SCC MTA Model Resolution for Governments

WHEREAS,

·         Democracy means governance by the people;

·         The citizens of the City (or County) of _________ hope to protect democracy in our community and our nation; and

WHEREAS,

·         Corporations are artificial entities separate from human beings and are not naturally endowed with conscience or the rights of human beings;

·         Corporations are creations of law and are only permitted to do what is authorized under law; and


WHEREAS,

·         Corporations are not mentioned in the Constitution. The People have never granted constitutional rights to corporations;

WHEREAS,

·         Corporations claim to be persons, possessing the rights of personhood, including free speech and other constitutional freedoms guaranteed by the Bill of Rights and the 14th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States; and

WHEREAS,

·         Corporations have unduly influenced and unfairly interfered with democratic processes by pressuring our legislators and dominating election campaigns with virtually unlimited contributions; and

WHEREAS,

·         When freedom to speak is equated with freedom to spend money, millions of people who have less money are de facto disenfranchised because their free speech is overwhelmed by the message of those spending millions of dollars;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the City Council of _____________  (or Board of Supervisors of the County of ___________) calls for amending the Constitutions of the United States and California to establish that

1.      Only human beings, not corporations, are endowed with rights that are protected by the constitution, and

2.      Money is not speech, and therefore the expenditure of money to influence the electoral process is not a form of constitutionally protected speech and may be regulated.    

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the City Council of ____________ hereby calls on our state and federal representatives to enact resolutions and legislation to advance this effort.