Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Group Calls On Donnelly For Leadership Against Corporate Campaign Spending

Brandon Smith
/
Indiana Public Broadcasting

Citizen and consumer advocacy groups are calling on U.S. Senator Joe Donnelly to co-sponsor a constitutional amendment they say would overturn the negative impact of controversial Supreme Court decisions on campaign finance.

The proposed amendment would empower Congress and the states to regulate and limit election spending.  It’s in response to two Supreme Court decisions – Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission and McCutcheon vs. Federal Election Commission – that significantly loosened campaign donation limits.  

Donnelly says he supports the amendment.

“From everything I’ve seen, Citizens United has been detrimental to our country and at this time, I do plan to vote yes on that,” the senator says.

Citizens advocacy group Common Cause Indiana director Julia Vaughn says Donnelly’s support isn’t enough – she says he needs to be a leader on the issue.

“There is widespread agreement among Hoosiers of all political stripes that the Supreme Court is very misguided in their view that corporations enjoy the same rights as people and money equals speech,” Vaughn says.

Vaughn says the amendment, which is scheduled for a vote in the Senate next week, is a necessary first step towards restoring what she calls “sanity” to the campaign finance system.

Brandon Smith is excited to be working for public radio in Indiana. He has previously worked in public radio as a reporter and anchor in mid-Missouri for KBIA Radio out of Columbia. Prior to that, he worked for WSPY Radio in Plano, Illinois as a show host, reporter, producer and anchor. His first job in radio was in another state capitol, in Jefferson City, Missouri, as a reporter for three radio stations around Missouri. Brandon graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia with a Bachelor of Journalism in 2010, with minors in political science and history. He was born and raised in Chicago.
Related Content