Voters in Montana will have the opportunity this fall to ban corporate political spending and dark money in federal, state and local elections. The proposal takes direct aim at the landmark Citizens United ruling that opened the door to unlimited corporate involvement in elections and a flood of undisclosed political contributions, Natalie Jonas reports.
The so-called Montana Plan, designed by the Transparent Election Initiative, opposes the ability of “artificial” entities to spend on politics. It would ban corporations from “spend[ing] money or anything of value on elections or ballot issues,” according to the TEI’s ballot statement. The proposed amendment to the state Constitution was filed with the Montana Secretary of State’s office on Aug. 1. If the amendment passes review and signature gathering early next year, it is expected to appear on the ballot in 2026 and potentially take effect Jan. 1, 2027.
If passed by a simple majority vote in the state, the Montana Plan would prohibit companies from using money to influence politics by targeting Montana’s corporate chartering authority, to revoke limited liability or tax advantages “if an entity oversteps its authority” by trying to use monetary influence to sway politics in the state, according to TEI.
The Montana Plan would also fully ban dark money from state politics by disallowing 501(c)(4) nonprofit corporations from funneling donations from anonymous donors.
“We can’t overrule the Supreme Court, but we can change the law to say exactly which powers we do mean to hand out, and make sure that political spending isn’t one of them,” TEI noted in its Montana Constitutional Initiative.
