Issue One celebrates new Montana ballot measure effort to undo Citizens United

Today, a crosspartisan group of political leaders unveiled “The Montana Plan,” a first-in-the-nation ballot measure proposal that would amend corporate charters in Montana to eliminate corporate and dark money from politics — essentially undoing the effects of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission ruling in the state. The proposal could also act as a model for other states grappling with the torrent of money flooding into our politics in the wake of Citizens United. In response, Issue One provided the following statement:

“Across the country, the American people are fed up with how our broken campaign finance system enables special interests to buy access and influence in government,” said Issue One Founder and CEO Nick Penniman. “In Montana, through this ballot measure, voters will have the opportunity to do something about it. The risks posed by corporations and special interest groups spending big money in our elections is clear, especially when funds flow through opaque corporate entities that enable secret political spending. This game-changing ballot measure is one of the most innovative approaches to curb the undue influence of big money in politics and end secret spending in elections I’ve seen.”

Background

The Montana Plan to undo Citizens United was proposed by the Transparent Election Initiative, a nonpartisan group in Montana working to end the undue influence of corporate and dark money spending in elections. The Montana Plan has received crosspartisan support from several prominent politicians in Montana, including former Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock, former Republican Gov. Marc Racicot, and former Democratic Sen. Jon Tester. The Transparent Election Initiative was founded by Jeff Mangan, a life-long Montanan who served as the state’s Commissioner of Political Practices between 2017 and 2023.