1.1 A resolution
1.2 memorializing Congress to overturn the United States Supreme Court decision Citizens
1.3 United v. FEC; requesting that Congress clarify that the rights protected under the
1.4 Constitution are the rights of natural persons and not the rights of artificial entities and
1.5 that spending money to influence elections is not speech under the First Amendment;
1.6 asking that Congress propose a constitutional amendment to provide such clarification.
1.7 WHEREAS, when the states and federal government first authorized the creation of
1.8corporations, they were regulated by the people and their elected representatives through law; and
1.9 WHEREAS, the Supreme Court granted constitutional rights to corporations thereby limiting
1.10the right of the people to regulate corporations through federal, state, or local law; and
1.11 WHEREAS, Supreme Court rulings on political spending in recent decades have undermined
1.12the First Amendment, which was designed, even according to the Supreme Court in 1976, "to secure
1.13the widest possible dissemination of information from diverse and antagonistic sources," and "to
1.14assure the unfettered interchange of ideas for the bringing about of political and social changes
1.15desired by the people." Supreme Court rulings that have equated money as speech have enabled
1.16people, corporations, and other entities to spend virtually unlimited money in support of favored
1.17candidates and interests, undermining the core First Amendment value of open and robust debate
1.18in the political process and the opportunity for voters to hear speech from all candidates and all
1.19perspectives; and
1.20 WHEREAS, by giving artificial entities the constitutional rights of persons and treating
1.21money as speech, the courts have undercut the rights of citizens to equal and meaningful participation
1.22in the democratic process, and given corporations and other entities more power than people when
1.23government is supposed to be "of the people, by the people, and for the people"; and
1.24 WHEREAS, this undermines public confidence in the democratic process and democratic
1.25institutions; and
1
25-02931 as introduced01/28/25 REVISOR JFK/NS
SENATE
STATE OF MINNESOTA
S.F. No. 1033NINETY-FOURTH SESSION
(SENATE AUTHORS: BOLDON, Maye Quade and Port)
OFFICIAL STATUSD-PGDATE
Introduction and first reading02/06/2025
Referred to Elections 2.1 WHEREAS, under Article V of the Constitution of the United States, the Congress, whenever
2.2two-thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to the Constitution;
2.3NOW, THEREFORE,
2.4 BE IT RESOLVED by the Legislature of the State of Minnesota that it requests that Congress
2.5propose an amendment to the Constitution that shall substantially read as follows:
2.6 "(1) The rights protected by the Constitution of the United States are the rights of natural
2.7persons only.
2.8 (2) Any entity, including any organization or association of one or more persons, established
2.9or allowed by the laws of any State, the United States, or any Foreign State shall have no rights
2.10under this Constitution separate from the rights of its members, and is subject to regulation by the
2.11people, through Federal, State, or local law through which the entity is granted rights and given
2.12responsibilities.
2.13 (3) Federal, State, and local government shall regulate, limit, or prohibit contributions and
2.14expenditures, including a candidate's own contributions and expenditures, to ensure that all citizens,
2.15regardless of their economic status, have access to the political process, and that no person gains,
2.16as a result of their money, substantially more access or ability to influence in any way the election
2.17of any candidate for public office or any ballot measure.
2.18 (4) Federal, State, and local government shall require that any permissible contributions and
2.19expenditures be publicly disclosed."
2.20 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of State of the State of Minnesota is directed
2.21to prepare copies of this resolution and transmit them to the Speaker and the Clerk of the United
2.22States House of Representatives, the President and the Secretary of the United States Senate, the
2.23United States Secretary of State, and Minnesota's Senators and Representatives in Congress.
2
25-02931 as introduced01/28/25 REVISOR JFK/NS