Senate
Study
Bill
1187
-
Introduced
SENATE
RESOLUTION
NO.
_____
BY
(PROPOSED
COMMITTEE
ON
STATE
GOVERNMENT
RESOLUTION
BY
CHAIRPERSON
DANIELSON)
A
Resolution
establishing
the
support
of
the
Iowa
1
Senate,
on
behalf
of
the
people
of
Iowa,
of
an
2
amendment
to
the
United
States
Constitution
3
restricting
corporate
participation
and
4
contributions
in
election
campaigns.
5
WHEREAS,
the
United
States
Constitution
and
the
6
Bill
of
Rights
are
intended
to
protect
the
rights
7
of
“natural
persons”,
that
is,
individual
human
8
beings;
and
9
WHEREAS,
corporations
are
not
mentioned
in
the
10
United
States
Constitution,
and
the
people
have
never
11
granted
full
Constitutional
rights
to
corporations
as
12
natural
persons,
let
alone
the
First
Amendment
rights
13
of
natural
persons;
and
14
WHEREAS,
the
United
States
Supreme
Court
held
15
in
Buckley
v.
Valeo
(1976)
that
the
appearance
of
16
corruption
justified
certain
limits
on
contributions
to
17
candidates;
and
18
WHEREAS,
the
United
States
Supreme
Court
recognized
19
in
Austin
v.
Michigan
Chamber
of
Commerce
(1990)
20
the
threat
to
a
republican
form
of
government
posed
21
by
the
corrosive
and
distorting
effects
of
immense
22
aggregations
of
wealth
that
are
accumulated
with
23
the
help
of
the
corporate
form
and
that
have
little
24
or
no
correlation
to
the
public’s
support
for
the
25
corporation’s
political
ideas;
and
26
WHEREAS,
the
United
States
Supreme
Court
in
Citizens
27
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2
S.R.
_____
United
v.
the
Federal
Election
Commission
(2010)
1
reversed
the
decision
in
Austin,
thereby
presenting
2
a
threat
to
self-government
by
eliminating
legal
3
limits
on
corporate
spending
in
the
electoral
process,
4
thus
allowing
unlimited
corporate
spending
to
5
influence
candidate
selection,
elections,
and
policy
6
decisions;
and
7
WHEREAS,
Article
V
of
the
United
States
Constitution
8
empowers
and
obligates
the
people
of
the
United
States
9
of
America
to
use
the
amendment
process
in
Article
V
10
of
the
United
States
Constitution
to
correct
those
11
egregious
decisions
of
the
United
States
Supreme
12
Court
that
go
to
the
heart
of
our
democracy
and
the
13
republican
form
of
self-government;
NOW
THEREFORE,
14
BE
IT
RESOLVED
BY
THE
SENATE,
That
the
Iowa
15
Senate,
acting
on
behalf
of
the
people
of
Iowa,
16
supports
efforts
to
propose
and
ratify
an
amendment
17
to
the
United
States
Constitution
restricting
18
corporate
participation
and
contributions
in
19
election
campaigns
and,
to
that
end,
respectfully
20
urges
Iowa’s
congressional
delegation
to
prioritize
21
congressional
proposal
of
an
amendment
to
the
United
22
States
Constitution
to
restrict
participation
23
and
contributions
by
corporations
in
election
24
campaigns;
and
25
BE
IT
FURTHER
RESOLVED,
That
a
copy
of
this
26
resolution
be
provided
to
each
member
of
Iowa’s
27
congressional
delegation.
28
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