Sponsor
Kirsten Gillibrand
Senator · D-NY
Senator · D-NY
The bill empowers small donors and increases voter influence through 'Democracy Dollars' and greater donor privacy, at the cost of eliminating the traditional presidential public-financing option, moving reserved presidential funds to the general Treasury, and introducing transparency trade-offs if democracy dollars become widespread.
Small donors and ordinary voters gain a new, direct public-financing benefit — 'Democracy Dollars' that increase small-donor participation and amplify ordinary voters' influence in federal elections.
Contributors using Democracy Dollars retain most identifying details private (only ZIP, city, occupation public), reducing privacy risks for small donors compared with full public disclosure.
Presidential candidates and taxpayers lose the existing voluntary Presidential public-financing option because the bill repeals the presidential public financing program and ends voluntary tax-designation funding.
If widely used, Democracy Dollars' limited donor disclosure could reduce transparency about who supports candidates, making it harder for voters, journalists, and watchdogs to track financial influence.
Remaining balances from the Presidential Fund are moved to the Treasury general fund, reducing earmarked election resources and potentially shifting election-related costs onto other funding mechanisms or general revenues.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Creates a federal Democracy Dollars program, limits public donor disclosure to ZIP/city/occupation, and repeals the Presidential public financing system, moving remaining funds to the Treasury.
Official title: Amend the Federal Election Campaign Act to provide for public financing for Federal elections through vouchers directed by eligible voters to the candidates of their choice.
Introduced August 6, 2026 by Kirsten Gillibrand · Last progress August 6, 2026
Creates a federal "Democracy Dollars" program that integrates into federal campaign finance law and changes disclosure rules for those contributions, while repealing the existing Presidential public financing system and transferring any remaining fund balances to the Treasury. The bill limits public disclosure of contributor identities for Democracy Dollars to ZIP code, city, and occupation and requires detailed identity lists to be kept off the public record by the FEC. Applies these changes to federal elections held after December 31, 2028, and makes related clerical corrections to existing law. It also removes the income‑tax designation mechanism that funded the Presidential Election Campaign Fund and directs remaining Fund amounts be returned to the general fund on the effective date.