85R2058 KSM-D

By: Anchia H.C.R. No. 34

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, In Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the United States Supreme Court cast off precedent and long-standing campaign finance laws, which has resulted in unlimited corporate spending in elections; and

WHEREAS, The majority ruled that political spending is a form of protected speech under the First Amendment and that the government may not prevent corporations from giving money to support or oppose individual candidates for public office; the United States Constitution, however, does not mention corporations, and there is no evidence that the framers of the constitution wished to extend to corporations the same rights as natural persons in the electoral context; and

WHEREAS, Corporations, as the four dissenting judges noted in their opinion, are legal entities, and the conditional rights of corporations are granted not by the constitution but rather through the legislative deliberations of Congress and the states; and

WHEREAS, Unlike natural persons, corporations are granted certain privileges, including limited liability, perpetual life, and favorable treatment of the accumulation and distribution of assets, that enhance their ability to attract capital and to maximize the return on their shareholders' investments; yet these very privileges give corporations the financial capacity to drown out the individual voices of natural persons; moreover, corporations may be under the control of citizens of foreign countries who are ineligible to participate in our elections; and

WHEREAS, Corporate money now spent in election campaigns threatens the free speech protections of individuals and the integrity and fairness of our electoral procedures, and the amendment process must be used to reverse this erroneous and damaging decision; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That the 85th Legislature of the State of Texas hereby respectfully urge the Congress of the United States to propose and submit to the states for ratification an amendment to the United States Constitution that overturns the Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission; and, be it further

RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to the president of the Senate and the speaker of the House of Representatives of the United States Congress, and to all the members of the Texas delegation to Congress with the request that this resolution be entered in the Congressional Record as a memorial to the Congress of the United States of America.