MASSPIRG’s Janet Domenitz joined advocates from Common Cause and Mass Vote at an election laws hearing on Sept. 19 to testify in support of a bill that would establish a national popular vote system.

The National Popular Vote Bill (H.B. 678)—technically an interstate compact—would go into effect once states with a combined total of 270 or more Electoral College delegates, a majority, have passed identical legislation.

The compact would guarantee that the presidential candidate who receives the most popular votes in all 50 states and the District of Columbia would win the presidency.

Since the hearing, the bill has received an “ought to pass” recommendation from the Joint Committee on Election Laws. The same legislation has been signed into law in Maryland, and has been introduced in legislatures in dozens of other states across the country.

Contractor Fraud

Companies with recent histories of shoddy work and fraudulent practices still receive federal contracts worth billions of dollars, according to a report released in October by the MASSPIRG Education Fund.

The report, “Forgiving Fraud and Failure: Profiles in Federal Contracting,” highlights examples of new, often no-bid contracts that were granted to companies with recent records of questionable performance.  

Contracting has become the fastest growing portion of federal discretionary spending, costing taxpayers $422 billion last year—double what we spent just 6 years ago—for purchases ranging from goods and services for the Iraq War to hurricane relief efforts along the Gulf Coast. 

MASSPIRG called on our representatives in Congress to take immediate steps to establish accountability in the contracting process by increasing disclosure of contract information, increasing competition, and strengthening the rules to screen bad actors.

Rx Drug Safety

On Sept. 27, President Bush signed a comprehensive prescription drug safety bill. 

The bill holds the pharmaceutical industry more accountable for the safety of their products by requiring them to publicly disclose drug safety studies—including those that show potential safety problems of their products. The bill also increases the budget for drug safety reviews at the Food and Drug Administration.

Calling the new law “the right prescription for improving the safety of our medicines,” MASSPIRG’s Deirdre Cummings praised the members of our congressional delegation, Congress and the president for passage of this critical reform.