Ballot Initiative 194 Aims to Remove ‘Dark Money’ From Montana’s Elections
‘The Montana Plan’ would limit businesses from contributing to candidates, political parties and state ballot issues if passed, drawing opposition from the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce
By Maggie Dresser
Backed by a nonprofit working to end corporate “dark money” in Montana elections, Initiative 194 will ask voters Nov. 3 whether to limit businesses from contributing to political campaigns.
I-194, also known as The Montana Plan, would limit “artificial persons” from contributing “anything of value” to candidates, political parties and state ballot issues.
The ballot initiative is the brainchild of Jeff Mangan, a former Montana commissioner of political practices who founded the Transparent Election Initiative, the nonprofit backing I-194. It is designed to carve out an exception to the 2010 Citizens United decision, which held that the government can’t restrict corporate political spending and was later used to strike down Montana’s law in 2012.
Mangan said earlier this year that a vote for The Montana Plan is a “vote to put Montanans back in charge of Montana elections.” Supporters include former Republican Gov. Marc Racicot, former Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock and former U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, also a Democrat.
The Montana Chamber of Commerce and its Billings and Kalispell counterparts have opposed The Montana Plan since it was introduced. They argue that, as written, it would silence Montana businesses while still allowing out-of-state money into elections.
Kalispell Chamber of Commerce CEO Lorraine Clarno said the organization supports keeping dark and out-of-state money out of Montana elections, but that the measure draws no distinction among the broad range of races and “silences the voice of Main Street businesses.”
In recent years, the chamber has partnered with Kalispell Public Schools and local government agencies to campaign for levies and bonds, work Clarno said was instrumental in their passage.
“When it comes to local issues, I think all of you know we supported our school levy a couple years ago that hadn’t passed in 18 years,” Clarno told the audience of a chamber-hosted candidate forum in September. “We worked with our county partners to get the detention center passed, and we worked with the City of Kalispell on the emergency responders levy and really used our channels and your business voices to get facts and information out – and yes – to influence the election.”
Clarno said that if I-194 passes, the chamber will be prohibited from hosting candidate forums or partnering with local agencies to campaign for political measures.
Proponents of the initiative, however, counter that chambers of commerce could continue campaigning for measures, as they did before Citizens United, because their involvement would be clearly identified.
Clarno said the measure’s wording is part of the problem.
“Lawyers are already arguing on both sides of this and that tells us it’s not well-written and that’s why we’re against it,” Clarno told the Beacon. “We don’t want to lose our voice.”
Some Flathead business owners support the initiative and its goals of eliminating dark money from Montana elections.
“I’m a small business owner and I cannot stand all the mailers and commercials. I can’t,” said Ed Docter, owner of the Montana Tap House in Whitefish and host of Beers, Buds and the Big Sky podcast. “The people that are against it, I am completely against. If big corporations are against it, then I am for it.”
Helen Weems, a family nurse practitioner and abortion provider at All Families Healthcare in Whitefish, supports The Montana Plan because she believes corporate spending is drowning out Montanans’ voices.
“I want our politicians to be accountable to Montanans and individual voters, and that especially shows up in healthcare,” Weems said. “It’s a huge industry and we do not need our elected officials paying homage to corporations. We need people standing up to affordable healthcare.”
Ballots were mailed to absentee voters Oct. 9. Election Day is Nov. 3. Voters can check their registration status and the status of their ballot here: https://voterportal.mt.gov/WhereToVote.aspx.
To register to vote, voters can either bring their completed voter registration application to their county election office or visit their county elections office to fill out a voter registration application and receive a ballot there.