Will Washington once again see action on a signature piece of Democratic legislation? According to National Journal’s Hotline On Call, Senate Democrats are planning to reopen the campaign finance issue after the August recess – in the hope that the delay will mitigate some moderate Republicans’ objections to the hurried legislation.
Although the process from conception of the legislation to passage in the House took more than 4 months, Sen. Harry Reid chose to bring up the issue for a cloture vote on July 27 in the Senate. It ultimately failed, with Sen. Reid voting no ultimately to preserve his right of cloture. Moderate Republican Senators Scott Brown (Mass.), Olympia Snowe (Maine), and Susan Collins (Maine) are the swing votes on this issue – all have expressed reservations about what they view as the majority’s unseemly haste – seemingly in order to influence the November elections.
Since passing the bill in September or October would mean that it would not impact this year’s pivotal elections, Democrats hope that the moderate Senators, who may have supported campaign finance reform in a different format, will be able to overcome their skepticism. Express Advocacy’s William McGinley reports that Sens. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Leahy (D-Vermont) sent a campaign email specifically mentioning the DISCLOSE Act.
Story from Hotline on Call is here: “DISCLOSE Act will get second look.”
Tags: Chuck Schumer, DISCLOSE Act, Harry Reid
