Washington, DC – Today, Congressman David Price (NC-04) introduced the We the People Act, comprehensive legislation designed to strengthen and modernize our nation's campaign finance system. The bill would implement new disclosure and transparency requirements designed to decrease the influence of outside money in politics, to limit the influence of Super PAC special interest organizations, to strengthen the Federal Elections Commission, and to reduce conflicts of interest between regulatory employees and the financial services industry.

"Since the Citizens United decision, billions of dollars in outside money has flooded our political system with extremely limited oversight," said Congressman Price. "We must take action to take our politics back from the special interests and to limit the influence of unregulated Super PACs. The We the People Act is designed to give our democracy back to the voters."

Congressman Price was the original author of the 2002 Stand By Your Ad law, which requires candidates to take responsibility for their advertisements on television and radio. The We the People Act includes provisions updating the Stand By Your Ad disclosure requirements to cover new forms of paid political advocacy, including online advertisements and robocalls, and to require SuperPACs to disclose their funding sources.

Specifically, the We the People Act would:

·         Require mandatory disclosure of special interest donations to SuperPACs and other “independent” political groups

·         Require SuperPACs to be truly “independent,” forbidding them from coordinating with campaigns

·         Require real time reporting of major campaign contributions for federal candidates

·         Reform and strengthen the Federal Election Commission

·         Apply Stand By Your Ad disclosure requirements to SuperPAC-funded advertising and to online political communications and robocalls

·         Reduce conflicts of interest for people moving between employment in the financial services sector and regulatory agencies

Similar legislation has been introduced in the Senate by Senator Tom Udall (D-NM).

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