Dear John,

The arcane rules involving the Senate filibuster have a long and contentious history, but with an evenly divided chamber and our nation facing four major crises involving our economy, a pandemic, climate change, and racial justice, its continued existence has come into sharp focus.  

Congress has increasingly become synonymous with partisanship, gridlock, and dysfunction, even during the past year when the nation needed its representatives to act with timely and practical policy-solutions.  

With little ability to obtain 60 Senators to agree on much of anything, advocates of changing the rules to eliminate the filibuster argue that bold, comprehensive and decisive action is impossible. Filibuster defenders insist it is absolutely necessary to protect minority interests, while avoiding the kinds of massive policy shifts and ensuing confusion and inefficiency that might accompany changes in the majority from one election to the next.  

On Monday, May 17, Senators Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Jeff Merkley of Oregon will participate in a webinar sponsored by Fix Our Senate, an organization seeking to end the filibuster, to explain why they support changing the Senate rules so that a simple majority is all that is needed to pass any legislation.  

The American Sustainable Business Council has begun its policy review of this issue and is presenting this webinar as an opportunity for the business community to become better informed.   

We are also asking our members, before and after this webinar, to let us know how you feel about the filibuster by filling out this short survey.   

It is important that the business and investor community add its voice to the debate.   

Please register for this important webinar, and please take a few moments to complete this survey. 

Filibuster or no filibuster, ASBC & SVC will continue to advocate on the critical issues that you and our nation face.