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In overwhelming vote of 35-1 State Senate
calls for Constitutional amendment to restore self-governance

BOSTON – The Massachusetts State Senate today passed a resolution calling on the United State Congress to enact a federal Constitutional Amendment to reverse the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, and restore fair elections and constitutional rights to the people.

The State Senate passed its resolution by an overwhelming bipartisan vote of 35 to 1, with all Republicans joining all but one Democrat in approving it.  Attention now turns to the House as the end of the legislative session approaches.

The 2010 Citizens United decision overturned decades-old laws restricting corporate expenditures, ruling that they violated the First Amendment’s protection of free speech. The decision dramatically expanded the fabricated “corporate rights” doctrine and has unleashed a flood of corporate money into federal, state, and local elections.

“The Citizens United decision dramatically dilutes the voice of every American who does not control a large corporate treasury,” said Sen. Jamie Eldridge, the original sponsor of the bill. “The health of our democracy and the integrity of our political system are at stake, and I am proud of the Senate for passing this resolution today and sending a strong message that our democracy isn't for sale."

In the wake of the Citizens United decision, campaign spending by outside groups has skyrocketed. In the 2010 election cycle, the first since the Supreme Court decision, outside groups spent nearly $300 million.

“The fundamental question facing the nation today is whether people or corporations shall govern in America,” said John Bonifaz, the co-founder and director of Free Speech For People, a national campaign launched on the day of the Citizens United ruling to press for an Amendment to the Constitution to overturn the ruling and make clear that corporations are not people with constitutional rights. “With the strong bipartisan passage of this resolution, Massachusetts will help to lead the way in restoring American democracy to the people,” Bonifaz said.

Super PACs have emerged as a result of the Supreme Court’s decision, amassing huge amounts of money used for attack ads, such as those aired this past spring during the Republican presidential candidate primaries. Super PACs are expected to spend hundreds of millions of dollars in the 2012 elections, breaking all previous records.

“Big corporations aren’t run by the 99 percent – or even by the 1 percent. Rather, they are run by a super-wealthy 0.01 percent,” said Avi Green, Executive Director of MassVOTE. “Politics should be for all of us – not just the super-wealthy and the big corporations they control. Kudos to the Senatefor recognizing this and supporting this resolution.”

“Massachusetts is a step closer to joining the several states and hundreds of communities nationwide who’ve issued similar resolutions,” said Mark Hays, campaign coordinator for Public Citizen’s Democracy Is For People Campaign. “With leadership from the states, we’re demonstrating that amending the Constitution to challenge the corrosive impacts of money in politics is no pipe dream, but is a mainstream vision for a democracy that serves the people, not giant corporations.”

Cities and towns across the nation have voted on similar measures. In Massachusetts, 68 communities have voted in favor of a Constitutional Amendment including Boston, Springfield and Worcester.  If a similar resolution is passed by the House, Massachusetts will join the state legislatures in California, Hawaii, Maryland, New Mexico, Rhode Island, and Vermont in voicing their states’ opposition to the decision and support for a Constitutional Amendment to address its ramifications.

“We are delighted that the Senate has taken bipartisan action to address this disastrous decision,” said Pam Wilmot, Executive Director of Common Cause Massachusetts. “A campaign for a Constitutional Amendment is no easy task, but the US Supreme Court left us no choice. Only with a constitutional amendment can we address the problem of money in politics that it, with other decisions, has created. Passing this resolution has put Massachusetts on the forefront of that critical effort, which, as the cradle of liberty, is where we should be.”

"We congratulate the Senate on passage of this resolution, and urge the House to do so as well.  It is past time to limit the impact of large amounts of money, often from donors whose identity is not public, on our elections," said Eva Valentine, president of the League of Women Voters of Massachusetts.

“Taking Back Our Democracy: Responding to Citizens United and the Rise of Super PACs" 

WATCH LIVE  July 24, 2012  |  2:30 PM Eastern Time  |  Hart 21

Marge Baker, Executive Vice President of People For the American Way:

“The interests of the American people should be front and center in our elections, and today, 2 million people made that point loud and clear. But despite the message we sent Congress today, all over the country, our voices are being drowned out by the powerful corporations and the super wealthy. Short of changing who sits on the Supreme Court, amending the Constitution is the only way to undo the damage done to our democracy by Citizens United. The American people overwhelmingly support that idea, and by holding these hearings, our elected representatives are honoring the millions of Americans who are calling for a Constitution that ensures that “We the People” means all the people, not just the privileged few.”
 

Leslie Watson Malachi, Director of African American Ministers in Action, a program of People For the American Way:

“This petition drive proves that our collective voice can be the spark of change. Because millions of people have signed their names to proclaim that our democracy is not for sale, this grassroots movement has the power to take back our elections and ensure government by people through fair and transparent elections. We’ve made it clear to our elected representatives that a constitutional amendment is necessary to uphold that ideal. These hearings show how far this movement has come.”
 

Robert Weissman, President of Public Citizen:

“The choice is simple: We can have a working democracy, in which the people rule, or we can have aCitizens United-facilitated plutocracy, in which giant corporations and the super-rich dominate elections. Rescuing our democracy requires that we overturn Citizens United and other decisions that constitutionalize the “right” of corporations and the super-rich to buy elections. With no prospect of the Court revisiting the damaging decisions it has inflicted, we need a constitutional amendment to reestablish the simple principle that Democracy is for People.”
 

