'The Montana Plan'

Writing on the Wall

As soon as Citizens United happened, I saw the writing on the wall…

I-194 Is a Corporate Charter Law. Professor Natelson Reviewed a Different Statute

What the good professor doesn't bring is any Supreme Court caselaw to make his point, which is a little unusual for a constitutional law professor. And there's good reason for that: He doesn't have any. The one case he does mention proves our point, not his.

Mary Sheehy Moe | I-194 - Time to Cut In

The money pouring into political campaigns is not just putrifying the election process. It’s putrifying US — reducing the information needed to choose our leaders to what a gossip column provides and the thinking required to that of a five-year-old high on sugar cookies

American Prospect | Can States Stop the Corporate Domination of our Politics?

If business corporations and nonprofit corporations are destroying our democracy through a bunch of unregulated, undisclosed spending, we have the authority

NY Times | Montana Ban would Strike Political Spending

it also has a populist streak and a historical distrust of big institutions.

I’m a Real Person

Artificial person simply means corporations and dark money groups who spend in our elections. Only real persons will be able to spend in Montana elections

Reuters | Montana’s Plan to beat Citizens United

DDM | Public Citizen and Corporate Spending in the 2026 Midterms

646 Million spent in 2026 Midterms alone with 2 months left until election day

A More Constructive Conversation About Local Levies and I-194, The Montana Plan

The distinction is straightforward: organizations may educate the public about public issues and community needs, but they may not use corporate treasury funds to tell voters how to vote on a particular ballot measure once it is before them

Gallup | 89% in US Say Government Corruption Widespread

Perceptions of government corruption are now higher in the U.S. than at any point in the past two decades

NYT | Millions of Dollars in Secret Spending Could Upend the 2026 Midterms

Secrecy has become so widespread it is essentially systematized

Public Citizen | Corporate Money Surges to $650 Million in 2026 Midterms

Months before Election Day, corporations have already collectively spent $646 million to influence federal midterm elections – a 40% increase over the $461 million corporations spent over the entire 2024 election cycle

Jeff Mangan | They are Scared of You, Montana

The Montana Plan is not complicated. Corporations cannot spend money to support or oppose candidates or ballot issues. Only individuals can. That's the whole measure. If you believe elections should be decided by people and not by artificial persons and billionaires hiding their identities, then I-194 is your initiative.

The Montana Plan I-194 Set to Qualify for November Ballot After All-Volunteer Effort Collects Nearly 50,000 Signatures Across Montana

The Montana Plan is about a simple principle: real people should govern, not artificial persons created on paper. A vote for The Montana Plan (I-194) is a vote to put Montanans back in charge of Montana elections

Issue One | New polling illuminates how the Supreme Court got Citizens United wrong

New polling commissioned by Issue One and conducted this month by YouGov reveals that overwhelming majorities of Americans — and Montanans — broadly believe that large-scale political spending by corporations, dark money groups, and wealthy donors undermines democracy, creates the appearance of corruption, and reduces trust in government.

Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance | Transparent Election Initiative

Corporations have only the powers that states give them—no more. States stopped being choosy about the powers they granted to their corporations in the mid-1800s. But every single state retained the authority to be as choosy as they like. Every single state retains the authority to decide to no longer grant its corporations the power to spend in politics.