Update: This was a bi-partisan vote, with Republican Rep. Jan Angell joining Democrats in approving the resolution.

For Immediate Release
March 8, 2013

Washington State House to Congress:
Get Big Money Out of Politics

OLYMPIA, WA. – Last night, by a vote of 55-42, a resolution calling on Congress to overturn the Supreme Court’s ruling in Citizens United by amending the U.S. Constitution to allow for regulation of money in politics (HJM 4001) passed the Washington State House of Representatives.

The vote puts Washington State on track to become the twelfth state to call for such a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United.

Oske Buckley, administrative director for Free Speech For People, which has been working in support of the resolution along with the WAMEND coalition, said: “More and more states are asking Congress to send them a constitutional amendment to get big money out of politics. We’re proud that Washington has taken this bold step forward in the fight to reclaim our democracy.”

HJM 4001 asks Congress to send a constitutional amendment to the states that would “return to the congress and the legislatures of the states the authority to regulate the size and timing of contributions to election campaigns, whether made to candidates or to ballot measures, and whether such contributions are made directly to campaigns or to groups making independent expenditures related to such campaigns, and the authority to require timely public disclosure of the source and amount of all such contributions.”

The resolution was sponsored by Representatives Pedersen, Hope, Carlyle, Goodman, Kagi, Sells, Van De Wege, Haigh, Springer, Lytton, Tharinger, Jinkins, Hunt, Cody, Morrell, Ormsby, Hudgins, Pettigrew, Moeller, Upthegrove, Reykdal, Fitzgibbon, Ryu, Liias, Roberts, Maxwell, Sawyer, Riccelli, Farrell, Pollet, Moscoso, Santos, and Hansen.

Background

The movement to overturn Citizens United and reclaim our democracy has been growing across the country at the state and local levels. This past November, voters in both Montana and Colorado approved ballot measures by nearly three-to-one margins, and seven other states — Hawaii, New Mexico, Vermont, Rhode Island, California, Massachusetts, and New Jersey — acted through their legislatures, which passed resolutions calling for an amendment; in two more, Connecticut and Maryland, majorities of the legislatures signed letters to Congress calling for an amendment.

Congressman Jim McGovern introduced two such amendment bills this year. Both have been co-sponsored by Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) along with many other co-sponsors. HJ Res 20 would restore Congress’ and the states’ authority to regulate campaign spending, and HJ Res 21 or the “People’s Rights Amendment” would overturn Citizens United and clarify that constitutional rights apply to living persons, not corporations.

Photo by spatuletail / Shutterstock.com