On the five-year anniversary of Citizens United, activists in Wisconsin and elsewhere continue efforts to push back. The 2010 U.S. Supreme Court ruling means corporations and unions can spend unlimited amounts to support political campaigns. At a Capitol press conference in Madison on Wednesday, Jim Bowman of Appleton said that’s been to the detriment of voters.
“I talked with a Packer fan recently about how we might solve this problem,” said Bowman. “Why don’t we just replicate the NFL’s solution? The NFL caps players’ salaries to establish a level playing field between teams.”
Leveling the political playing field is the goal of a resolution by state Representative Lisa Subeck, a Madison Democrat. “All that this resolution would do is put an advisory referendum on the ballot, to give our constituents the opportunity to be heard on what is arguably one of the most important issues of our time,” Subeck said.
Subeck said local referendums asking voters if the U.S. Constitution should be amended to invalidate Citizens United have already passed in 54 Wisconsin communities. “These are areas, in many instances who have Republican representatives who could make a difference in moving this bill forward,” she said. “We should want to hear what our constituents have to say, and we should empower them.”
Subeck’s measure, which is sponsored by Green Bay Senator Dave in that chamber, will be a tough sell in a Republican-controlled legislature. A similar effort by Representative Chris Taylor failed to gain GOP support in the previous legislative session.