Senate to introduce comprehensive voting reform, anti-corruption bill
16 March 2021
In a long-shot bid to enact voting reform on a federal level, Senate Democrats will introduce their version of the For the People Act, a comprehensive voting reform and anti-corruption bill.
Why it matters: In the aftermath of the 2020 election, states across the U.S. are considering voting restrictions, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) will hold a press conference Thursday to announce the S1 legislation.
The state of play: The House passed the companion bill For the People Act (H.R. 1) on March 4. The Senate proposal looks virtually similar and would include:
- The bill would allow universal same-day voting registration and automatic registration for Americans age 18 and up.
- It would also prohibit the purging of voter rolls and allow every voter to cast votes by mail.
- It would also provide at least 15 days of early voting to Americans nationwide.
The bill will also offer campaign finance reform, and would require super PACs and issue advocacy groups to disclose donors contributing more than $10,000.
- The bill's ethics components would require the president and vice president to publicly disclose their tax returns.
- It will also prohibit members of Congress from serving on the boards of for-profit entities.
What’s next: The Senate Rules Committee will hold a hearing on March 24. If the vote comes to the floor, the Senate will need to pass the bill with 60 votes which seems increasingly unlikely with the growing partisan divide in Congress.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.