House of Representatives Passes Delgado-Backed H.R. 1, Including Delgado’s CLEAR Act
Historic government reform bill includes Delgado’s CLEAR Act that sheds light on dark money in politics; Delgado is an original cosponsor of H.R. 1
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the historic government reform bill H.R. 1, the first bill that Representative Antonio Delgado (NY-19) cosponsored as a member of the House. H.R. 1 also includes Delgado’s second bill, the CLEAR Act, which increases transparency and reduces corruption by requiring additional publicly available disclosures for lobbyists funding political ads or other political activities.
“Casting my vote for H.R. 1 today signifies a historic step forward in our efforts to fix our broken system. It is a culmination of years of people demanding that Congress reject the outsized influence of special interests and money in politics,” Delgado said. “When 80% of folks in this country are asked to share just 20% of the wealth, when 80% are asked to live paycheck to paycheck, and when an unlimited amount of money is allowed to influence our politics, only a few truly have access to their government officials as only a few have the means to do so – that’s an oligarchy, not a democracy. The work we’re doing right now changes that. I’m very proud to be a leader in this effort to pass H.R. 1 including the CLEAR Act, which I introduced earlier this year in order to shine a spotlight on dark money in politics.”
Delgado’s Connecting Lobbyists and Electeds for Accountability and Reform Act (CLEAR Act) strengthens the ability of individuals to see what special interests are involved in political activities. Currently, the Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA) requires paid lobbyists to register and file with the House and Senate, and the Federal Election Commission (FEC) requires that political committees file disclosure reports. However, there is no direct, transparent way for individuals to identify lobbyists who are connected to the political spending in FEC reports. Delgado’s bill changes that by requiring that FEC reports for political activities—such as Political Action Committees (PACs), independent expenditures, and political ads—clearly indicate when the filer or a disclosed contributor is a registered lobbyist.
H.R. 1 includes reforms in key areas such as reducing the influence of corporate money in politics, enhancing voting rights, expanding conflict of interest law, requiring greater transparency for lobbyists, and ending partisan gerrymandering by requiring states to create independent redistricting commissions.
Delgado joined campaign finance reform group End Citizens United Action Fund yesterday for a press conference leading up to today’s vote. Watch Delgado’s remarks from the event here.
