{"id":2122,"date":"2025-01-21T14:36:54","date_gmt":"2025-01-21T19:36:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/ohio\/?post_type=article&p=2122"},"modified":"2025-01-21T14:50:57","modified_gmt":"2025-01-21T19:50:57","slug":"citizens-united-and-house-bill-6","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/ohio\/articles\/citizens-united-and-house-bill-6\/","title":{"rendered":"Citizens United and House Bill 6"},"template":"","class_list":["post-2122","article","type-article","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":{"details":{"summary":"","featured_image":"","article_type":false,"authors":"","related_issues":false,"related_work":false,"location":null},"sidebar":{"helper_enable_sidebar":false,"helper_media_contact":{"heading":"Media Contact","manually_enter_person":false,"person":"","name":"","role":"","phone":"","email":""},"helper_links_downloads":{"heading":"Links & Downloads","links":null}},"page_layout":[{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","_acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_wysiwyg":{"content":"Fifteen years ago, the US Supreme Court handed down its <\/span>Citizens United<\/span><\/i> decision, opening the floodgates for unlimited corporate spending in elections.<\/span>\r\n\r\nThe consequences have been dire. Corporations and wealthy special interests have been able to spend billions to influence elections, drowning out the voices of everyday Americans. Here in Ohio, we are painfully aware of how dark money fosters corruption!\u00a0<\/span>\r\n

Take Action: Tell your Ohio lawmakers to shine a light on dark money<\/b><\/a><\/p>\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\nWATCH THIS SHORT EXPLAINER\u00a0 VIDEO<\/a> A<\/b>BOUT CITIZENS UNITED FEATURING LISA GRAVES FROM TRUE NORTH RESEARCH.\u00a0<\/b>\r\n\r\nIn 2010, the court\u2019s decision seemed incomprehensible. It was and is clearly nonsensical and outrageous to give corporations the same Free Speech rights as human beings.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\n\u201cWhile American democracy is imperfect, few outside the majority of this Court would have thought its flaws included a dearth of corporate money in politics.\u201d ~<\/span><\/i> Justice John Paul Stevens\u2019 <\/span>Citizens United v. FEC dissent\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/a>\r\n\r\nWhat we didn\u2019t expect in 2010 was how much of the newly unleashed flood of money would be \u201cdark\u201d \u2013 its sources carefully hidden. After all, an overwhelming majority (8-1) in <\/span>Citizens United v. FEC<\/span><\/i> emphasized <\/span>the importance and constitutionality of transparency<\/span><\/a>:<\/span>\r\n

\u201c... prompt disclosure of expenditures can provide shareholders and citizens with the information needed to hold corporations and elected officials accountable for their positions and supporters.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/blockquote>\r\nUnfortunately, in the 15 years since the <\/span>Citizens United<\/span><\/i> decision, <\/span>neither Congress nor the Ohio General Assembly have created policies that would allow us to follow the money and figure out exactly who is paying for what in campaigns.<\/b> Dark money enabled the Householder\/House Bill 6 scheme to flourish. Those bribes and machinations simply couldn\u2019t have happened if the conspirators hadn\u2019t been free to operate behind a veil of secrecy.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nWe continue to learn more about the HB6 scheme: in fact, there were two major developments just last week: <\/span>Two former FirstEnergy executives were charged with racketeering<\/span><\/a> by the the Justice Department, and the SEC announced that <\/span>American Electric Power\u2014which has managed to fly under the radar until now\u2014has agreed to pay $19 million<\/span><\/a> as a result of their $1.2 million dark money payments in the corruption scheme.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nEnough is enough! We have been waiting much too long. It\u2019s time for the state legislature to take action and ensure that this kind of corruption is no longer possible .\u00a0<\/span>\r\n

TELL YOUR OHIO LAWMAKERS TO SHINE A LIGHT ON DARK MONEY\u00a0<\/b><\/a><\/p>\r\nWe know Ohio\u2019s HB6 scandal is ridiculously complicated. But don\u2019t worry, Common Cause Ohio has you covered! In addition to the substantial <\/span>HB6 resources<\/span><\/a> available on our website, we put together this one page summary: <\/span>House Bill 6 by the Numbers<\/b><\/a>.<\/b>\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\nWe need your help distributing printed copies of our overview. <\/b>Do you have an event coming up where you want to share this flier? Send an email to <\/span>cturcer@commoncause.org<\/span><\/a> and we\u2019ll send you materials in the mail.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nIt\u2019s important to reflect today on the impact of <\/span>Citizens United<\/span><\/i>, but make sure that you also take action!\u00a0<\/span>"}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_add_component","_acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_add_component":null},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_work","_acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_work":{"heading":"Work","manually_curate":false,"work":null}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_related_articles","_acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_related_articles":{"heading":"Updates","button_text":"See all Related Articles","manually_curate":false,"articles":null}}]},"yoast_head":"\nCitizens United and House Bill 6 - Common Cause Ohio<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/ohio\/articles\/citizens-united-and-house-bill-6\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Citizens United and House Bill 6\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/ohio\/articles\/citizens-united-and-house-bill-6\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Common Cause Ohio\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-01-21T19:50:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/ohio\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/OH.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"675\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/ohio\/articles\/citizens-united-and-house-bill-6\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/ohio\/articles\/citizens-united-and-house-bill-6\/\",\"name\":\"Citizens United and House Bill 6 - 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