PORT TOWNSEND — U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer told a public forum Tuesday he has introduced legislation to amend the U.S. Constitution and reverse the effects of a controversial Supreme Court decision regarding election funding.
Kilmer spoke of a 2014 U.S. Supreme Court decision, Citizens United.
That, along with the 2010 McCutcheon decision, is interpreted as designating corporations as people and equating money with free speech.
Both were discussed by a panel during a two-hour forum, “Reforming Money in Politics,” sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Jefferson County, the American Association of University Women and the Port Townsend & Jefferson County Leader on Tuesday.
More than 100 people attended the forum at the Port Townsend Community Center, for which Leader Publisher Scott Wilson served as moderator.
In Citizens United, the court held that the First Amendment does not allow the government to restrict political spending by nonprofit corporations. That ruling has been extended to include all corporations, labor unions and other associations.
The court ruled in McCutcheon that campaign contribution limits also violated the right of free speech.
As a result of those two rulings, said Kilmer, a Gig Harbor Democrat whose 6th Congressional District includes the North Olympic Peninsula, “Congress spends entirely too much time on political point-scoring rather than solving problems, like what we are discussing tonight.
“Nearly every week in Congress, I’ve had to vote against something that offended my sensibilities that too often put special interests above the public interest,” Kilmer continued.
Said panelist Diane Jones of Port Townsend, the state coordinator of WAmend, a group promoting changes to the Constitution to reduce the role of money in elections: “You cannot run for office unless you can raise a lot of money. That shuts down a lot of good people.”
Along with Jones and Kilmer, the panel consisted of John Collins, professor emeritus at Seattle University’s Institute of Public Service and a former Port of Port Townsend commissioner, and Jefferson County League of Women Voters chair Jackie Aase.
All four panelists voiced opposition to the court actions, stating that it set a dangerous political precedent that, as Jones said, “has turned America from a democracy to an oligarchy.”
Aase said organizers expected a more balanced view from Collins and that his position on election money was a surprise.
“Campaigns are rapidly becoming more and more expensive, deterring many good candidates,” Collins said.
“Elected officials must spend more and more time raising money, which deters them from doing the people’s business.”
Jones said extending constitutional rights to corporations, as in Citizens United, diminishes individual rights.
“Extending the First Amendment right of free speech to corporations and other entities frustrates the rights of 99 percent of the population to not only equally participate in democratic elections but to pay reasonable utility rates and live in a toxin-free environment,” she said.
Jones is an active supporter of Initiative 735, aimed at amending the state constitution and which supporters hope to get on the Nov. 3, 2016, ballot.
It would deny constitutional rights to corporations and tighten disclosure about political contributions and spending.
Initiative supporters have collected about half of the 250,000 names to put the measure on the ballot, Jones said.
Kilmer said that change is citizen-driven, citing the end of segregation, the passage of the Voting Rights Act and environmental guidelines as examples.
“Some people look at what’s happening in Washington, D.C., and Olympia, and they want to throw in the towel and not show up,” he said.
“But there are people who want to influence the outcome of our elections, and they are showing up. So it’s important to stay engaged and involved on the policy level.”
About Kilmer’s legislation to amend the Constitution, Collins was unconvinced.
“We’ve amended the Constitution a number of times, but the last time it was for a substantiative policy issue was 46 years ago, when 18-year-olds gained the right to vote,” he said.
“The one before that was women’s suffrage 96 years ago, so the record of actually amending the Constitution seems like we are wasting our time rather than going in the direction of controlling some of these unregulated political contributions,” he added.
A constitutional amendment requires a two-thirds majority vote in both houses of Congress, followed by ratification by 38 of the 50 states.
Kilmer said several controversial Supreme Court decisions have been split with a 5-4 vote and the next president could potentially nominate three new judges.
“I don’t want to make any presumptions about the political leanings of those in this room, but if you want to affect future Supreme Court decisions, you need to support the presidential candidate that best represents your own views,” he said.
_______
Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
