OR Lawmakers to Congress: Corporate Political Spending Shouldn't be Free Speech

Advocates for campaign finance reform argue allowing an unlimited amount of corporate money for campaigns creates an unfair system and hampers the ability of others to be heard.

BIG BIZ? Oregon Legislature considers urging Congress to limit corporate campaign contributions

(SALEM) - The Oregon Legislature is considering a proposal that urges Congress to amend the constitution to say that corporations do not have the same rights as people.

House Joint Memorial 6 tries to send a message that big money is taking over politics and that the U.S. Supreme Court was wrong in its Citizens United ruling that declared governments do not have the authority to limit campaign contributions by corporations and that political spending is a protected form of public speech.

Lawmakers approved the memorial during a House Rules Committee meeting Monday.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon is opposed to the measure, and argues that amending the Constitution to take away free speech rights is dangerous territory.

“Public concern over the skyrocketing costs of political campaigns is understandable,” ACLU legislative director Becky Straus said in her written testimony to lawmakers. “But stricter limits on contributions and expenditures are not the answer. Not only are they unconstitutional, but they actually risk resulting in a less egalitarian and more corrupt system of campaign financing.”

But advocates for campaign finance reform argue allowing an unlimited amount of corporate money for campaigns creates an unfair system and hampers the ability of others to be heard.

“Corporations are not people,” Ben Glebis of Tax Fairness Oregon said in written testimony. “Money collected by corporations is not speech. By clarifying these distorting concepts, citizens, and our representative government, will be in a far stronger position to tackle other important problems, without these distorting influences which have disenfranchised so many.”

Contact Shelby Sebens at Shelby@NorthwestWatchdog.org

Source: Watchdog.org