Citizens United amendment fails to advance in Senate

Sen. Jon Tester’s proposed Constitutional amendment to limit outside spending in elections failed to receive enough votes to move forward in the Senate on Sept. 11.

Despite having the support of a majority of the Senate, the measure to address the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2010 ruling in Citizens United fell victim to a filibuster.

Tester’s proposed amendment would have clarified that the federal government has the ability to limit the raising and spending of money in federal elections, and that state governments have the ability to limit money in state elections.

“We must put regular people and their ideas back in charge of our elections,” Tester told his Senate colleagues before the vote. “Big money interests and defenders of Citizens United are distorting the First Amendment for their own gain. Getting big money out of our elections will improve how we elect leaders and govern for all Americans.”

The Citizens United ruling allows wealthy groups and individuals to spend unlimited money to influence elections. Together with the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in McCutcheon v. FEC this year, the doors have been opened to undisclosed election spending which, Tester says, “lets the elite drown out the voices of everyone else.”

“It is putting up a wall between regular folks and elected leaders, who spend more and more hours on the phone with donors, or bowing to those who might finance an outside ad campaign on their behalf,” Tester said. “But we are all Americans, and we all deserve a fair and honest say in how we elect our leaders.”

Gov. Steve Bullock expressed disappointment after the proposed amendment got 54 votes but fell short of the 60 votes needed to advance.

“Montanans believe that our elections should be decided by ‘we the people’ and not by shadowy dark-money groups that seek to hide their money and motivations,” Bullock said. “I’m disappointed that obstruction in the Senate has prevented our nation from taking an important step towards correcting the Citizens United decision.”

As attorney general, Bullock led the effort to preserve Montana’s century-old Corrupt Practices Act, taking the case for the state’s citizen democracy all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. The 1912 voter-approved initiative limiting corporate influence was upheld by the Montana Supreme Court but overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court.

According to the Center for Responsive Politics, spending by outside groups in the 2014 election cycle is three times higher than the amount spent at the same point in the last mid-term election cycle in 2010. As of the end of August, outside groups have spent $170 million on federal mid-term races.

“It’s the kind of money that can buy you lots of ads come election season. And it can give you a platform to drown out all opposing voices,” Tester told the Senate. “I guarantee you that our Founding Fathers wouldn’t want to see the Constitution used to justify our current campaign finance system.”