HELENA – Montana’s ban on corporate political contributions is still in place following a U.S. Supreme Court decision on the issue — but perhaps not for long, the state attorney said.
Montana, like 23 other states, has its own ban on political contributions. The new high court ruling means Montana’s 1912 voter-passed ban on corporate donations is ripe for legal challenge.
Montana Attorney General Steve Bullock said the state law stays in effect until it is specifically challenged.
“You don’t always know all the real world implications until they come out in the form of lawsuits and legislation,” Bullock said. “It is disappointing because ultimately that Supreme Court decision goes against what our policy here in Montana has been for a century.”
The high court’s 5-4 ruling reversed a centurylong trend to limit the political muscle of corporations, organized labor and their massive war chests.
Jonathan Motl, a Helena lawyer who has worked on election issues, said the court decision could lead to unlimited corporate spending on elections in Montana. Motl said that limits on spending in Montana apply to individuals, defined as a human being, and campaign committees. There are no limits in law on similar corporate spending because it had been illegal.
“So it could be that corporations are not going to be limited in what they give,” he said. “If you remove the ban, and there is no limit on what they can give then they can give an unlimited amount.”
Ostensibly the state Legislature could change that, but it doesn’t meet again until next year after the November elections.
“The problem with a decision like this is it potentially doesn’t give our Legislature time to react to it,” Motl said. “It could create an election cycle where we have unlimited corporate political contributions.”
Secretary of State Linda McCulloch, who runs elections in the state, called the Supreme Court’s decision a “cattle call for corruption.” She also noted that the dissenting minority decision from the Supreme Court pointed out the possibility that multinational corporations run by foreigners could now sway election in this country.
McCulloch said her office is watching development on the issue and looking at potential changes in law to bring to lawmakers.