Issue One has joined nearly 70 organizations, individuals, and good government advocates calling for increased investment for congressional capacity, specifically calling for an increase of 10%, or $530.9 million, in funding for the legislative branch.
“Over the decades, funding for Congress and its support offices and agencies have significantly lagged behind increases in discretionary spending for the rest of the federal government, creating a yawning gap between Congress’s legislative, oversight, and constituent service responsibilities and its capacity to meet those responsibilities,” states the new letter, which was sent to congressional leaders today and whose signatories include the Bipartisan Policy Center, Demand Progress, Democracy 21, FreedomWorks, Lincoln Network, Niskanen Center, R Street Institute, Project on Government Oversight (POGO), Protect Democracy, and Public Citizen.
“We firmly believe that dedicating resources to build a stronger, more capable Congress is of key importance to our democracy and is necessary for it to fulfill its constitutional responsibilities,” the letter further states.
It continues: “Congress must have sufficient resources to lead in federal policymaking, provide services for constituents, and conduct oversight that roots out waste, fraud, abuse, and malfeasance. It must also modernize its information technology and digital infrastructure to meet these challenges. We respectfully urge you to increase the share of funding available for the Legislative branch by an additional 10 percent.”
The letter was sent to Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Richard Shelby (R-AL), chair and ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, as well as Reps. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) and Kay Granger (R-TX), chair and ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee.
Read the full letter here.
The full list of signatories of this letter are as follows:
- American Family Voices
- American Library Association
- American Principles Project
- Bipartisan Policy Center Action
- Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW)
- College to Congress
- Congressional Management Foundation
- Defending Rights & Dissent
- Demand Progress
- Democracy Fund Voice
- Democracy 21
- DotGov.com
- Fix the Court
- Free Government Information
- FreedomWorks
- Government Accountability Project
- Government Information Watch
- GovTrack.us
- Issue One
- Lincoln Network
- NALEO Educational Fund
- National Security Counselors
- Niskanen Center
- Open The Government
- Other98
- Partnership for Public Service
- Pay Our Interns Action
- Project On Government Oversight (POGO)
- Protect Democracy
- Public Citizen
- R Street Institute
- Rachel Carson Council
- Revolving Door Project
- Senior Executives Association
- Social Security Works
- TechFreedom
- Union of Concerned Scientists
- X-Lab
- Norman Ornstein, American Enterprise Institute
- Robert Cook-Deegan, Arizona State University
- Mahmud Farooque, Arizona State University
- Lorelei Kelly, Beeck Center for Social Impact + Innovation at Georgetown
- Mike Miesen, Belfer Center for Science & International Affairs
- Jon Peha, Carnegie Mellon University
- Matt Glassman, Claremont McKenna College
- Hebah Kassem, Congressional Progressive Caucus Center
- Alex Howard, Digital Democracy Project
- Jillian Grennan, Duke University
- Kenny Gutierrez, Electronic Frontier Foundation
- Jennifer Pahlka, Former US Deputy Chief Technology Officer
- Rick Shapiro, Former Executive Director of the Congressional Management Foundation and Former Senior Consultant for Democracy Fund
- Beth Simone Noveck, The Governance Lab
- Richard Skinner, Johns Hopkins University
- Brian Baird, Member of Congress (Retired)
- Lee Drutman, New America
- Robert Seamans, New York University
- Caroline Wagner, Ohio State University
- Marci Harris, POPVOX Inc
- Sarah E. Hunt, Rainey Center Freedom Project
- Laura Manley, Technology and Public Purpose Project
- Maurice Turner, Turner Consulting, LLC
- Richard Forno, UMBC
- Brendan P. Kelly, University of Alaska Fairbanks
- Kevin M. Esterling, University of California, Riverside
- Kathleen Clark, Washington University
Note: Individuals’ affiliations are listed for identification purposes only