs to pass the For the People Act.

Here are a few of the ways our democracy would be stronger if we pass the For the People Act:

If presidential candidates disclosed their tax returns, the American people would not have to spend years wondering what interests the president could be beholden to or whether the president has paid their fair share. The For the People Act would require the president, vice president and candidates for those offices from major parties to disclose 10 years of personal tax returns, as well as 10 years of returns for businesses of which they are the sole or principal owner. If political donors’ names were associated with the advertisements and dark money groups they funded, they could be held accountable for that spending, rather than saying one thing in public and doing another in private—and groups like CREW wouldn’t have to go to court to force that disclosure. The For the People Act would require groups spending more than $10,000 on elections to disclose, with limited exceptions, donors giving more than $10,000, as well as require disclosure of such donations to groups that then transfer the funds to other groups for spending on elections. It would also require outside groups to disclose their top donors in all video, audio or online political ads. If states stopped gerrymandering congressional districts based on race and party, elections would be more about whose policies voters liked, rather than what side of the street they happen to live on. The For the People Act would ban partisan gerrymandering and include stronger protections for racial, ethnic and language minorities in redistricting. It would also require states to use independent redistricting commissions for congressional redistricting, changing it from the current partisan process in many states.

Those are just three of the ways that the For the People Act would allow our democracy to better live up to its promises. Read the rest of the list of reasons for reform on CREW’s website, and then share on Facebook, Twitter, or by forwarding this email.

The For the People Act is already facing false attacks, like claims that it would register non-citizens to vote or that it would “weaponize” the IRS and the FEC. These attacks just go to show how important this bill is: if transparency and democracy reform weren’t so important, powerful interests wouldn’t be fighting so hard against the bill.

As the bill comes to a hearing in the Senate later this month, we know that the attacks will only escalate, because big-money donors and their allies simply don’t want it to be easier for people to vote or to find out who is spending big to influence elections. One way you can help fight back, right now, is by spreading the word about what the For the People Act really would do, and how transformative it would be for our democracy. I hope you’ll forward this email to a few friends, or share our posts on Facebook or Twitter to help counter the misinformation about this crucial bill.

Thank you,


Noah Bookbinder
President, CREW

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