; purpose (a) Short title This Act may be cited as the Help America Run Act . (b) Findings Congress finds the following: (1) Everyday Americans experience barriers to entry before they can consider running for office to serve their communities. (2) Current law states that campaign funds cannot be spent on everyday expenses that would exist whether or not a candidate were running for office, like rent and food. While the law seems neutral, its actual effect is to privilege the independently wealthy who want to run, because given the demands of running for office, candidates who must work to pay for child care or to afford health insurance are effectively being left out of the process, even if they have sufficient support to mount a viable campaign. (3) Thus current practice favors those prospective candidates who do not need to rely on a regular paycheck to make ends meet. The consequence is that everyday Americans who have firsthand knowledge of the importance of stable child care, a safety net, or great public schools are less likely to get a seat at the table. This governance by the few is antithetical to the democratic experiment, but most importantly, when lawmakers do not share the concerns of everyday Americans, their policies reflect that. (4) These circumstances have contributed to a Congress that does not always reflect everyday Americans. The New York Times reported in 2019 that fewer than 5 percent of representatives cite blue-collar or service jobs in their biographies. A 2015 survey by the Center for Responsive Politics showed that the median net worth of lawmakers was just over $1 million in 2013, or 18 times the wealth of the typical American household. (5) These circumstances have also contributed to a governing body that does not reflect the Nation it serves. For instance, women are 51 percent of the American population. Yet even with a record number of women serving in the One Hundred Eighteenth Congress, the Pew Research Center notes that more than two out of three Members of this Congress are