Key facts
- Montana voters will decide in November on Initiative 194, a ballot measure to ban corporate spending in state elections.
- The initiative aims to bar all "artificial persons" from political spending, including unions, C4s, and corporations doing business in the state.
- The measure is inspired by a similar law passed by Hawaii's legislature earlier this year.
- Versions of Initiative 194 are active or under consideration in some 32 states.
- Montana voters passed a similar Corrupt Practices Act in 1912, which banned corporate election spending until it was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2012.
Montana voters will decide in November whether to become the first state to ban corporations from spending money on elections through a ballot initiative, a move that could set a precedent for similar efforts nationwide. The initiative, dubbed the “Montana Plan” or Initiative 194, is a novel legal strategy that seeks to sidestep the U.S. Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United ruling by targeting corporate powers granted by the state, rather than challenging the ruling directly.
Supporters argue that the measure taps into growing, bipartisan anger over the pervasiveness of "dark money" in elections, with a Brennan Center for Justice survey finding 79% of Americans across parties would support a constitutional amendment to restore limits on political spending. The Montana Plan would bar all “artificial persons,” including unions, 501(c)(4) nonprofits, and any corporation doing business in the state, from political spending, though it would not stop wealthy individuals from spending freely, but they would no longer be able to do so anonymously.
Opposition to the plan has been led by Montana's business community. The Montana Chamber of Commerce filed an unsuccessful lawsuit to keep the initiative off the ballot, viewing it as unconstitutional. Legal experts are divided on its prospects, with some calling it "bold and unusual" and others skeptical that the Supreme Court's conservative majority would uphold it.
Distrust of corporate power runs deep in Montana, with a history of scandals involving mining barons in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Voters responded in 1912 by passing a Corrupt Practices Act, also by ballot initiative, banning corporate election spending, a law that held until it was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2012. Versions of Initiative 194 are active or under consideration in some 32 states, according to Tom Moore, a lawyer with the Center for American Progress.