With over 100,000 voters in all 351 towns in Massachusetts signing petition, the initiative is set to appear on the 2018 ballot.
BOSTON, MA — End Citizens United (ECU) today endorsed the People Govern, Not Money ballot initiative in Massachusetts. The initiative would support the passage of the 28th Amendment to get big money out of politics. The proposed 28th Amendment would overturn the disastrous 2010 Citizens United decision and declare that corporations are not people. Already, nineteen states and over 800 cities and towns throughout the country have passed 28th Amendment resolutions with bipartisan support.
“Our grassroots members in Massachusetts are ready to fight to unrig the system by sparking change at the local level,” said ECU President Tiffany Muller. “We’re not going to sit idly by and watch our democracy continue to be corrupted by politicians and their big-money special interest allies who are stacking the deck in their favor while leaving the people out in the cold. We’re proud to endorse this initiative.”
Massachusetts has seen a dramatic rise in outside spending since the Citizens Uniteddecision. Before the ruling, outside spending in Massachusetts’ 2008 Senate race was about $340,000. Fast forward six years later, and that number skyrocketed to over $8 million — an increase of more than 2,200%. In U.S. federal elections, outside spending has increased from $143 million in 2008 to $1.4 billion in 2016, an increase of almost 900%.
ECU was established in March 2015 to counter the harmful effects of Citizens United and reform our campaign finance system. With over three million members, including 105,000 in Massachusetts, ECU is the largest campaign finance reform PAC in the country. Its affiliated state-level project, Fight for Reform, focuses on bringing transparency and accountability to local elections around the country. Fight For Reform will connect its grassroots activists and donors with People Govern, Not Money.
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