Issue One

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Issue One
Formation September 2014[1]
Headquarters Washington, DC
Location
  • United States
Membership
 100+
Executive Director
 Nick Penniman[2]
Affiliations Campaign Legal Center
Slogan When we’re united, no challenge is too great.
Website www.issueone.org

Issue One is an American nonpartisan, nonprofit organization which seeks to reduce the role of money in politics.[3][4] It was formed in 2014 by the merger of Americans for Campaign Reform and Fund for the Republic. The organization strives to keep the issue of campaign finance reform at the forefront of public attention, while demonstrating that it is a bipartisan concern of "crisis" magnitude.

History

Issue One was formed through the merger of two campaign finance reform organizations, Americans for Campaign Reform and Fund for the Republic.[1]

Americans for Campaign Reform

Americans for Campaign Reform (ACR) was a non-partisan 501(c)(3) organization formed in 2003 by John Rauh, with Dan Weeks, and later Barbara Lawton, as President and CEO. The Board of Directors was composed of two Democrat senators and two Republican senators. The ACR, as described in their mission statement, was "a bipartisan community of citizens who believe passionately that public funding of federal elections is the single most critical long-term public policy issue our nation faces. What's at stake are nothing less than the health of our democracy, the quality of our leadership, and our government's ability to tackle the serious problems that affect us all: health care, energy policy, education, the environment and the economy. Their primary purpose was to enact public funding of all federal elections; supporting legislation which promoted small donor participation in elections and provided adequate public funds for qualified candidate to run competitive races. ACR emphasized that the longstanding limits on the size of contributions imposed by national, state and local legislation were important to encouraging ordinary citizens to participate in the electoral process.[5][6]

Fund for the Republic

Fund for the Republic (FFR) was a group formed in late 2012 with the goal of removing the influence of big money in American politics.[7] In 2013, Fund for the Republic co-hosted an event with Democracy Alliance in which it pitched 110 donors on investing in a $40 million plan to combat dark money in American politics. Donors to the Fund for the Republic included Democracy Alliance members Jonathan Soros and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.[7][8] That same year, FFR's affiliated c(4) announced plans to fund groups working to defeat politicians who oppose campaign finance reform, while supporting groups backing finance reform politicians.[9]

Organization

We are a nonprofit organization dedicated to reducing the influence of money in politics and putting everyday Americans back in control of our democracy. We are generating a bigger, bolder movement for reform by recruiting new constituencies to the fight and elevating money in politics as the core civic issue of our time. --Issue One mission statement

Issue One's Executive Director is Nick Penniman. Their Advisory Board is chaired by former Senators Alan Simpson (R-WY), Bill Bradley (D-NJ) and Bob Kerrey (D-NE), and their advisory board consists of more than 40 American leaders from the worlds of politics, business, philanthropy and entertainment, including Charles Fried, Wesley Clark, Doris Kearns Goodwin, and Paul Volcker.[10] Trevor Potter, a former chairman of the Federal Election Commission (FEC), counsel to the presidential campaigns of George H. W. Bush and John McCain, and vocal critic of unlimited corporate spending and dark money in politics, is a senior advisor.[11]

Activities

Issue One addresses the problems with the present campaign finance system on several fronts. Its activities are designed to forge a large, influential, bipartisan community to effect change; generate awareness and a sense of urgency around the issue; investing through grants in the most productive and innovative solutions; increase opportunity for all citizens to have their voices heard, while decreasing the ability of special interests to influence policies and corrupt the democratic process; minimize the time public officials spend raising campaign money so that they can focus on doing our nation’s business.[12][13]

ReFormers Caucus

In 2015, Issue One launched its ReFormers Caucus,[14][15] a bipartisan group of former governors and members of Congress committed to reducing the power of money in politics and restoring the public’s trust in democratic institutions. The ReFormers Caucus currently has more than 135 members, including former Secretaries of Defense Chuck Hagel and Leon Panetta, former Ambassador to China and Governor Jon Hunstman, and former Vice Presidential candidate Walter Mondale.

Based on their combined legislative and governmental experience, the ReFormers Caucus has proposed and endorsed the following solutions: Increasing transparency and disclosure of political spending; boosting civil participation and small donations to campaigns, severing the connection between lobbying and campaign finance, pass laws that define and regulate the role of money in federal elections, implementing restrictions on political contributions from lobbyists and unmasking secret contributions made to tax-exempt groups that are active in politics.[14]

Blueprints for Democracy

Issue One joined with the Campaign Legal Center to publish Blueprints for Democracy,[16] an in-depth report providing an overview of how reforms have been implemented across the country, and recommended best practices for legislators and advocates enacting change in their local communities. [17]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ McCutcheon v. FEC - ACR Amicus brief; FEC; July 24, 2013
  6. ↑ Americans for Campaign Reform; ACR Reform; May, 2014
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Advisory board; Issue One; April 2016
  11. ↑ Here’s what I learned when I helped Stephen Colbert set up his Super PAC; Washington Post; January 21, 2015
  12. ↑ Former Sen. Alan Simpson: Restore the Balance of Money in Politics; Time; December 15, 2015
  13. ↑ Issue One solutions; Issue One; April 30, 2016
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Former lawmakers join campaign-finance fight; USA Today; Fredreka Schouten; October 28, 2015
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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