Announcing Support for WA Initiative to Remove Dark Money from Politics
EVERETT, WA - Rep. Rick Larsen (WA-2), a long-time supporter of efforts to overturn the Supreme Court’s ruling on Citizens United, today announcement his endorsement of Washington State Initiative 735, which would put a proposal on the November ballot urging passage of a constitutional amendment to do the same.
The measure urges the Washington state congressional delegation to propose a federal constitutional amendment clarifying that constitutional rights belong only to individuals, not corporations; that spending money is not free speech under the First Amendment; that governments are fully empowered to regulate political contributions and expenditures to prevent undue influence; and that political contributions and expenditures must be promptly disclosed to the public. The measure would urge the legislature to ratify such an amendment.
“Now more than ever, we must come together as Democrats and work to move our country forward. There is no better place to start than overturning theCitizens United ruling,” said Rep. Larsen. “Elections should give power to the people, not just to the people with the largest bank accounts. I have long supported a constitutional amendment that would overturn the Supreme Court’s ruling on Citizens United in Congress and am proud to endorse I-735.”
The amendment required by I-735 would overturn Supreme Court decisions extending to corporations the same Constitutional rights as living, breathing people and empower federal, state and local governments to regulate and require disclosure of political contributions and expenditures to ensure that no person or artificial legal entity gains undue influence over government and the political process.
Since the Supreme Court’s decision, Rep. Larsen has supported Constitutional Amendment that would overturn the Supreme Court’s Citizens United andMcCutcheon campaign finance decisions.
“We must get dark, undisclosed, money out of politics. We need a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United,” Rep. Larsen added. “The Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision opened the door to unforeseen levels of corporate campaign spending in the form of Super PACs. The McCutcheon decision further debilitated our democratic election process by equating money with free speech, wrongly empowering bank accounts over the ballot box. Never before have the wealthy had such an outsized influence on elections.”
Learn more at: http://www.wamend.org
