U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema. Photo by Gage Skidmore | Flickr/CC BY-SA 2.0
By Laura Gomez | Arizona Mirror
A coalition of over 500 small businesses throughout Arizona is calling on U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., to take meaningful steps to pass the For The People Act, a proposal she co-sponsored but Senate Republicans have successfully stalled through procedural means.
Sinema is one of the two Senate Democrats who have publicly voiced their opposition to eliminating the filibuster, a Senate procedural requirement that a bill meet a 60-vote threshold to advance rather than a simple majority.
In a July 20 letter, the Arizona business owners ask Sinema to “do whatever it takes — including reforming the filibuster” to pass the For the People Act. The proposal, which has cleared the House of Representatives, would implement sweeping election reforms like automatic voter registration and increase campaign finance transparency at a time when mostly Republican-led state legislatures, including Arizona’s, are passing laws to restrict access to voting.
“The For the People Act is a historic piece of legislation which includes provisions that would protect our businesses and our communities from the undue influence of corporate money in politics,” the letter states. “It would also protect our communities from laws that create obstacles to voting.”
Amneris Cocco is among the business owners who signed the letter. She owns Sal’s Painting, a Phoenix-based subcontracting company that has been around since 1990. Her business employs 10 people, she said.
