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Lawmakers, Groups and Activists Launch Campaign to Pass Local Resolutions Ridding Elections of Corporate Cash

April 10, 2012

Lawmakers, Groups and Activists Launch Campaign to Pass Local Resolutions Ridding Elections of Corporate Cash

Across the Country, Activists Commit to Push Resolutions Calling for Citizens United to Be Overturned

WASHINGTON, D.C. – As part of a new, nationwide campaign, more than 5,400 people in all 50 states have committed to push local resolutions calling for a constitutional amendment to overturn the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission decision, which allows corporations to spend unlimited sums to sway elections.

Public Citizen has led the charge – along with lawmakers and partner organizations – on planning Resolutions Week, aimed at passing local resolutions that call for a constitutional amendment the week of June 11. Public Citizen and its partners are providing information to activists about how to approach local council members, how to get people involved and how to publicize their efforts. So far, people in more than 1,000 towns and cities have committed to pushing for local resolutions calling for a constitutional amendment.

Participating activists have coordinated 115 organizing parties being held last week and this week to plan for the local resolution push.

“We, the People, have had enough of corporate cash in our elections,” Jonah Minkoff-Zern, senior organizer with Public Citizen’s Democracy Is For People campaign. “It is deeply inspiring to see the commitment and passion of the people all over the country working to build a nation where democracy is not for sale and our Constitution is for the people, not for the corporations.”

Added Public Citizen President Robert Weissman, “Democracy in this country begins in our communities and in our states. To build the groundswell of support necessary to advance constitutional remedies to undo Citizens United and related cases, we have to start there, and through Resolutions Week, that’s what thousands will be doing this spring.”

Partners in this initiative include People For the American Way, Move to Amend, Corporate Accountability International, Main Street Alliance, Common Cause, Alliance for Democracy, Bullfrog Films, California Church Impact, the Coffee Party, Communication Workers of America, Democracy Unlimited, Get the Dough Out, Story of Stuff and U.S. PIRG, as well as the congressional offices of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Reps. Ted Deutch (D-Fla.), Donna Edwards (D-Md.) and Keith Ellison (D-Minn.).

Many partnering organizations have their own ongoing campaigns to advance local measures, but through Resolutions Week, these organizations are coordinating with each other to build stronger local campaigns and deeply advance the push for a constitutional amendment.

“We will be successful in passing a constitutional amendment because it is the will of the people. From Alaska to Nevada, Georgia to Maine, we are taking our country back,” Minkoff-Zern said.

In addition to working for resolutions locally, Public Citizen and allied organizations have worked with legislators to advance resolutions and similar measures in California, Maryland, Massachusetts and Vermont. In each of these states, passage of these resolutions is imminent and likely to occur this spring. Seeing the momentum, lawmakers in Alaska, Iowa, Kansas, New York and Rhode Island have introduced their own resolutions, laying the groundwork for further action at the state level. 

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Public Citizen is a national, nonprofit consumer advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C. For more information, please visit www.citizen.org