Reform Groups Urge Senators to Strike McConnell Campaign Finance Rider

In a letter sent today, reform groups strongly urged members of the Senate Appropriations Committee to oppose a McConnell rider inserted into the Senate Financial Services Appropriations bill. The McConnell rider would seriously undermine longstanding campaign finance provisions that limit spending by parties coordinated with candidates.

The groups included the Brennan Center for Justice, Campaign Legal Center, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, Common Cause, Democracy 21, Issue One, League of Women Voters, People For the American Way, Public Citizen, Rootstrikers and U.S. PIRG.

According to the letter, “Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has blocked for years efforts in the Senate to repair the nation’s campaign finance laws. Now, Senator McConnell wants to enact his own campaign finance provision that would further undermine the campaign finance laws.”

The letter concluded by urging Senators to vote for an amendment offered by Senator Tom Udall to strike the McConnell rider from the Financial Services Appropriations Bill.