1. United States
2. Va.
3. Letter

The influence of big money in our political system has gone on long enough. Our democracy should belong to the people—not corporations, wealthy donors, special interests, and political action committees with the resources to drown out the voices of ordinary citizens. Montana voters have just taken an important step by passing Initiative 194, known as the Montana Plan. This measure restricts corporations and other legally created entities from using their state-granted powers to spend money influencing elections, political parties, and ballot measures. I am asking you to take this opportunity to study Montana's approach and bring forward meaningful legislation in our state. But I want to be clear: we should not simply copy Montana's plan. We should build on it, close its loopholes, and make it stronger. Montana's measure exempts political committees and does not restrict political spending by individuals. We cannot allow money to simply be rerouted through PACs, shell organizations, dark-money groups, or other channels to circumvent the intent of reform. We need comprehensive campaign finance reform that: • Restricts corporate and special-interest spending to influence elections. • Addresses the role of PACs and outside spending groups, including the ways they can be used to funnel money into elections. • Establishes meaningful, constitutionally sound limits on campaign contributions from wealthy individuals and political committees. • Closes loopholes that allow unlimited or undisclosed money to flow through shell organizations, nonprofits, and intermediary groups. • Requires full transparency about the original sources of political funding, not just the last organization in a chain of contributions. • Strengthens rules against coordination between candidates, campaigns, and supposedly independent political spending groups. • Expands publicly financed election options so candidates can compete without depending on wealthy donors and special interests. • Supports efforts to overturn the effects of Citizens United through a constitutional amendment or other legally sound measures. I recognize that these reforms raise important constitutional questions, and I urge you to work with legal experts and lawmakers in other states to develop legislation that can withstand legal challenges. But constitutional obstacles should be a reason to do the work—not an excuse to abandon it. Montana has shown that voters are ready to have this conversation and that states can take action. Our state should be part of that effort—and should strive to go further. Our elected officials should be accountable to the people who vote for them, not to the people and organizations writing the biggest checks. Please make campaign finance reform a priority in the next legislative session. Our democracy should not be for sale. It's time to prove it.