Tester statement on Corrupt Practices Act ruling

Senator: Court decisions allowing secret corporate campaign spending ‘have us racing to the bottom’

(BIG SANDY, Mont.) – Senator Jon Tester today released the following statement in response to District Judge Jeffrey Sherlock’s decision to throw out Montana’s 98-year-old ban on often secret, corporate campaign spending.  Sherlock ruled that Montana’s Corrupt Practices Act of 1912 is unconstitutional following the U.S. Supreme Court’s controversial Citizens United v. FEC decision earlier this year.

“Transparency in our government and in our political campaigns has been a powerful Montana value for generations, yet recent court rulings have us racing to the bottom.  The decision to allow private—even foreign-owned—corporations to spend unlimited money in secret flies in the face of transparency.  It runs against the very notion that America’s Democracy is built by American people—not by a few well-funded special interests.  Montana saw the writing on the wall nearly a century ago and passed a good law that deserves to be preserved for our kids and grandkids, not undone in court.  I join thousands of Montanans who look forward to an appeal.”