2019 Montana Legislature

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HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 2

INTRODUCED BY A. OLSEN, F. GARNER

 

A RESOLUTION OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF MONTANA URGING CONGRESS TO PROPOSE A CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT ABOLISHING CORPORATE PERSONHOOD AND DECLARING THAT MONEY IS NOT FREE SPEECH.

 

     WHEREAS, government of, by, and for the people is an American value; and

     WHEREAS, the people of the United States enacted the Constitution of the United States to ensure self-government and secure the blessings of liberty; and

     WHEREAS, American voters have passed amendments to the Constitution of the United States expanding self-government and the blessings of liberty to more and more people; and

     WHEREAS, Montana voters in 2012 overwhelmingly passed Initiative 166, asserting that the people of Montana regard money as property and not as free speech and regard the rights under the United States Constitution as rights of human beings--not rights of corporations, calling for the Montana congressional delegation to propose an amendment to the United States Constitution establishing that corporations are not human beings entitled to constitutional rights, establishing a state policy that corporations are not entitled to constitutional rights because corporations are not human beings, and asserting that there should be a level playing field in campaign spending and that corporate campaign contributions should be limited; and

     WHEREAS, free and fair elections are essential to democracy and effective representative self-governance; and

     WHEREAS, persons are rightfully recognized as human beings; and

     WHEREAS, corporations are not recognized in the United States Constitution, and have never been granted constitutional rights by the people; and

     WHEREAS, corporations are not human beings or people but are created by human beings or people; and

     WHEREAS, money is property--not free speech; and

     WHEREAS, people across the United States are joining to call for an amendment to the United States Constitution to abolish corporate personhood and the doctrine of money as free speech.

 

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF MONTANA:

     That the 66th House of Representatives of the state of Montana urges Congress to propose an amendment to the United States Constitution stating:

     "Section 1. The rights extended by the Constitution are the rights of natural persons only. Artificial entities, such as corporations, limited liability companies, and other entities, established by the laws of any State, the United States, or any foreign state shall have no rights under this Constitution and are subject to regulation by the People, through Federal, State, or local law.

     Section 2. To ensure all citizens have access to the political process, money is not equal to free speech and therefore nonhuman entities are prohibited from making contributions or expenditures for or against a candidate or ballot issue."

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Secretary of State send copies of this resolution to the individual members of the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate.

- END -

 


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