Green Party members met on the steps of the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., Wednesday afternoon to demand public funding of elections.

Green Party members are lobbying their senators and representatives this week to agree to accept only public funding for their campaigns and to sponsor a bill to bar special interest PAC, corporate, and dark money donations from all elections.

Contacts:

Darlene Elias, spokesperson for the National Women’s Caucus

mialmavive@gmail.com, (413) 204-1001

Jennifer Sullivan, Lobby Week organizer and member of the National Women’s Caucus

greencat9@juno.com (352) 410-4484

This week’s lobby events are sponsored by the Green Party National Women's Caucus.

Kai McCoy, MSW and Missouri Green Party alternate delegate to the Green Party National Committee: “When the largest holders of money in the United States are male, and the largest number of candidates are also male, and money is what wins elections, then Public Campaign Financing is one of the most important issues to ensure the rights of women to be able to run for office INDEPENDENT of the contributions of men. In every country where women fill more than 25% of elected national offices, we see better policy development for the people of that nation and better international diplomacy by the government they represent. So in response to the criticism that Public Campaign Financing is NOT a women's issue, I say that it might be THE MOST important women's issue of today. Without women in elected positions, we have no direct representation for ourselves, and our nearly 100 years of suffrage matters none."

Green Party members say the current Congressional Bill HR 1 is designed to cut funding for Green Party candidates by raising the qualifying amount for federal matching funds from $5,000 in 20 states to $25,000.

Darlene Elias, spokesperson for the National Women’s Caucus: “There is much progress to be had with the HR 1 bill, and the Women’s Caucus intends to educate our public officials as to the deficiencies. All candidates need to have an equal playing field when running campaigns. Setting high limits in order to obtain federal matching funds is not equity. It is the perpetual systemic oppression of people from less affluent and diverse populations. What we need are more diverse candidates with progressive views. We are a party beholden to the people.” Elias added, “Congress is not designed to hear from the average citizen. It is designed to hear from people who have deep pockets.”

Green Party members also hosted an informative event Wednesday evening at a local event space on how the public funding of elections can save taxpayers money.

Jennifer Sullivan, Lobby Week organizer and member of the National Women’s Caucus: “What we’ve been able to accomplish is to open the eyes of our elected officials that there is resistance to the actions and non-actions that we are seeing and enlighten them to our better ideas and solutions.”

Public Funding Pledge: https://greensvsgreed.org/about-the-lobby/public-funding-pledge/

Interview with Lobby Week organizer Jennifer Sullivan on a Green Way Forward: https://www.facebook.com/drjillstein/videos/235772243928371