An anti-Muslim conservative group is flooding congressional offices with emails with a false attack on the For The People Act, Democrats top legislative priority , one week before the House will vote to pass it.

The email campaign organized by ACT for America falsely states that the For The People Act, a package of voting rights, election, campaign finance and ethics reforms that bears top billing as H.R. 1 and S. 1 in both chambers of Congress, will allow lawmakers to pay themselves an additional $600,000 in compensation on top of their existing $174,000 annual congressional salary. Congressional offices received more than 330,000 emails with this message by Monday afternoon.

I think its unfair for Congress to pass legislation (HR 1) that will force taxpayers to fund your political campaigns and let lawmakers draw a SECOND salary worth as much as $600,000 per year (based on CBO estimates) ... on top of the generous taxpayer-funded paychecks and perks you already receive! the email form sent to congressional offices states.

The problem with this assertion is that it has no basis in reality.

I dont know where theyre coming up with this, Brendan Fischer, director of federal reform with Campaign Legal Center, a nonprofit that supports the For The People Act, said. Some attacks might involve misinterpretations or hyperbole about the bill, but this is completely false.

The bill would create a first-of-its-kind system to publicly fund congressional elections. Congressional candidates could opt in to the voluntary public funding system to receive $6 in public matching funds for every $1 in small donor contributions they raise so long as they submit to certain campaign fundraising and spending rules.

The money would go the candidates campaigns, not into their personal banking accounts. And there are strict rules about what candidates can spend that campaign money on. Most important for the argument laid out by ACT for America, congressional incumbents cannot pay themselves a salary from their campaign account. That is strictly forbidden.