Durbin, Specter, Larson, Others will Introduce Bills to Reform Financing of Congressional Elections

From the Office of U.S. Senator Dick Durbin

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL), Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA), and House Democratic Caucus Chairman John Larson (D-CT) discussed bipartisan legislation to reform the way Congressional elections are financed at a press conference today.

Their bill, The Fair Elections Now Act, will allow qualified, legitimate candidates to receive grants and matching funds to run competitive campaigns instead of relying on contributions from lobbyists and other special interests. The legislation would create a voluntary system that gives congressional candidates the option to stop raising huge sums of money, giving them more time to work on the people’s business. Candidates who participate in the Fair Elections process would agree to limit their campaign spending to the amounts raised from small dollar donors plus matching contributions from the Fair Elections Fund.