Kuster Co-sponsors Campaign Finance Provision

U.S. Rep. Ann McLane Kuster, D-NH, has cosponsored the Close the Floodgates Act, which would repeal a provision, passed as part of last month’s crucial funding bill, that raised the limits for contributions made to political parties for use in conventions, party headquarters construction, and legal/recount fees.

“Our campaign finance system is broken, and I have long fought for measures to give the power back to individuals, rather than large donors. We need to encourage small grassroots donations, not raise the limit on the amount of money that can be donated to political parties,” said Kuster. “That’s why I’m fighting to repeal this harmful provision, which was slipped into a funding bill that was urgently needed to keep the government open. I urge all my fellow Members of Congress to pass this legislation and join me in my fight to curb the influence of special interests and large-dollar outside groups in our campaign finance system.”

Kuster has been a vocal advocate for campaign finance reform in the House. She helped introduce the Government by the People Act, legislation that would amplify the voices of individuals by creating a number of public financing alternatives for grassroots donors and candidates. She also helped introduce aconstitutional amendment that would largely overturn the controversial Supreme Court decisions in Citizens United v. FEC and McCutcheon V. FEC by giving Congress and state governments the right to pass legislation to limit the influence of money in federal elections. As part of her commitment to curbing special interests in the electoral system, Kuster also hosted a roundtable last year with Rep. John Sarbanes (MD-03) and other stakeholders to discuss the importance of campaign finance reform.

The Close the Floodgates Act was introduced this week by Representative Derek Kilmer (WA-06). It would repeal a campaign finance provision passed last month as part of an essential government funding bill, the so-called CRomnibus, which prevented a government shutdown. The campaign finance provision raised the yearly limit donors could contribute to political parties from $97,200 up to $777,600 by creating new spending accounts for political parties to use specifically to pay for party conventions and construction of party headquarters. The Close the Floodgates Act would eliminate these special accounts and restore the donation limit for political parties to the original amount.

Submitted text and courtesy photo.