Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Joe Donnelly Thursday announced his support for a constitutional amendment, S.J. Res. 5, which would permit Congress to reform the current campaign finance system.
Donnelly said, “I am concerned about how recent Supreme Court decisions, including Citizens United, are impacting our elections and electoral process. In the wake of these decisions, unprecedented spending by special interest groups is obscuring and overshadowing what should matter most in elections: the candidates’ ideas and positions on the issues. I am proud to support this constitutional amendment, which would help bring transparency to our elections, restore confidence in our democracy, and ensure Hoosiers’ voices are not drowned out by special interest groups funded by anonymous donors. I hope that Congress will debate and pass this important amendment.”
S.J. Res 5, which Donnelly is co-sponsoring, would allow Congress and the States to place reasonable limits on the raising and spending of money by candidates and others to influence elections. This amendment includes the authority for legislatures to regulate election spending by corporate entities and Super PACs.
More than five years ago, the Supreme Court ruled on Citizens United, opening the door for unlimited, anonymous spending to influence elections. Since then, hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent on elections, including more than $1 billion in independent expenditures, by groups like Super PACs, in the 2012 election cycle, and more than $565 million in the 2014 election cycle, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
