87R6111 BHH-D
By: Johnson S.C.R. No. 27
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, We the people, the U.S. Congress, and the states
have a compelling interest in fostering robust political debate and
self-government, securing the liberty, political equality, and
equal free speech rights of our citizens, guarding against
corruption, protecting the integrity and fairness of elections, and
preserving federalism and the interest of the states; and
WHEREAS, Over time, the U.S. Supreme Court has gradually come
to equate unlimited spending to influence elections with "free
speech"; and
WHEREAS, The very privileges given to corporations or other
artificial entities that enhance their ability to attract capital
and maximize the return on their shareholders' investments also
give them financial capacity to engage in spending that drowns out
the individual voices of natural persons; and
WHEREAS, Corporations and other artificial entities may be
under the control of citizens of foreign countries who are
ineligible to participate in our elections; and
WHEREAS, Money from outside of Texas increasingly influences
the selection of candidates and election results in the state; and
WHEREAS, The influence of concentrated capital on our
political system, whether from wealthy individuals, corporations,
or other artificial entities, is damaging the interests of free
debate and speech for all citizens, weakening the rights of states
to self-governance in our federal system, increasing the risk of
systemic corruption, and forcing candidates and elected officials
to engage in a money arms race that distracts from their
responsibilities to their constituents; and
WHEREAS, As with previous occasions when the people have been
called to correct Supreme Court misinterpretations of the
Constitution, a constitutional amendment is necessary to correct
this situation; and
WHEREAS, Reasonable, content-neutral limits on the role of
money used to influence outcomes of elections are necessary to
secure the rights of all the citizens of our state to be represented
and to participate in elections and self-government regardless of
wealth, to protect the integrity of elections and government
against out-of-state and foreign interests and undue influence of
concentrated economic capital, and to advance other values
identified herein; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the 87th Legislature of the State of Texas
hereby respectfully urge the Congress of the United States to
propose and submit to the states for ratification an amendment to
the United States Constitution to clarify that states may set
reasonable limits on the raising and spending of money by
candidates and others to influence elections and ballot measures in
the states, and that Congress may set reasonable limits on the
raising and spending of money by candidates and others to influence
federal elections, and that in so doing the states and Congress may
distinguish between natural persons and corporations and other
artificial entities created by law, including prohibiting such
entities from spending money to influence elections and ballot
measures; and, be it further
RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official
copies of this resolution to the speaker and the minority leader of
the United States House of Representatives, to the majority and
minority leaders of the United States Senate, and to each member of
the Texas congressional delegation with the request that this
resolution be entered in the Congressional Record as a memorial to
the Congress of the United States of America.