Montana Senate Follows Its Instructions: Calls to Reverse Citizens United

The Montana Senate has become the first Republican-led chamber in the country to pass a resolution in support of a constitutional amendment that would reverse the Citizens United ruling. The resolution, passed on February 27, is in response to Initiative I-166, passed by 75% of Montana voters last November. I-166 instructed Montana’s elected officials in Congress and in the legislature to support a constitutional amendment to establish that constitutional rights are for human beings only and to establish a level playing field in campaign spending.

While some pundits had questioned whether I-166 would be “binding” or merely “advisory” the action by the Montana Senate indicates that most senators did indeed feel bound to follow the explicit instructions of their voters.

The final vote is here.

The following legislators chose to ignore the explicit instructions of their constituents and take a stand that unlimited corporate spending in Montanan is the same thing as free speech:

Elsie Arntzen (Billings 406) 534-2780

Debby Barrett (Dillon 406) 681-3177

Scott Boulanger (Darby 406) 360-1063

John Brenden (Scoby (406) 783-8394)

Taylor Brown (Huntley (406) 348-2070)

Dee Brown (Hungry Horse (406) 387-9393)

Jeff Essmann (Billings (406) 534-3345)

Verdell Jackson (Kalispell (406) 756-8344)

Dave Lewis (Helena (406) 459-9751)

Frederick Moore (Miles City (406) 234-3562)

Terry Murphy (Cardwell (406) 285-6937)

Jim Peterson (Buffalo (406) 374-2277)

Jason Priest (Red Lodge (406) 425-0674)

Rick Ripley (Wolf Creek (406) 562-3502)

Matthew Rosendale (Glendive (406) 687-3549)

Jon Sonju (Kalispell (406) 270-7113)

Janna Taylor (Dayton (406) 253-8766)

Fred Thomas (Stevensville (406)444-4800)

Edward Walker (Billings (406) 534-9350)

Roger Webb (Billings (406) 861-9322)

Art Wittich (Bozeman (406) 599-9836)

It will now be up to their constituents to decide if they want to retain representatives who have chosen not to represent their values, or subject them to a recall campaign.