For some time now big corporations have dominated public campaign and/or political financing. The For the People Act aims to bring about some public election financing reform that would potentially empower small donors. This analysis was co-written by two expert authors from the Brennan Center, Hazel Millard and Ian Vandewalker. Here is an exerpt:

The Senate is currently considering the For the People Act, a historic democracy reform bill passed by the House this month. In addition to sweeping reforms to improve voting, redistricting, financial transparency, and ethics laws, the bill would establish a voluntary small donor match public financing system for candidates running for federal office.

Public financing for congressional campaigns is a transformative reform. By matching and multiplying small donations from everyday Americans, it would allow candidates to stop chasing big checks and special interest money, and to focus instead on grassroots supporters. But even though it’s a new idea for congressional elections, public financing already has an established track record. The For the People Act would update and improve an existing system used by virtually every major presidential candidate for decades. Public financing systems have also flourished in state and local elections.

A new Brennan Center report, Faces of Small Donor Public Financing 2021, illustrates the power of public financing by featuring success stories from across the nation. We interviewed elected officials who ran with public funds: Democrats and Republicans, longtime incumbents and new challengers, representatives of small rural districts and those serving urban communities with more than one million constituents. The insights of several interviewees were informed by their experiences running for Congress.

Read the full article through this link.