Friend,

The movement for the 28th Amendment draws support from citizen leaders across the country and across the political spectrum. Our ongoing citizen engagement work is dedicated to building connections with reform advocates as diverse as the communities across our amazing nation—Americans of all political persuasions, ages, ethnicities and backgrounds. 

This week we highlight a few recent ways citizen leaders of all kinds advocate for the 28th Amendment:

• Former New Hampshire Senator Jim Rubens writes in The Hill that his fellow Republicans should leave partisan labels behind, come together and align their actions with the will of their constituents—and the fundamental principles of free-market capitalism and representative democracy.
• Nikki Naquin hopes to energize other young people to reclaim their voice in politics, a passion that aligns with her internship work in the American Promise Citizens Empowerment Department.
• Jim Bowyer, an American Promise citizen leader from North Oaks, Minnesota, makes his voice heard by writing letters to the editor and encouraging others in the North Star State to join the mission to refocus democracy on the people rather than wealthy corporations or special interests.

Now it’s time for you to join these inspiring citizen leaders in advancing the 28th Amendment: Register now for the National Citizen Leadership Conference, where we’ll share ideas, strategies and techniques to drive change and ensure political representation for American citizens rather than high-dollar donors. 

Thanks to citizen advocates across the country—like you—we’re building momentum and connections that continue to propel the 28th Amendment. Let’s keep the momentum going!

From Crosscut: A Seattle City Council member will introduce a proposal to reduce the influence of big-money donors in municipal elections. The proposal from Lorena González would limit the amount that donors could give to political action committees and place stricter regulations on how foreign money, including donations from U.S. companies with foreign owners, shapes city politics. It also would require PACs to disclose how their money is spent. González plans to introduce the legislation by early 2020. Read more.

From USA Today: Tom Steyer, a billionaire activist, became the latest Democratic presidential hopeful to qualify for the next round of debates. To make the cutoff for the Sept. 12-13 debates, candidates must poll at 2% or higher in four approved nationwide or early-state surveys and receive donations from more than 130,000 individuals, coming from at least 20 states with 400 donors each. Steyer entered the race in June with a pledge to combat corporate money in politics and fight climate change. Read more. 

From MapLight: An investigation of tax returns for trade organizations and nonprofits shows that they spent $535 million on lobbying in 2017 and as much as $675 million on unregulated efforts to influence public policy. According to the MapLight review, the $1.2 billion in combined spending demonstrates the increasing power of tax-exempt trade groups known as 501(c)(6) organizations, whose influence has grown substantially since the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision allowed them to spend directly on politics. Read more.

From Time: U.S. Sen. Tom Udall outlines why he and others recently introduced the 28th Amendment in the Senate to reduce the influence of big money in politics. “Too many Americans have every reason to believe that their government no longer answers to them,” Udall says. “And because the Supreme Court has now reinforced the misguided idea that spending money to elect politicians is the same thing as free speech, our broken campaign finance system lets billionaires and corporations have outsize influence in our elections. If we want to make progress on the very real problems Americans face, we have to create a democracy that is fair and open to all.” Read more.