Today marks a major milestone in the work to win full public financing of congressional elections. Senators Richard Durbin (D-IL) and Arlen Specter (R-PA) have announced their introduction of the Fair Elections Now Act to bring spending limits and full public financing to elections for Congress. Rep. John Tierney (D-MA) will lead up the companion bill, the Clean Money Clean Elections Act, in the House.

Public Campaign's President and CEO Nick Nyhart, spoke in praise of the bill introduction:

“Public Campaign commends Sens. Richard Durbin (D-IL) and Arlen Specter (R-PA), and Rep. John Tierney (D-MA) for their outstanding leadership today. They are making a bold effort to turn the big money culture of Washington upside down. Under the Fair Elections Now Act, candidates will depend on ordinary voters in their districts to run a competitive campaign for office. The price for a ticket to a fundraiser is five dollars. Bring a crowd of your neighbors to a backyard barbeque, and you’ll likely draw a candidate for U.S. Congress."

You can read his full statement here. Nick writes more about the significance of the Fair Elections Now Act, and the chances to see it passed into law here on the Huffington Post. He is joined by our Research and Investigative Projects Director Nancy Watzman, who writes on the bill introduction as the culmination of years of work in the states winning Clean Elections systems and working to bring voters to the forefront of the elections process.


Stay tuned for more news and commentary on the bill's introduction throughout the day!