We’re Elizabeth Hira from the Brennan Center for Justice and Lawrence Lessig from the Harvard Law School, and we’re here to talk about the most important democracy reform legislation in generations, the For the People Act, aka HR1 (or S1) — Ask Us Anything! - Politics

We’re Elizabeth Hira from the Brennan Center for Justice and Lawrence Lessig from the Harvard Law School, and we’re here to talk about the most important democracy reform legislation in generations, the For the People Act, aka HR1 (or S1) — Ask Us Anything!
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We’re Elizabeth Hira from the Brennan Center for Justice and Lawrence Lessig from the Harvard Law School, and we’re here to talk about the most important democracy reform legislation in generations, the For the People Act, aka HR1 (or S1) — Ask Us Anything!

Posted: 26 Mar 2021 08:10 AM PDT

We both have been working extremely hard to help spread understanding about this critically important reform.

Elizabeth (me!) is a democracy reform lawyer who worked on the first version of HR1 last Congress, serving as an Elections Counsel in the Committee that led the bill through the House (@HouseAdm_Dems). I'm now a Spitzer Fellow at the Brennan Center, where I've been lifting up the case that the For The People Act is America's next great civil rights bill -- forwarding equity, intersectionally, for so many communities. It's my privilege to spread the good word about the bill's transformative potential to large audiences of organized, mobilized Americans like you! (I will also talk to you about it in the grocery line, I believe in it that strongly.) I've been fighting for equity reforms since I was a wee baby lawyer, from supporting reproductive justice with the Center for Reproductive Rights to advancing reforms against sexual harassment as an aide to Senator Kamala Harris. This is also my first AMA, so not a big deal at all to be doing it with THE Larry Lessig (!?!?) :)

Lessig (me!) has been in the trenches for the last 14 years, writing books (Republic Lost(2011), One Way Forward (2012), The US is Lesterland, Republic Lost, v2 (2015), America Compromised (2018), They Don't Represent US (2019)), endless articles and essays, and organizing movements of people to demand democracy, finally. With Aaron Swartz and (Joe Trippi)[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Trippi], I started Change Congress in 2007, that became Rootstrikers in 2010. In 2014, I helped launch the MayDayPAC. In 2014, we begin a series of marches across New Hampshire (with the New Hampshire Rebellion, including two across the whole state in January!), in the spirit of Granny D (and in memory of Aaron), demanding campaign finance reform. And after trying mightily to get the issue of fundamental reform on the Democratic debate state in 2015 (see the Citizen Equality Act)), I started EqualCitizens.us, which is litigating and organizing for an equal democracy for all.

The For The People Act is in the Senate right now, and could actually become law, but only with your help! It includes voting rights reform, gerrymandering reform, election security measures, transparency requirements, ethics rules for the Supreme Court, Congress, and the President, and, for the first time in American history, a system to enable Congressional candidates to fund their campaigns with small-contributions only. The bill has passed the House (twice), if we can get filibuster reform, there's a real chance it could pass the Senate and become law. Let's talk about what it does and why it is so important.

Proof: https://twitter.com/BrennanCenter/status/1374731230445441034

FROM Elizabeth Hira: This has been fantastic!! In case we didn't get to your question, I want to share this massive treasure trove of resources from my brilliant colleagues at the Brennan Center -- it'll answer many of your granular questions but also give you big-picture insights into the bill, the context, and the moment! And always feel free to reach out to me or us, or name your dog or canary after Larry, I think he really liked that :)

• From Elizabeth o Twitter thread simply explaining civil rights case for HR1 (my first-ever tweet!): https://twitter.com/ElizabethHira/status/1366805826237829123 o Op-ed: The For the People Act is America's Next Great Civil Rights Bill: https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/people-act-americas-next-great-civil-rights-bill

Brennan Resources for your every need (cocktail party to talking to Congress):

• Brennan Center Urges Congress to Pass the For the People Act (letter sent to Congress on Feb. 26): https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/brennan-center-urges-congress-pass-people-act

• Why Congress Must Pass the For the People Act (Brennan Center short, comprehensive report): https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/policy-solutions/congress-must-pass-people-act

• Annotated Guide to the For the People Act (Brennan Center detailed section-by-section guide to the bill): https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/policy-solutions/annotated-guide-people-act-2021

• How to Fix American Democracy (Brennan Center Q&A about the For the People Act): https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/how-fix-american-democracy

• Congress Could Change Everything (Brennan Center chart showing the kinds of voting restrictions introduced in the states and how the For the People Act would impact them): https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/congress-could-change-everything

• State Voting Bills Tracker 2021 (Brennan Center): https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/state-voting-bills-tracker-2021

• Politico: The Supreme Court's "Breathtakingly Radical" New Approach to Election Law (shows that federal courts have left protecting the vote to Congress, by Brennan Center experts Daniel Weiner and Wendy Weiser): https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/11/22/supreme-court-election-law-voting-rights-438844

• The Redistricting Landscape, 2021-22 (Brennan Center report): https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/redistricting-landscape-2021-22

• Small Donor Matching in the 'For the People Act' (Brennan Center explainer): https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/small-donor-for-the-people-act

Faces of small donor public financing: https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/faces-small-donor-public-financing-2021

Response to critics who say that Small Donor Public Financing would increase polarization: https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/how-change-incentives-both-politicians-and-donors

More on small donor public financing in HR1, tying in their Faces of Small Donor report: https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/how-congress-can-better-represent-people

Michael Li blog post on why HR1 is critical for fair voting maps: https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/why-people-act-critical-fair-voting-maps

Tim Lau Q&A with Michael Li: https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/emerging-fight-over-gerrymandering

Kevin Morris analysis on how Georgia voting restrictions would harm Black voters: https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/georgias-proposed-voting-restrictions-will-harm-black-voters-most

FROM LESSIG: REALLY grateful for these questions and comments (and dog names). If you want more (or need a birthday present for your 50 best friends), my latest book, THEY DON'T REPRESENT US is out in paperback in a week or so. There's a new part on this last election — and the challenges we would face even if HR1 passes. There's also an appendix that summarizes HR1.

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Discussion Thread: Press Secretary Jen Psaki Holds a Briefing - 03/26/2021 | Live 12:30 PM ET

Posted: 26 Mar 2021 09:16 AM PDT

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki briefs reporters and responds to questions.

The Press Conference is scheduled to begin at 12:30 PM ET. You can watch live online on