by Toddy Perryman, Hamilton
I am writing today to encourage people to vote FOR I-194 to help get control of our elections out of the hands of big business and back into the hands of the PEOPLE who live in our state.
When an elected representative votes on legislation before them I want to be able to know who that candidate was listening to. Were they working for the citizens or for their major donors in a big business? If a legislator prevents a public option on a health care proposal, for instance, it is useful to be able to know that one of the major donors for that legislator was a health insurance agency. Right now, as things stand, the ‘dark money’ cannot be traced to individual donors. This makes the will of the people a very weak driver of public policy.
When a major donor for a legislator’s campaign talks to them, the donor can have a good expectation that the legislator will listen. I actually do not have any confidence that they heard a word I said.
But the state can prevent corporations from donating to electoral campaigns by placing a restriction on these activities. States require corporations to register their business in the state. Corporations have to get permission to do business. They have to follow state regulations. The regulations can specify that no corporation has the right to contribute money to electoral campaigns.
That is what I-194 would do if passed.
This initiative is very much a bipartisan work in progress. Leaders in both the Republican and Democratic parties support it and have worked to get it on the ballot. Many people from many walks of life volunteered to collect the 50,000 signatures that were gathered in support of this initiative. (30,000 signatures are required to get the initiative on the ballot.)
The Citizens United decision which allowed ‘dark money’ to run rampant in our electoral system was one that left us all open to the legalized bribery that we see today. It is the heart of the corruption in the system. I-194 is a good way to start to get our democracy back from the big business interests of the country. Please vote FOR I-194.
Leave a Reply