Golden Introduces Bill to Fight Corporate Campaign Spending

Press Release

Today, Representatives Jared Golden (ME-2) and Josh Harder (CA-10) introduced their Ban Corporate PACs Act which would ban all corporate Political Action Committees (PACs).

Maine Citizens For Clean Elections found that corporate PACs have spent more than $90 million to influence elections in Maine since 2008. In the 2020 election cycle alone, corporate PACs gave more than $400 million to federal campaigns, the most of any type of PAC.

"Corporations have too much power over American politics. Our government should be responsive to the people, not corporate special interests. I'm proud to work with Congressman Harder to introduce the Ban Corporate PACs Act," said Rep. Golden.

"Throw a rock in any direction from Capitol Hill and you'll find a corporation looking to buy somebody's vote. It's corrupt, it's just plain wrong, and it has to stop," said Rep. Harder. "If this place is going to start working for the people, it's got to stop working for the big money corporations. The Ban Corporate PACs Act brings us one step closer to weeding out corruption and putting working families back in charge of their government."

"With the introduction of this bill, Congressmen Josh Harder and Jared Golden continue to prove that they are at the forefront of the fight to root out the corrosive and corrupting influence of corporate money in politics," said End Citizens United Action Fund President Tiffany Muller. "This bill is an important step in ending the broken system in Washington, where only those with the biggest campaign checks have a seat at the table. Everyday Americans have been effectively shut out of the conversation because corporations control the agenda and too many politicians are addicted to their PAC checks. We're grateful for Congressmen Harder and Golden's continued leadership and commitment to making government work for all Americans, and we look forward to passing this critical bill."

Golden and Harder's Ban Corporate PACs Actwould amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to prohibit for-profit corporations from being allowed to sponsor, operate, or fund a separate segregated fund, commonly known as a PAC. This bill also dissolves existing corporate PACs one year after enactment. Corporate PACs are often established by corporations to influence policy, with corporations able to fund the creation and operation of the PAC and solicit contributions. In many cases, corporate PACs are controlled by corporate lobbyists and make contributions to forward business interests.

Earlier this year, Golden helped pass H.R. 1, the most comprehensive democracy reform legislation in a generation, which included additional measures to combat the power of corporations in American elections. The Ban Corporate PACs Act was also included in Golden's Plan to Fix a Broken Washington, a slate of anti-corruption and campaign finance reform measures authored or cosponsored by the congressman.

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