John,

There’s a not-so-secret practice in Washington that requires members of Congress to raise large sums of money while serving in top committee positions — and the Democratic and Republican parties are the ones strong-arming them.

Known as the “party dues” system, legislators in powerful positions are pressured to collect astronomical amounts of campaign cash for their parties. And the more influential the position in Congress, the more money party leaders expect members to raise.

This practice pulls lawmakers’ attention away from legislating, and it must change.

That’s why we just released a brand new hard-hitting report that examines the “party dues” system and makes the case for reforms that break the ties between committee appointments and fundraising.

Issue One has continually called out this practice of pressuring legislators to raise money and has released numerous ground-breaking reports about what’s wrong with how we finance elections and what can be done to change it.

Read “New Congress, Same ‘Committee Tax’” for our latest look at the role fundraising plays in Congress.

Your support matters,

Michael Beckel
Research Director, Issue One