House Bill 1087: Foreign Corporation Campaign Disclaimer Act

Like many Americans, I am deeply dismayed that the recent US Supreme Court Ruling in the case of Citizens United vs. FEC has opened the door to unlimited corporate campaign expenditures in Federal, State and Local elections.

But even for those people who support the Supreme Court's ruling, one of the most troubling unintended consequences is that US Subsidiaries of foreign corporations may be able to inundate our elections with money. I simply cannot fathom how 5 Supreme Court justices could have been led to believe that Russian, French or Venezuelan companies purchasing our elections would be a good thing for America. It is truly a shame. Just imagine if a Chinese coal-mining company were to open a US subsidiary simply to install a Governor in Maryland who extend Maryland's reliance on fossil fuels. I can think of too many nightmare scenarios that this ruling has now made real possibilities.

I believe that as a State Legislator, it is my job to find creative ways to work within the Supreme Court's ruling to preserve the integrity of our state and county-level elections. This means finding innovative ways to harass those who might choose to unduly influence our elections.

For this reason, I have introduced an emergency bill: House Bill 1087: The Foreign Corporation Campaign Disclaimer Act. This bill will mandate that any state-level campaign material paid for by an independent campaign expenditure from a subsidiary of a foreign corporation clearly bears (in huge type-font) the statement PAID FOR BY A Country-Name COMPANY where Country-Name is replaced by the actual name of the corporation's home country. At least this way, if a foreign company is trying to purchase our elections, the voters will know about it and base their decisions on that fact.

So for example if the Russian state-owned petroleum company GazProm opens a US subsidiary to influence our Gubernatorial elections later this year, then any campaign materials paid for by that US subsidiary would have to bear the statement "PAID FOR BY A RUSSIAN COMPANY".

You can read the actual text of the bill by clicking here.