skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, March 29, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Senate Committee Approves Plan on Campaign Spending Limits

play audio
Play

Friday, July 11, 2014   

SEATTLE - A constitutional amendment giving Congress and states control of political campaign spending is moving toward a vote on the U.S. Senate floor.

The Senate Judiciary Committee passed Senate Joint Resolution 19 on Thursday in a 10-8 party-line vote.

Jonah Minkoff-Zern, campaign co-director for the group Public Citizen, said the resolution's goal is to help reverse the effects of "big money" on elections, after U.S. Supreme Court rulings in cases such as Citizens United and McCutcheon that increased campaign spending limits.

"Across political lines," he said, "people are saying that they want a constitutional amendment, that they want big money out of our political system - and that they see that they're no longer in control of the people who are supposed to represent them."

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., is among 45 co-sponsors of the resolution.

Opponents warn that approving it could set a dangerous precedent by potentially giving the government the ability to limit free speech. But more than 550 municipalities have passed their own resolutions for a constitutional amendment, including about a dozen in Washington, as well as 16 states.

A full Senate vote will most likely not happen until after the August recess, said Stephen Spaulding, policy counsel with the group Common Cause. He pointed out that passage would require 67 "yes" votes, and that means at least a dozen Senate Republicans would have to be among them.

"We know that it's an uphill battle, so that's why it's critical that senators from both sides of the aisle hear from their constituents," he said. "Because there is a broad consensus that money has far too much power, in Washington and in statehouses."

A companion bill in the U.S. House will be introduced next week. Passage of a constitutional amendment requires a two-thirds vote in both houses of Congress, and ratification by at least 38 states.

Text of the resolution is online at thomas.loc.gov.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this week about the popular abortion pill Mifepristone and will weigh in on whether the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was correct in how it can be dosed and prescribed. (Ascannio/Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Missouri residents are worried about future access to birth control. The latest survey from The Right Time, an initiative based in Missouri…


Social Issues

play sound

Wisconsin children from low-income families are now on track to get nutritious foods over the summer. Federal officials have approved the Badger …

Social Issues

play sound

Almost 2,900 people are unsheltered on any given night in the Beehive State. Gov. Spencer Cox is celebrating signing nine bills he says are geared …


The U.S. teaching workforce remains primarily white while the percentage of Black teachers has declined. However, the percentage of Asian and Latinx teachers is rising.(WavebreakMediaMicro/Adobestock)

Social Issues

play sound

Education advocates are calling on lawmakers to increase funding for programs to combat the teacher shortage. Around 37% of schools nationwide …

Environment

play sound

New York's Legislature is considering a bill to get clean-energy projects connected to the grid faster. It's called the RAPID Act, for "Renewable …

Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021