Question: Campaign Finance

Laws governing election contributions have been around for more than 100 years— all with a goal of keeping our democracy strong by limiting corruption and promoting transparency. Those goals seem to elude Congress in recent years. Would you support a constitutional amendment to give Congress clear authority to regulate fundraising and spending in federal election campaigns?

In 1907 Congress passed the Tillman Act, which prohibited federal election contributions from nationally chartered banks and corporations. Congress has debated campaign finance issues ever since, trying through various financial limits, disclosure requirements and outright bans to limit the degree to which “big money” could influence who is elected to public office and what they do once elected.

A recent Supreme Court case, Citizens United, has taken a radical turn by prohibiting limits on certain kinds of campaign spending. Following Citizens United, corporations and unions are permitted unlimited spending directly from their treasuries to pay for mass media advertising about candidates running for federal offices. These new rules run counter to the principles of citizen participation in democratic processes. With large undisclosed contributions, a corporation that opposes a candidate can run an ad, nominally about a public policy issue, that indirectly attacks a candidate just days before an election. This leaves no chance for a fair debate on the issues the ad raises.

In the 112th Congress, Senator Tom Udall (NM) and eight others introduced legislation to amend the Constitution to provide clear authority for Congress to regulate such spending. FCNL supports this legislation, S. J. Res. 29.

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