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Committee advances resolution urging constitutional amendment to clarify regulation of campaign spending
Summary
The Senate Elections Committee recommended SR 5, a nonbinding resolution urging Congress and the states to pursue a constitutional amendment to return authority over campaign-spending limits to legislatures and states; the committee voted 8-0 to report the measure out of committee.
Chair Gaskell yielded the floor to Senator Holdman, who presented Senate Resolution 5, telling the committee the measure asks Congress to propose and the states to ratify a constitutional amendment to clarify that Congress and the states may reasonably regulate spending to influence campaigns and ballot measures. "We've lost control, because the supreme court decades ago said that this was, their purview," Senator Holdman said, arguing that the issue should instead rest with states and elected lawmakers.
Brian Boyle, chief program officer and general counsel for the nonprofit American Promise, testified in support of the resolution. "For the first 200 years of American history, questions about whether and how to regulate the role of money in elections were decided by the American people and their elected representatives," Boyle said, and he cited Buckley v. Valeo as a turning point that moved policymaking into the courts. Boyle also cited polling he said showed strong local support for a constitutional solution, telling the committee that "77% of Hoosiers said that they were in support of a constitutional amendment" to return this power to states.
Senator Kidora voiced support and tied the effort to Supreme Court precedent, including Citizens United, saying the resolution grew from concern that legal precedent has preempted legislative control. Senator Holdman clarified the measure is a resolution that does not create specific laws: "This resolution doesn't require you to pass any particular laws. It doesn't create any specific policy," he said.
A motion and second were made and the clerk conducted a roll call. The committee recorded an affirmative recommendation and reported SR 5 out by a unanimous 8-0 vote. Senator Holdman indicated his expectation that the committee report would be placed on the calendar for further consideration. The vote was procedural; SR 5 is a nonbinding expression of support for a constitutional amendment and does not itself change state law.
