68th Legislature 2023 SR 75.1
1 SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 75
2 INTRODUCED BY A. OLSEN
3
4 A RESOLUTION OF THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF MONTANA URGING CONGRESS TO CONFIRM BY
5 CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT THE RIGHT TO PROHIBIT CORPORATE CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS
6 AND SEND THE AMENDMENT TO THE STATES FOR RATIFICATION.
7
8 WHEREAS, government of, by, and for the people is a foundational American value; and
9 WHEREAS, the people of the United States enacted the Constitution of the United States to ensure
10 self-governance and to secure the blessings of liberty; and
11 WHEREAS, free and fair elections are essential to democracy and effective, representative self-
12 governance; and
13 WHEREAS, the United States Congress and state legislatures should have the authority to set
14 reasonable limits and conditions on campaign contributions to ensure effective self-governance; and
15 WHEREAS, the citizens of Montana are very concerned about the continued, deepening erosion of our
16 democratic processes by the unlimited, massive expenditures by corporations in our election process and do
17 not accept this attack on our democratic processes; and
18 WHEREAS, out-of-state corporate money used in election campaigns has had a dramatic effect on
19 Montana's elections and on politics across the nation; and
20 WHEREAS, regardless of our political leanings and party affiliations, Montanans see that these
21 influences have overwhelmed our citizens' voices in recent campaigns, interfered with Montanans' right to
22 choose our representatives, and are undermining our democracy; and
23 WHEREAS, Montanans demand that we strengthen our democratic processes here in Montana and
24 across the nation by calling for the reversal of the "Citizens United" ruling's harmful result that corporations' use
25 of money in elections is supposed to be protected in the same way that the free speech of ordinary citizens and
26 persons is protected; and
27 WHEREAS, Montanans passed Initiative I-166 in 2012 by a 74.9% voter margin, with a majority in
28 every county, which asserted that, "the people of Montana establish that there should be a level playing field in
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68th Legislature 2023 SR 75.1
1 campaign spending, in part by prohibiting corporate campaign contributions and expenditures and by limiting
2 political spending in elections"; and
3 WHEREAS, Initiative I-166 asserted that the people of Montana regard money as property and not as
4 free speech and regard the rights under the Constitution of the United States as rights belonging to human
5 beings; and
6 WHEREAS, Initiative I-166 called for the Montana Congressional Delegation to act by proposing an
7 amendment to the Constitution of the United States; and
8 WHEREAS, Montanans join citizens, organizations, and government entities from all over the country
9 working to ban, by constitutional amendment, corporate contributions to elections and their destructive
10 influence on our state and national politics.
11
12 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF MONTANA:
13 That the Senate of the 68th Legislature of the State of Montana urges the United States Congress to
14 propose an amendment to the Constitution of the United States that confirms the authority of government by
15 the people through state and federal law to regulate money in politics, particularly to prohibit corporate
16 campaign contributions regarding a candidate or ballot issue, ensures all citizens have access to the political
17 process by confirming that the rights enumerated in the Constitution of the United States are retained by the
18 people as natural persons, and confirms that money is not equal to free speech.
19 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the United States Congress should send the amendment to the
20 states for ratification.
21 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Secretary of State send a copy of this resolution to the
22 individual members of the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate.
23 - END -
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