West Virginia Supports Getting Corporate Money Out of Politics

CWA was instrumental in the West Virginia state legislature's passing of a resolution calling on Congress to adopt a constitutional amendment that will end the corrosive influence of corporate money in politics. The state resolution sailed through with strong support in a Senate voice vote, following a 60-39 bipartisan vote in the House. West Virginia is now the 12th state since Citizens United to support such reform.

"Spending in our democratic process should include disclosure and transparency rules, but that alone is not enough," said CWA Representative Elaine Harris. "Our democracy should not be for sale to the highest bidder, and constitutional rights should be preserved for individuals, not corporations. With another state added to the list of states calling for a constitutional amendment that will protect constitutional rights for people, we can hopefully apply more pressure on our federal representatives to listen to the wishes of citizens not only in West Virginia but throughout the country."

CWA joined a diverse coalition of good-government groups including AFSCME, AFT, Public Citizen, SEIU, Sierra Club and West Virginians for Democracy.

The Supreme Court's disastrous 2010 ruling in Citizens United has opened the floodgates to corporations and wealthy individuals making unlimited political contributions. In West Virginia, this has resulted in former Attorney General Darrell McGraw, who lost his re-election bid, being outspent by a margin of 6-to-1.