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Drudge Retort: The Other Side of the News
Wednesday, April 01, 2026

The Montana Supreme Court has dismissed a challenge from a coalition of business and industry groups over a proposed ballot initiative seeking to limit corporate spending in Montana elections.

In a unanimous decision, the court said reviewing the constitutionality of an initiative is "disfavored" because Montanans have a right to go through the initiative process.

Organizers behind the Transparent Election Initiative were cleared to begin gathering signatures last month to put I-194, or Ballot Issue 10, on the ballot in November.

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The statutory initiative, dubbed "The Montana Plan," would create a new Montana law to prohibit corporations " known in law as "artificial persons" " from spending money on political candidates or ballot issues.

The Montana Plan is a direct challenge to the federal Citizens United ruling wherein the U.S. Supreme Court said that the power to spend money in elections is tantamount to free speech.

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"Our focus can now return to what this effort has always been about: Collecting signatures from Libby to Sidney and continuing to build a grassroots movement led by everyday Montanan," Mangan said in a statement.

"The Montana Plan is about giving people a real voice in their elections " not allowing big money to drown that voice out " and we're proud to keep that work moving forward."

Mangan, a former Montana Commissioner of Political Practices, said the idea leverages the state's ability to regulate corporations in state law and would be used to reign in corporate spending, while still allowing a path for political action committees to operate.

Artificial persons, as defined in Montana Law, include non-profits, trusts, partnerships, corporations, trade associations, or unincorporated associations and includes all such entities doing business in Montana " including those registered out of state.

The idea has made headlines nationally as a way to oppose Citizens United, an unpopular decision.

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"According to a national YouGov Survey from last fall, 79% of respondents, including 74% of Republicans and 84% of Democrats, agree that "large independent expenditures by wealthy donors and corporations in elections give rise to corruption, or the appearance of corruption."

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"On Wednesday, former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich, who served under President Bill Clinton, released videos across social media drawing attention to the issue, saying "a very unlikely state is leading the way first-of-its kind plan," which would "effectively neuter Citizens United."

@ 3 min graphics video explaining how this werks

www.youtube.com

#1 | Posted by Corky at 2026-04-01 05:19 PM | Reply

Transparent Election
Initiative

State-by-State Impact

While this initiative starts in Montana, the legal principles can be applied in other states. Explore the map below to see how your state is engaged in campaign finance reform and what's happening in neighboring states.

transparentelection.org

(scroll down for the actual Map)

#2 | Posted by Corky at 2026-04-01 05:33 PM | Reply

Corrupt SCOTUS will never allow CU to die.

Their employers are the corporations and billionaires that use it to corrupt elections.

#3 | Posted by Nixon at 2026-04-01 05:49 PM | Reply

Supposedly this is a State issue legally, not a Federal one.

Guess we'll see. I'm going to check and see if Talarico is pushing this in Texas; it's right up his alley.

#4 | Posted by Corky at 2026-04-01 06:17 PM | Reply

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