87R6111 BHH-D
 
  By: Anchia H.C.R. No. 53
 
 
 
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
         WHEREAS, We the people, the U.S. Congress, and the states
  have a compelling interest in fostering robust political debate and
  self-government, securing the liberty, political equality, and
  equal free speech rights of our citizens, guarding against
  corruption, protecting the integrity and fairness of elections, and
  preserving federalism and the interest of the states; and
         WHEREAS, Over time, the U.S. Supreme Court has gradually come
  to equate unlimited spending to influence elections with "free
  speech"; and
         WHEREAS, The very privileges given to corporations or other
  artificial entities that enhance their ability to attract capital
  and maximize the return on their shareholders' investments also
  give them financial capacity to engage in spending that drowns out
  the individual voices of natural persons; and
         WHEREAS, Corporations and other artificial entities may be
  under the control of citizens of foreign countries who are
  ineligible to participate in our elections; and
         WHEREAS, Money from outside of Texas increasingly influences
  the selection of candidates and election results in the state; and
         WHEREAS, The influence of concentrated capital on our
  political system, whether from wealthy individuals, corporations,
  or other artificial entities, is damaging the interests of free
  debate and speech for all citizens, weakening the rights of states
  to self-governance in our federal system, increasing the risk of
  systemic corruption, and forcing candidates and elected officials
  to engage in a money arms race that distracts from their
  responsibilities to their constituents; and
         WHEREAS, As with previous occasions when the people have been
  called to correct Supreme Court misinterpretations of the
  Constitution, a constitutional amendment is necessary to correct
  this situation; and
         WHEREAS, Reasonable, content-neutral limits on the role of
  money used to influence outcomes of elections are necessary to
  secure the rights of all the citizens of our state to be represented
  and to participate in elections and self-government regardless of
  wealth, to protect the integrity of elections and government
  against out-of-state and foreign interests and undue influence of
  concentrated economic capital, and to advance other values
  identified herein; now, therefore, be it
         RESOLVED, That the 87th 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 to clarify that states may set
  reasonable limits on the raising and spending of money by
  candidates and others to influence elections and ballot measures in
  the states, and that Congress may set reasonable limits on the
  raising and spending of money by candidates and others to influence
  federal elections, and that in so doing the states and Congress may
  distinguish between natural persons and corporations and other
  artificial entities created by law, including prohibiting such
  entities from spending money to influence elections and ballot
  measures; and, be it further
         RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official
  copies of this resolution to the speaker and the minority leader of
  the United States House of Representatives, to the majority and
  minority leaders of the United States Senate, and to each member of
  the Texas congressional delegation with the request that this
  resolution be entered in the Congressional Record as a memorial to
  the Congress of the United States of America.