Appendix II

Sample Voter Instruction Measure from Los Angeles

See www.WhenMoneyTalks.com for the text of other measures, including from Colorado, Massachusetts, Montana, and San Francisco, as well as California’s Proposition 49.

The resolution reprinted here placed a measure on the May 2013 ballot in the city of Los Angeles. Titled Proposition C, it received 77 percent of the vote.

Resolution providing that a ballot measure be submitted to the qualified voters of the City of Los Angeles.

Be it resolved by the Council of the City of Los Angeles as follows:

Section A. The following resolution of the people of the City of Los Angeles is hereby proposed to be submitted to the qualified voters of the City of Los Angeles at a Special Election to be called on May 21, 2013 and consolidated with the City’s General Municipal Election on the same date:

RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, the First Amendment to the United States Constitution was designed to protect the free speech rights of human beings, not corporations, and,

WHEREAS, the Unites States Constitution never mentions the word corporations; and

WHEREAS, corporations can and do make important contributions to our sociey using powerful advantages that government has wisely granted them, but that does not make them real people; and

WHEREAS, the U.S. Supreme Court’s 5–4 ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission rolled back legal restrictions on corporate spending in the electoral process, allowing unlimited corporate spending to influence elections, candidate selection, and policy decisions, thereby threatening the voices of citizens and the foundation of our democracy; and,

WHEREAS, the opinion of the four dissenting justices in Citizens United noted that corporations have special privileges not enjoyed by real people, such as limited liability, perpetual life, and favorable treatment of the accumulation and distribution of assets, that allow them to spend huge sums on campaign messages that have little or no correlation with the beliefs held by real people; and,

WHEREAS, the Citizens United decision supercedes certain important state and local efforts to regulate corporate activity in their elections; and,

WHEREAS, the United States Supreme Court held in Buckley v. Valeo (1976) that the appearance of corruption justifies some limits on contribuitons to candidates, but it wrongly rejected other fundamental interests such as creating a level playing field and ensuring that all citizens, regardless of wealth, have an opportunity to have their political views heard; and,

WHEREAS, the people of the United States have previously used the constitutional amendment process to correct those egregiously wrong decisions of the United States Supreme Court that go to the heart of our democracy and self-government; and

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the people of the City of Los Angeles instruct the Los Angeles Congressional Delegation to propose and support any joint resolution offering an amendment to the United States Constitution that accomplishes the following:

Overturns all portions of the United States Supreme Court’s rulings in Buckley v. Valeo (1976) and Citizens United v. FEC (2010) that conflict with the following objectives: (1) Corporations do not have the constitutional rights of human beings; and (2) corporations do not engage in constitutionally protected speech when spending corporate money to influence the electoral process; and (3) limits on political spending that promote the goals of the First Amendment, by ensuring that all citizens—regardless of wealth—have an opportunity to have their political views heard, are permissible.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the people of the City of Los Angeles instruct the Los Angeles Congressional delegation to work diligently to bring such a joint resolution to a vote and passage, and to use all procedural methods available to secure a vote and passage;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the people of the City of Los Angeles instruct each state legislator representing Los Angeles residents, if given the opportunity, to ratify any amendment to the United States Constitution that is consistent with the purposes and findings expressed in this resolution.

This resolution shall take effect immediately.