EXCELSIOR, MN - On Friday, Representative-Elect Dean Phillips stood with Congressional leaders to announce that a sweeping campaign finance and ethics reform bill will be H.R. 1 in the 116th Congress.

“Our victory showed that it’s possible to run a clean, people-powered campaign and win. I’m on a mission to make that the rule, not the exception,” said Phillips. “On November 6, Americans stepped up and demanded change. It’s time to elevate the common interest over special interests, time to return to a government and a system of campaigning that is of the people, by the people, and for the people.”

Phillips had made campaign finance reform a hallmark of his 2018 campaign, foregoing all contributions from PACs, lobbyists, and even members of Congress against a well-funded entrenched incumbent.

Rep. Sarbanes of Maryland authored the comprehensive anti-corruption legislation. Earlier this summer, Sarbanes was a panelist on a campaign finance reform issue forum hosted by Phillips, a model that was then replicated across the country in other Congressional districts. Sarbanes and Phillips will work together to have the bill ready for a vote when the new Congress is sworn in on January 3, 2019.

“I often said on the campaign trail that I hoped the first bill I would vote on in Washington if I was given the honor of serving would be for campaign finance reform,” Phillips reflected. “I’m humbled that our community has trusted me to be their voice in Washington and I’m proud to begin fulfilling the commitment I made to them as a leader on H.R. 1.”

H.R. 1 will confront corruption in Washington by addressing campaign finance reform -- including the passing of Senator Amy Klobuchar’s Honest Ads Act, strengthening ethics laws, and expanding and protecting voting rights.

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