Help Initiative 735 to get big money out of elections

(Oct. 19, 2015) — At the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO convention in July, delegates representing unions from across the state voted to support Initiative 735, a proposed Initiative to the Legislature with the goal of getting it on the 2016 general election ballot. I-735 calls on Congress to pass a constitutional amendment that overturns Citizens United and related decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court and declares that “constitutional rights belong only to individuals, not corporations, and constitutionally protected free speech excludes the spending of money.”

Volunteers have already collected more than 172,500 of the 320,000 signatures needed by the end of the year for the initiative to qualify.

TAKE A STAND — WAmend, the group supporting I-735, needs your financial and volunteer help to achieve its goal of getting on the ballot. Please request petitions and get family, friends and others to sign I-735, and/or click here for other opportunities to volunteer. Also, please make a contribution to support signature gathering efforts.

Corporations are not mentioned in the Constitution; consequently, they have no rights in the Constitution. However, over the years and through numerous court cases, corporations have successfully claimed constitutional rights. The Citizens United vs. FEC decision in 2010 held that the First Amendment prohibited the government from restricting independent political expenditures by corporations.

“Citizens United opened the floodgates of big spending on elections by big corporations and a handful of wealthy white men. They can now spend unlimited sums of money indirectly to influence the outcome of elections and they can do it anonymously through SuperPACs,” said Diane Jones, a WAmend coordinator. “This country has gone back to the days when a handful of elites and big corporations controlled government. Their interests are profit-driven and contrary to what is best for working people and society.”

I-735’s proposed constitutional amendment 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.

Please offer your help by requesting petitions and collecting signatures on I-735 to send a loud message that corporations are not people and money is not speech, or click here to volunteer. Email info@wamend.org to request a speaker or for more information.