Nevada Is 19th State to Call for a Constitutional Amendment to Overturn Citizens United; Half the States Needed Are Onboard
May 25, 2017
Nevada Is 19th State to Call for a Constitutional Amendment to Overturn Citizens United; Half the States Needed Are Onboard
WASHINGTON, D.C. – With Nevada today becoming the 19th state to support a constitutional amendment to overturn the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling, the effort to rid politics of the corrupting influence of money has reached a milestone. The movement has support from half of the 38 states needed to enact such an amendment after it is approved by two-thirds of both chambers of Congress.
Eighteen states (California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and West Virginia), Washington, D.C., and more than 700 municipalities have called for a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United. More than 5 million petition signatures have been gathered nationwide calling for an amendment. Americans across the political spectrum agree that big donors have too much power over our government. A national poll found that 80 percent of Republicans and 83 percent of Democrats support overturning Citizens United. Few other issues unite us in this way.
Below are statements from Public Citizen and U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch (D-Fla.):
“I applaud the Nevada legislature’s call to end the Citizens United era. Reaching the halfway mark in state support for a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United is a reflection of the broad, bipartisan support for restoring the integrity of our elections. With widespread support from Americans across the country to turn back the tide of money flooding our elections, it’s time for Congress to pass the Democracy for All Amendment to overturn the Supreme Court’s disastrous decision.”
– U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch (D-Fla.)
“By overwhelming margins, the American people want to end big money domination of our elections and politics. And, increasingly, they are making their elected officials listen.
Nevada today becomes the 19th state to pass a resolution or equivalent calling for a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United, bringing us halfway to the number of states needed to approve a constitutional amendment. This is an achievement that skeptics labeled impossible when the movement for a constitutional amendment launched the day of the Citizens United decision in 2010.
No state legislature lightly calls for a constitutional amendment. But Nevada today joins those who recognize that we need a constitutional amendment to loosen the death grip which by giant corporations and the superrich are strangling our democracy.
The constitutional amendment movement has gained so much ground, so fast because of the massive outcry from the American people demanding action. More than 5 million petitions have been signed calling for an amendment; more than 700 cities and towns have passed resolutions calling for an amendment; protests have been held across the country; and more than 1,000 activists were arrested in Washington, D.C., last spring while calling for an end to dominance of elections by corporations and the wealthy.
Americans know that big money is rotting away the foundation of our democracy and blocking an economic populist agenda that Americans desperately want but the corporate class abhors. Today’s move by the Nevada Legislature adds momentum to a growing movement for a constitutional amendment and a working democracy. The day is not far off when we will prevail.”
– Robert Weissman, president, Public Citizen
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