Notes

A Bill to Stop the Revolving Door of Congressional Lobbying
Round 1, Item 1
Lobbying Data Summary • OpenSecrets
Lobbyists, Governments and Public Trust (OECD)
Top Spenders • OpenSecrets
Frequently Asked Questions About Small Business 2023

Lobbying is a practice ingrained within our political matrix for centuries, a notion that has caused transparency and authenticity within the government to be completely eliminated across a spectrum that challenges a democratic foundation. Over $4.1 billion was spent directly on lobbying with 12,669 individuals involved on the federal level in 2022 alone according to OpenSecrets, revealing the vast workings in which it seeps into governmental framework. ThereforeI urge for the affirmation of this bill.

Consciously allowing the spread of lobbying compromises an authentic government and results in paternalistic qualities seeping into key ideologies of government. A direct correlation was found to be evident between transparency in lawmaking and public trust through a survey from the Organization for Economic Cooperation, through participation by both legislators and lobbyists finding that 50 percent of lobbyists in 2013 - compared to 38 percent in 2009 - in addition to 57 percent of legislators agreeing that influence peddling by lobbyists is a frequent or occasional problem. The very framework and competence of the government is being questioned as those with financial and industry dominance are being granted power rather than the consumer, with lobbyist Gerald Cassidy admitting that the “rich have gotten richer, the weak weaker". Authenticity is being eroded as freedoms are being restricted to certain groups of people through single lobbyists, eradicating the ability to initiate democratic justice.

Preventing the rampage of lobbying campaigns will further assist business owners and ensure that the consumer voting platform remains stable. The will of the people and a majority of informed voters who agree on a topic and possess the alleged power in a democratic society are condemned to oblivion when a single lobbyist may instead persuade a Congressman in a closed-door deal. Potential for small business fruition through their desires being recognized is overshadowed by billion-dollar corporations investing an exorbitant amount of funds to hold the power of the vote - enterprises monopolizing the lobbying market with investments such as $33.6 million from the National Association and Realtors and $21.6 million from Blue Cross/Blue Shield in 2023 according to OpenSecrets information. If 33.185 million small businesses exist within the country totaling 46.4% of private sector employees as the U.S. Small Business Administration points out, why is the practice of lobbying continuing to grow to only achieve the betterment of a fraction of the combined workforce?

Our form of government is vulnerable to bias on a grand scale when lobbying is established and pushed away from the public view. Out of respect to the American people and taking into account the precedent of lobbying established over the century within our country and the ongoing polarization, I implore you to truly acknowledge the devastating outcomes and affirm the bill to prohibit the act of lobbying.
Mass incarceration within the United States is not a new concept - the Prison Policy Institute projects that over 1.9 million individuals were newly detained in 2023, locking up more people per capita than any other nation. Although this may be due to a multitude of factors, most prisoners residing within have not been convicted — with over 427,000 of those in local jails in pretrial detention, primarily due to being unable to pay a steep bail. By allowing the rampant cycle of cash bail to progress, we limit those who cannot afford it to an unequal state, and therefore I urge for the affirmation of this bill.

Highly daunting quantities of cash bail criminalize living in a state of low income and promotes the misrepresentation gap within imprisonment. The practice of cash bail criminalizes poverty and low income individuals who are charged with crimes, with those unable to pay bail having an average yearly income of $15,109 prior to their incarceration, $20,000 less than their non-incarcerated counterparts. Through bail and the unaffordability for a certain quantity of people, with the average bail price in 2006 being $55,500 through information from the Justice Policy Institute, it further perpetuates living in a position of poverty. This system completely encages individuals both literally and metaphorically as their state is elongated in remaining without a trial and conviction. Further extrapolating the misrepresentation gap in regards to income, an injustice is served to unequally serve an accused criminal.

The system of cash bail undermines public safety and the protection of both those involved and the surrounding area. While this calamity at first may seem remote to those with an incompetent income to properly pay, there is a much further outreach to public grounds. A paper by the American Civil Liberties Union discusses that “assigning cash bail to a defendent increases the chance of recidivism by 6-9%”, therefore reinstating the fact that the system puts the surrounding communities at risk near those penalized with bail. The paper goes on to mention a 2016 study in Harris County, Texas that determined that pretrial detention was associated with a 30 percent increase in felonies and 20 percent increase in misdemeanors within 18 months of the initial bail hearing. The assurance of safety and efficiency of cash bail is falsified when a positive fluctuation in crimes affects the typical citizen.

A double whammy between those with low income who are directly penalized for being unable to pay and the one who may have never touched a prison in their life. The deliberate growth of this program eradicates the opportunity for an equal processing criminal justice system, and with the elimination of a faulty vulnerability, there is future opportunity for fruition. In retrospect to the aforementioned data, I implore all present in this chamber for an affirmative stance.