WV Capitol rally calls for limit to corporate election spending - WBOY.com: Clarksburg, Morgantown: News, Sports, Weather

WV Capitol rally calls for limit to corporate election spending

Posted: Updated:
  • GovernmentGovernment

  • Monday, May 20 2013 6:11 AM EDT2013-05-20 10:11:12 GMT
    MORGANTOWN, WV (AP) — West Virginia landowners who want to apply for grants to improve wildlife habitat have until June 14 to contact the Natural Resources Conservation Service.
    MORGANTOWN, WV (AP) — West Virginia landowners who want to apply for grants to improve wildlife habitat have until June 14 to contact the Natural Resources Conservation Service.
  • Sunday, May 19 2013 1:21 PM EDT2013-05-19 17:21:57 GMT
    LAWRENCE MESSINA,Associated Press CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — West Virginia's House of Delegates faces a momentous decision after Speaker Rick Thompson departs for Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin's Cabinet: choosing
    est Virginia's House of Delegates faces a momentous decision after Speaker Rick Thompson departs for Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin's Cabinet: choosing a new leader will help set the stage for 2014, when Republicans aim to wipe out the Democrats' ebbing majority.
  • Sunday, May 19 2013 1:19 PM EDT2013-05-19 17:19:54 GMT
    MORGANTOWN, WV– Though the Appalachian region is home to less than 10 percent of the United States' population, the region's traffic fatality rate is 45 percent higher than that of non-Appalachian areas,
    Though the Appalachian region is home to less than 10 percent of the United States' population, the region's traffic fatality rate is 45 percent higher than that of non-Appalachian areas, according to faculty at West Virginia University's School of Public Health.

Elected officials joined members of West Virginians for Democracy Feb. 19 at the Capitol to rally for a constitutional amendment to overturn the U.S. Supreme Court decision in the case of Citizens United vs. the Federal Election Commission.

The group considers that decision unconstitutional, because it gives corporations the green light to fund elections just as people are permitted to spend unlimited funds in elections.

Currently, 11 states have passed resolutions seeking an amendment to overturn the decision.

The group's proposed resolution would enable the federal and state government to regulate all forms of campaign expenditures while limiting the constitutional rights of corporations. A similar resolution proposed last year had 56 sponsors in the House of Delegates and 10 sponsors in the Senate.

West Virginia Secretary of State Natalie Tennant spoke in favor of the resolution, along with Senate President Jeff Kessler, D-Marshall. The bill already has several sponsors this year.

Other organizations that have signed on support of the issue include the American Federation of Teachers – West Virginia; Fairness West Virginia; Marshall University Democracy Matters; the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition; West Virginia Citizens Action Group and West Virginians for Democracy.