Stop Corporate Campaign Spending

The Montana Plan will eliminate the power corporations currently have to make campaign contributions.

Corporations are creatures of state governments. The states determine what powers corporations have. This is well established by case law.[1] Most states, including Montana, allow corporations to do anything that an individual person can do.

The Montana Plan, also called the Transparent Election Initiative (TEI) will eliminate the power of any corporation, including out-of-state corporations, to spend money in Montana politics, including state, local and federal elections.

The Citizens United Supreme Court decision gave corporations the right to make political expenditures, but it did not give corporations the power to do so. Only state governments can give powers to corporations, and the states can limit those powers as they see fit. The Montana Plan does not cancel or reverse Citizens United; it makes Citizens United irrelevant in Montana.

Tom Moore lays out the legal theory in “The Corporate Power Reset That Makes Citizens United Irrelevant”[2]

In American law, corporations are not born; they are built. Corporations are creatures of statute, not of nature. And for more than two centuries, the power to build them—to define their form, limits, and privileges—has belonged to the states and only to the states.

An Important Benefit for Corporations

Companies will no longer worry that their competition has been more generous to key officeholders.

Benefits for Investors

Rob Jackson, law professor and former U.S. Securities and Exchange commissioner, had this take

I've long argued that hidden corporate political spending hurts investors. The Montana Plan leapfrogs the disclosure fight by preventing corporations from creating political-spending funds that investors can't see in the first place.

Also, shareholders might not like the candidates a corporation donates to.

The Transparent Election Initiative (TEI)

TEI is a Montana ballot initiative. If passed, it would amend the Montana constitution “By redefining the powers granted to corporations under Montana law, the measure aims to undo the practical effects of Citizens United within the state.”[3]

TEI would add a new section, Section 8 Powers of Artificial Persons, to the Montana constitution. The text of the amendment,[4] and a clear and concise annotated version are linked below.[5]

Ballot Initiative Petition Campaign

The proponents must collect valid signatures equal to 10% of the votes cast for governor in the most recent election (approx. 60,000). Also, valid signatures from at least 10% of the voters in each of 40 different house districts must be included. Montana has 100 house districts. The forty-district rule requires signatures to be gathered beyond a few population centers. TEI will be a very popular initiative; I predict that it will succeed.

Bipartisan support in Montana:

Marc Racicot, former Republican governor of Montana and former chairman of the Republican National Committee

Washington’s paralysis has left Americans cynical, but federal gridlock need not bind the states. By declining to hand out corporate political-spending powers from the outset, Montana can chart a constitutional course others may follow—showing that bold, effective, and principled reform is still possible across party lines.

Steve Bullock, former Democratic governor of Montana

For over a century, Montana’s Corrupt Practices Act ensured elections were about people, not unlimited corporate spending and control. When the Supreme Court discarded Montana’s history after Citizens United, the Court tied our hands. The Montana Plan unties them—by letting Montanans decide what corporations have the power to do in our state. This honors our history of fair play and returns the power back to the voters, where it belongs.

Coming to a State Near You?

The Montana Plan could go viral. Americans are tired of corporate domination, this is an effective and doable means to solve the problem. People have been waiting for this since the 2010 Citizens United Supreme Court decision.

Former Montana US Senator Jon Tester

Montanans don’t wait for Washington to fix what’s broken. By harnessing our sovereign power over corporate charters, we can lead a state-by-state march that finally sidelines dark money everywhere. The Montana Plan is the spark; other states can carry the torch.

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser in a Denver Post op-ed

Colorado should join Montana and advance a similar concept to change Colorado law.

Weiser is a candidate in the 2026 Colorado govenor's race.

Voters' Army battle plan

We will contact candidates for state and federal office and ask them to support a "Montana Plan" and the BTR_Score voting method for Colorado elections.

We will publish a list of candidates that shows who support and oppose these measures before the 2026 primary elections.

Send a quick message about the Montana Plan to your elected representatives

The Transparent Election Initiative home page

  1. States' Rights vs. Corporate Rights, Vincent S.J. Buccola (2016)
    Abstract with link to PDF ↩︎

  2. “The Corporate Power Reset That Makes Citizens United Irrelevant”
    Tom Moore ↩︎

  3. TEI press release July 28, 2025 ↩︎

  4. Text of the Transparent Election Initiative ↩︎

  5. Annotated initiative text The initiative with an explanation of each section. ↩︎

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