Monday, June 28th, 2021

For the People: Senate GOP blocked what the claim is an attempt to federalize the election process in a 50-50 party-line vote, short of the 60 needed to overcome a filibuster. The For the People Act (S.1) is a sweeping election reform measure which would:

• Establish online and automatic voting registration.
• Restore felons’ voting rights after they complete their sentences.
• Require states to use independent commissions to draw congressional district boundaries.
• Create six-to-one public campaign funding matching systems for small donations to Senate and presidential candidates.
• Authorize grants to states to strengthen election systems.
• Expand requirements for independent groups to disclose their donors and political expenditures.
• Define prohibited coordination and spending between super PACs and campaigns.
• Expand government ethics rules for White House and executive branch personnel, members of Congress, Supreme Court justices, foreign agents, and lobbyists.
• Reduce the number of Federal Election Commission (FEC) members to five, from six.
• Require presidential candidates to release their tax returns.

The measure includes severability clauses stipulating that a court decision rendering portions of the bill unconstitutional wouldn’t affect its other provisions. It also includes language to clarify that it wouldn’t prevent states from going beyond federal standards to expand voting opportunities. To voice your opinion on this issue phone your Senators at 202-225-3121.

Protecting Older Workers Against Discrimination: The House passed H.R.2062, which would  ease the standard of proof for age discrimination claims as well as for certain other employment discrimination and retaliation claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. 

LGBTQ Business Equal Credit Enforcement and Investment: The House passed H.R.1443 (252-176), which would require financial institutions to report certain credit application data to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for the purposes of enforcing fair lending laws. Specifically, financial institutions must report this data regarding lesbian-, gay-, bisexual-, transgender-, or queer-owned businesses. Currently, this data is reported regarding women-owned, minority-owned, and small businesses.

Growing Climate Solutions: The Senate passed S.1251, which is a bipartisan bill that would encourage agriculture producers to use carbon credit markets by offering government certification and verification. The bill would direct the Agriculture Department to establish a Greenhouse Gas Technical Assistance Provider and Third-Party Verifier Certification Program, which would give a federal stamp of approval to any qualified providers. The move is meant to encourage farmers, ranchers, and foresters to adopt voluntary practices such as carbon sequestration or reforestation that would help them earn carbon credits, which can then be sold in carbon markets.

Preventing Crimes Against Veterans: The House passed H.R.983, which establishes a new criminal offense for knowingly executing, or attempting to execute, a scheme to defraud an individual of veterans' benefits, or in connection with obtaining veteran's benefits for an individual. A violator is subject to criminal penalties—a fine, a prison term of up to five years, or both.

Property Rights: The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that California was violating the Constitution with a decades-old regulation that gives union organizers access to agricultural company land for part of the year to talk to workers. Voting 6-3 along ideological lines, the justices said the 1975 provision, which grew out of the efforts of Cesar Chavez to give farm workers collective bargaining rights, infringed the rights of agricultural employers by taking their property without compensation. Worker advocates said the California access regulation was a critical tool for informing vulnerable farm laborers of their rights.