A Portland lawmaker has joined the growing list of those challenging the U.S. Supreme Court’s “Citizens United” decision by submitting a proposal that would ban unlimited corporate and union campaign contributions to candidates. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Jon Hinck, D-Portland, is identical to a Montana law that was recently affirmed by that state’s a highest court. The Montana justices argued that the state’s people and small business owners could be silenced by big-pocketed, in-state, or out-of-state interests.
Campaign finance advocates are championing the Montana decision as a blow against Citizens United, a controversial ruling that loosened the campaign finance law to allow unlimited, and often anonymous, spending by corporations and unions.
Montana has a 100-year-old ban on corporate contributions. Hinck’s proposal would institute a similar ban in Maine.
Full Article: Maine lawmaker introduces bill challenging Citizens United decision | Sun Journal.