Little-Known Provision in HR1 Will Quintuple the Amount of Money Presidential Candidates Must Raise to Participate in Public Matching Funds Program

WASHINGTON — The Green Party has gone on the record with the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Rules with a request that HR1 be amended to strike a provision that would quintuple the amount of money presidential campaigns will be required to raise to qualify for federal matching funds. HR1 will raise the qualifying threshold for presidential campaign matching funds from $5,000 raised in each of 20 states to $25,000 per state in 20 states.

Green Party of the United States
www.gp.org

For Immediate Release:
Monday, March 1, 2021

Contact:

Michael O’Neil, Communications Manager, [email protected], 202-804-2758
Holly Hart, Co-chair, Media Committee, [email protected], 202-804-2758
Craig Seeman, Co-chair, Media Committee,  [email protected], 202-804-2758

“While HR1 is sold as a way to get money out of politics and to protect voters, it contains a ‘poison pill’ for democracy and opposition parties like the Green Party” said Green Party National Co-Chair Tony Ndege. “How can they call this bill ‘For The People’ when they are silencing alternative parties at a time when more people than ever are demanding more political choice?”

“The Green Party stands opposed to this bait-and-switch legislation that claims to improve access to voting while actually dismantling everyone's right to organize electorally against the parties of War and Wall Street,” said Green Party National Co-Chair Gloria Mattera. “In recent presidential elections, Greens have been the only candidates to participate in the primary matching funds program. HR1 must be amended to stop this attack on presidential campaign matching funds that Green candidates have relied on for almost a decade — or the bill must fail.”

The Green Party is calling attention to other problematic provisions in HR1, which will:

• Abolish the general election campaign block grants parties may access by winning at least 5% of the vote in the previous presidential election
  
  
• Replace those general election block grants (where candidates receive one lump sum for all campaign expenses) with matching funds through Election Day — a step backwards for public campaign finance reform. Qualifying for general election matching funds will depend on meeting the new primary matching funds criteria designed to squeeze out alternative parties and independent candidates
  
  
• Eliminate the limits on donations and expenditures candidates can receive and make
  
  
• Inflate the amount of money national party committees can give to candidates from $5000 to $100 million, an astonishing increase of 1999900%

“Instead of trying to fool American voters and eliminating minor party voices, the Green Party calls for real reforms to democratize elections,” said Ndege, listing:

• The Fair Representation Act, introduced in 2018 and 2019, which would establish multi-seat, proportional representation for Congress by ranked-choice voting
  
  
• Individual state governments enacting RCV for their presidential general elections
  
  
• Fully-public campaign finance for every federal, state and local office through the Clean Money/Clean Elections model

If HR1 is not amended, the Green Party will release an online, grassroots lobbying effort for communities to tell their representatives in Congress to vote “no” during the full House vote this week.

MORE INFORMATION

Green Party Petition re: HR1 at gp.org

Text of requested amendments to HR1:

1. Eliminate the proposed 5202(a) entirely

https://www.congress.gov/117/bills/hr1/BILLS-117hr1ih.pdf

SEC. 5202. ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR MATCHING PAYMENTS.

(a) Amount of Aggregate Contributions Per State; Disregarding of

Amounts Contributed in Excess of $200.--Section 9033(b)(3) of the

Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended--

      (1) by striking “$5,000'' and inserting ``$25,000''; and

      (2) by striking “20 States'' and inserting the following:

  “20 States (disregarding any amount of contributions from any

  such resident to the extent that the total of the amounts

  contributed by such resident for the election exceeds $200)’’

 2. Leave as is, the existing Section 9033(b)(3) and (4) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986:

(3) the candidate has received matching contributions which in the aggregate, exceed $5,000 in contributions from residents of each of at least 20 States, and

(4) the aggregate of contributions certified with respect to any person under paragraph (3) does not exceed $250.

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