Justin Ruben, Executive Director of MoveOn.org Political Action:

“We've seen this summer how a handful of billionaires are trying to buy the election.  That's one of the reasons nearly 700,000 MoveOn members have spoken out in favor of overturning Citizens United, getting big money out of our elections, and preventing our democracy from being sold to the highest bidder.”
 

Becky Bond, Political Director of CREDO Action:

“How can the American people have an equal voice in our democracy when corporations are flooding the political system with millions in secret campaign donations? We must pass a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United, end corporate personhood and help get shadowy money out of politics for good.”
 

Bob Edgar, President & CEO of Common Cause:

“Super PACs have transformed our elections into the sport of kings. Billionaires and corporations are pooling unlimited sums of money into joint accounts, pledging astronomical sums in support of or opposition to candidates, and recklessly drowning out the voices of the American people. These corporations and mega donors are motivated by an expectation of influence and access, often at the expense of the public interest. We cannot afford to auction off our vibrant democracy to the highest bidder.”
 

Lisa Graves, the Executive Director of the Center for Media and Democracy/ ALECexposed.org:

"While billionaires are openly writing million-dollar checks to Super PACs, millions more is being secretly funneled to front groups whose ads may affect who wins and wields power over people and policy.  Deceptively named nonprofit groups are becoming the Swiss bank accounts of elections, receiving secret multi-million dollar gifts that buy ads to influence how Americans vote. We may never know the true identity of those attempting to buy our elections through such shadowy groups -- whether they are corporations or people, domestic or foreign -- but we do know American democracy is increasingly for sale and that's why We the People are demanding that the Constitution be amended to fight this corruption." 
 

Peter Schurman, Campaign Director at Free Speech For People:

“For a campaign we all knew would be difficult, the Senate hearing today is a major milestone: it shows that the growing movement for a constitutional amendment is starting to make a dent in Washington. It's time for Congress and the states to overrule the Supreme Court and make it clear that we the people, not we the corporations, are in charge of American democracy.”
 

Blair Bowie of U.S. PIRG:

“For nearly forty years, the Supreme Court has been driving us down a road that will inevitably dead end in the demise of American democracy. In equating money with speech the Court rejected the notion that in a democracy the size of your wallet should not determine the volume of your voice. Instead it enshrined the rights of artificial entities and ultra-wealthy individuals to drown out the voices of ordinary citizens in a flood of often secret cash. Ultimately, we can only get out of this judicial rut by amending the U.S. Constitution to clarify to the Supreme Court that the first amendment was never meant to be used as a tool for special interests to co-opt our democratic process. Today’s hearing and the massive citizen mobilization across the country since Citizens United show that the American people are ready to turn this car around.”
 

Eric Byler, President of the Coffee Party Board of Directors:

“Public awareness about money in politics is growing rapidly and crossing all cultural and political divides. Just like the founders of this nation, we are responding to an abuse of power by elite profiteers who feel entitled to govern over people. The task before us is to finish what our founders started — not to start a revolution but to complete one — by amending the Constitution and reestablishing the right to self-governance for people; not profiteers.” [MORE]

by Don Manning

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Senators Menendez, Whitehouse, Merkley Commit to Continue the Fight for Disclosure of Political Spending

July 18, 2012
Contact: Lisa Gilbert 202-454-5188
Angela Bradbury (202) 588-7741

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, in the wake of a Republican filibuster of the DISCLOSE Act, small business owners joined forces with Sens. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and the Coalition for Accountability of Political Spending (CAPS), the bipartisan group of state officials led by New York City Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, to commit to continue the push for desperately needed transparency of political spending.

The public call for transparency is sought through final passage of the DISCLOSE Act and the Shareholder Protection Act, and by calling on the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to take the lead in casting light on secretive corporate political spending.

The press conference participants gathered to hammer home the point that the DISCLOSE Act filibuster is not the last chance for transparency and to stress that they will not give up on either the bill or on other transparency remedies to deal with out-of-control political spending.

At today’s event, the senators rallied with investors, small business interests and the public to pressure Congress to move ahead with disclosure legislation and for the SEC to develop rules and guidelines for responsible and transparent corporate political spending. Menendez also is championing the Shareholder Protection Act (S. 1360) to require shareholder consent of corporate political spending decisions.

For nearly a year, a petition filed by 10 law professors has been pending before the SEC. It asks the agency to require public companies to disclose their political spending to shareholders. An all-time record of 300,000 comments has been received by the agency from institutional investors, businesses and the public, urging the SEC to enact such a requirement.

The historic number of supportive comments submitted to the SEC speaks volumes about the importance and public demand for greater transparency of money in elections and for responsible corporate governance. Under the current free-for-all of unlimited corporate political spending caused by the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2010 decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, CEOs may simply dip into the corporate till and spend that money on elections without the consent or knowledge of shareholders. The public also remains in the dark about secret corporate spending in elections.

The campaign to open the books on corporate political spending is supported by the Corporate Reform Coalition, a broad and diverse coalition of more than 75 groups, including institutional investors, businesses and transparency activists.

The petition for rulemaking (#4-637) and the public comments on the rulemaking are available at http://www.sec.gov/rules/petitions.shtml.