The Plan

It’s the most open secret in Washington: pay-to-play politics, sweetheart deals and wasteful programs often go hand-in-hand with deep-pocketed campaign contributors. Alexi believes that the United States government should be more accountable to taxpayers and less beholden to corporate special interests, which is why he has offered a comprehensive plan that will make his Senate office and the Congress more generally the most transparent and ethical operation on Capitol Hill.

In the wake of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, Alexi will work to close the special interest floodgates that allow an unregulated influx of corporate money into the election process. In his own office, he will refuse donations from corporations and federal lobbyists, and post his daily schedules and office budget online. On the Senate floor, he will fight for a new campaign finance system that levels the playing field, for a lifetime ban on members of Congress becoming lobbyists, for increased lobbyist disclosure requirements, for an end to earmarks, and for a moratorium on congressional pay raises until the federal budget is balanced.
 

The  Record: Ending pay-to-play and making the Treasurer’s office more transparent

From day one as Illinois State Treasurer, Alexi has demonstrated his unwavering commitment to ethical public service. His very first act was to sign the strongest ethics order in state government and bar campaign contributions from anyone with business before the State Treasurer, including contractors, agency employees and banks.

Alexi authored and passed legislation that required the Treasurer’s office to provide monthly investment updates on its website showing: the amount of money the office is holding; where that money is invested; how much money the state is making on its investments; and how the state’s returns compare to industry standards known as benchmarks.

As a candidate for the U.S. Senate, he has refused all contributions from corporate PACs and federal lobbyists. He won’t take their money and he won’t vote their way. 

Part 1

No Contributions From Corporate PACs or Federal Lobbyists

It is not surprising that Congressmen who take corporate money are more likely to protect corporate interests. The Center for Responsive Politics found that in the case of one bill, which would have created a strong consumer financial protection agency to guard against exorbitant fees and predatory lending by Wall Street firms, members who voted against the bill collected 70 percent more donations from commercial banks than those who supported it.

Candidates spend too much time raising money only to then vote in lockstep with the corporate interests who bankrolled their campaigns. Alexi doesn’t take their money and won’t vote their way.  Period.

Those who are paid to influence policy should not be allowed to buy influence from those they have to lobby. Alexi refuses all donations from federal lobbyists.

Part 2

Push for public financing of elections

Across the country, state and local governments have implemented publicly-financed campaigns that limit runaway spending and reduce the influence of special interest money in the campaign process.  Alexi will push for a federal financing system that is suitable for the 21st century. As a start, he will co-sponsor Senator Durbin’s Fair Elections Now Act, which tilts the power away from wealthy special interests and empowers every citizen to play a bigger role in the electoral process.

Part 3

Rid Washington of corrupting influences

Alexi will call on his colleagues to rid themselves of corrupting influences and taxpayer-funded financial benefits.

Push for a lifetime ban on members of Congress becoming lobbyists

Congressmen leave government to take high-paying jobs with corporate special interests, giving them undue influence over policy decision-making. More than 300 former members of congress have registered as lobbyists.  Alexi will work to stop this revolving door in Washington.

Shut the door on former staff members who become lobbyists

Alexi will bar any former members of his Senate staff who become lobbyists from lobbying him or being rehired.

Increase lobbyist disclosure requirements

The current lobbyist disclosure system in the Senate is unclear and provides little information to the public about who is actually lobbying on Capitol Hill. Alexi will push to reform the lobbyist disclosure database by making it fully searchable so that it’s clear who has lobbied for specific pieces of legislation, and how much money they have spent on those activities. His first act would be to introduce a companion bill to Representative Mike Quigley’s comprehensive Transparency in Government Act, which would expand the definition of lobbyist and require them to disclose all executive and legislative branch officials with whom they meet.

Impose a moratorium on Congressional pay raises until the federal budget is balanced

Congress should not pass pay increases for itself until it addresses the federal deficits that threaten to cripple our economy and burden future generations. Alexi has committed to only accept the rate of pay that he receives on the day he is sworn in as Senator, and will return to the Treasury any pay raises over that amount.

Part 4

Reform the earmark process 

The lack of transparency and accountability in the earmark process is unacceptable. An earmark for a new school as part of a larger education spending bill might make sense if it is properly vetted and open for public scrutiny.  But there is no justification for no-bid earmarks that support private corporations and are added to unrelated spending bills at the last minute.  Alexi will never put Illinois at a funding disadvantage when he is in the Senate, but he will spearhead efforts to build on the reforms that the Democrats passed in 2007 to eliminate wasteful earmarks. 
 

Require a bidding process for for-profit earmarks

All earmarks for private, for-profit companies should be subject to the same competitive bidding process as other federal contracts. Earmarks that respond to the needs of local communities will survive, and those that pander to special interests will be highlighted for all to see.
 

Post funding requests on Senate website

Alexi will post his funding requests for Illinois projects on his Senate website.

Part 5

Correct the wrongs of Citizens United

The Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United opened the floodgates of special interest money into the election process. Alexi supports meaningful reforms to begin to correct the damage done by that decision.

Create a comprehensive independent expenditure reporting system

Any organization that makes an independent expenditure should be required to file a report with the Federal Elections Committee. Campaign disclosures must show if contributions are being funneled through straw organizations or middlemen that are designed to mask the true backer of the expenditure.

Disclose who is behind the ads

527 organizations should be required to identify all their financial donors, or to set up separate accounts to handle political spending and identify the donors to that account. Any organization making an independent expenditure must be required to disclose the name and address of any entity whose aggregate contributions exceed $200.

Require executives to stand behind their ads

Just as candidates are required to “stand by their ads,” the chief executive of the main backer of a campaign advertisement should be required to personally appear in television and radio spots, acknowledging sponsorship.

Inform corporate shareholders

The Citizens United decision allows corporations to make political contributions from their general treasury funds. Shareholders should be informed if their money is being spent to influence an election. The Securities and Exchange Commission current “8-K” reporting system  should be updated so that spending on political activities, including in-kind contributions, independent expenditures and membership in organizations that engage in political activity are included each time aggregate spending totals $10,000.

Ban contributions from companies that receive federal taxpayer dollars

Political expenditures by government contractors and companies that hold outstanding TARP funds should be prohibited.

Ban contributions from foreign corporations

Companies that have more than 20 percent foreign ownership should be banned from making independent expenditures.  

Impose filling fees on a sliding scale

To pay for new federal enforcement of independent expenditures, filling fees should be imposed on a sliding scale: the greater the independent expenditure, the larger the filing fee.

Part 6

Make public government data more readily available 

Alexi believes that every citizen should have easy access to publicly available government information, and that the process of passing laws should be made more transparent.
 

Make information easily accessible online

Every citizen should have easy access to data that is publicly available. Alexi supports mandating that all three branches of government make publicly available data available online in an easily searchable format.

Clarity, quality and timeliness of information matters

The government must develop the policy that all public data must be posted online in a timely manner, complete and accurate, searchable, and permanently accessible. There should also be standardization across databases. Too often information describing the same entities uses different identifiers and is stored in varied formats.
 

Post legislation online

The ability of citizens to participate and hold their elected officials accountability is greatly affected by their access to legislation before it is called for a vote. All non-emergency legislation should be posted online, it its final format, at least 72 hours before it is scheduled for consideration.  
 

Disclose legislative requests

All communications between members of Congress, or their staff, and a federal agency requesting a specific action should be made public and posted online within 24 hours, unless such requests would compromise national security, law enforcement, or the privacy of an individual constituent. Alexi will first set an example by posting all of his requests online within 24 hours.