Straight up bribery

Can a bill become a law?

A few weeks ago, one of my staffers walked into my office and said, “I’ve got an idea.”

He told me there had just been a Supreme Court decision that had taken everyone by surprise.

It was about bribing politicians.

The court said, in short, that if the bribe happens before the politician acts, that’s illegal - but if the bribe is paid afterward, it’s not.

This came up because a mayor in Indiana was convicted of bribery when he signed a contract for some new garbage trucks… and then was personally given $13,000 by the garbage truck company.

Notably, the court said this was definitely illegal for federal politicians (like me). But for state and local politicians (like the mayor), the law was unclear.

So the court overturned his conviction and basically said, “This is almost illegal, but not quite, so if that’s what Congress wants, they’re going to have to pass a law saying exactly that.”

Which brings me back to my staffer, and his good idea.

He said, “We should file a bill to close that loophole.”

I said, “Sounds great. Let’s do it.”

It took three weeks to iron out the language, but yesterday, we finished drafting. 

Here’s the first page:

Now the big question:

Will it pass?

Getting a draft ready was the relatively easy part - and most of that work was on my staff.

The next part is on me. Before we file, I need to line up other members of Congress who are willing to sign on.

We’ll find out if I’m right about this, but my sense is we should be able to get pretty decent support. I truly see this as a non-partisan, non-controversial, pretty-much-obvious kinda thing.

That said, legislative graveyards are full of non-controversial bills - including some of my own.

In practice, what this looks like is me talking with other members about the bill. Typically, those conversations go like this:

“Hey, got a bill for you.”

“Ok, what’s up?”

“So, there’s a bribery loophole. SCOTUS ruled on it a couple months back. Says after-the-fact bribery for state and local politicians isn’t covered. Bill just closes the loophole.”

At which point, they’ll probably say something like, “Ok, sounds interesting, send to my staff.”

Then my staff will send our draft to their staff, and we’ll hope to hear back within a week - ideally with a message of, “Good to go, feel free to add my name.”

Obviously, support from the majority party is particularly important.

The big hurdle that our bill faces is simply being called for a vote. I don’t have the power to do that. Ultimately, only the Speaker does. And he’s only going to let that happen if he feels his party overwhelmingly supports it.

The big challenge here is that we’re about 90 days out from the election. Everything is being seen through that lens and, frankly, not much is moving. That means there aren’t many opportunities for me to try and attach this to a larger bill as an amendment, which - as a freshman - is the main way I’ve been able to get things passed.

But then again, if Congress is looking to get something done and needs a semi-obvious idea that the public would broadly support, well hey, I got one for ‘em.

So we’re at the beginning of a journey on this, and I’ll keep you posted.

Campaign update - snapshots

We’ve had some new folks start following in the last few weeks, so just a quick reminder that I’m running for Attorney General in North Carolina and that our race is basically 50/50.

The last few weeks have been full of travel, including a number of stops in our western counties.

Honestly, I love campaigning. The opportunity to travel the whole state, meet all these people, get a real sense of the cultural differences - it’s just an amazing experience.

Some of you have told me I need to do a better job sharing photos, and I agree. 

But before I get to the photos, just a quick request:

A statewide campaign takes everything we’ve got. From initial planning, to coordination with other campaigns, to staffing, to follow-up work - it’s a major investment by our team.

And we’re ramping up. We’re hitting the homestretch and we’re planning how much travel we can do over the next three months.

To that end, if you can help us prepare for that work, I’d really appreciate it. You can contribute here (ActBlue) or here (non-ActBlue), with both options funding our campaign directly. 

Many thanks!

Best,

Rep. Jeff Jackson

One of the most picturesque spots in the state. This is the top of the stairs of the Jackson County library, looking down at Main Street in the town of Sylva. It’s located at the base of the Great Smoky Mountains and has scenic views everywhere you look. Many thanks to the Mayor of Sylva, Johnny Phillips, for taking this photo!

Stopped by a huge precinct cluster meeting in Buncombe County and was met by lots of very kind supporters and a perfectly pleasant T-Rex.

Had a great time doing an episode of Lovett or Leave It at a packed house at The Orange Peel in Asheville. You can watch the episode here.

Quick stop at home for an anniversary dinner with Marisa.

Avery came to D.C. for a few days for a special trip with just me and Marisa. While I was working, Marisa took her around to some museums and then we’d all have dinner together.