Collins has taken nearly $6 million from corporate PACs, the most in Maine history
In 2014, Collins voted to block a constitutional amendment that would overturn Citizens United
Collins voted against the DISCLOSE Act, legislation that would shine a light on dark money
Collins has earned an “F” for her record on anti-corruption, transparency and ethics legislation
At tonight’s Maine Senate debate, Senator Susan Collins outright opposed a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United, the Supreme Court case that put a for sale sign on our elections and rigged our democracy in favor of the wealthy and corporate special interests.
“Tonight we heard Senator Collins admit she opposes a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United, but we didn’t need her confession because her voting record has already made that abundantly obvious,” said End Citizens United President Tiffany Muller. “To be clear, over the last 10 years in the post-Citizens United world, Senator Collins has stood with Mitch McConnell at every step of the way to kill any legislation that would limit the role of Big Money or corporate special interests. It makes sense that the Senator who has taken the most corporate PAC money in Maine history would oppose legislation to root out the undue influence of Big Money.”
Senator Collins has worked to maintain the undue influence of corporations and unlimited, undisclosed money in politics. In 2014, Collins voted to block a constitutional amendment that would overturn Citizens United. Collins has also repeatedly voted against anti-corruption and transparency bills, like the DISCLOSE Act, which would require dark money groups to disclose their donors and political spending when engaged in political activity.
Senator Collins has refused to co-sponsor 2019 DISCLOSE Act. The bill requires organizations that spend money to influence elections – including super PACs and dark money groups – to disclose the identities of donors who have given them $10,000 or more during an election cycle. It would also require an organization that spends $10,000 or more on political ads to file a disclosure report with the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) within 24 hours of purchasing the ads. In 2010, Collins was the deciding vote against the DISCLOSE Act to put an end to undisclosed spending in elections. She stood with McConnell to kill the bill, which had 59 votes, and needed 60 to pass.
In January 2020, End Citizens United Action Fund released its first annual legislative scorecard that tracked and graded the efforts of every member of Congress on money in politics and government reform issues. Senator Collins received an “F” for failing to support common sense legislation that roots out corruption, increases transparency, and strengthens ethics in government.
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