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MN debates jobless benefits for striking workers; Judge Denies One of Trump's Efforts to Derail Documents Case; NYS bill makes Long Island power grid publicly controlled; Alabama grassroots groups fight restrictive legislation.

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Vice President Harris makes history with a Minnesota Planned Parenthood visit. Majority Leader Schumer calls for new elections in Israel. Record 'dark money' floods into 2024 races and Biden targets Trump's threats to Social Security.

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NM's Udall Pitches Constitutional Amendment to Limit Campaign Spending

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Wednesday, June 4, 2014   

SANTA FE, N.M. - The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee met Tuesday to discuss a constitutional amendment proposed by Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., that would give control of political campaign spending to Congress and the states.

Udall spokeswoman Jennifer Talhelm said the goal of the amendment, Senate Joint Resolution 19, is to limit campaign donations again - after several U.S. Supreme Court rulings have nearly removed campaign spending limits.

"The McCutcheon decision allows one donor to give an unlimited number of candidates up to $3.6 million every two years," she said. "For a regular person working full time at minimum wage, they would have to work 239 years to make that kind of money."

Talhelm said Supreme Court rulings - in Buckley vs. Valeo in the 1970s, and the more recent Citizens United and McCutcheon cases - have determined that campaign spending is a form of speech or opinion, essentially making a person's campaign donations a First Amendment issue.

Political support for Udall's amendment seems to be growing, Talhelm said.

"Almost half of the Senate has supported it," she said. "States and local governments have passed resolutions urging campaign finance regulation."

However, Talhelm said passage of a constitutional amendment is difficult. It requires a two-thirds vote in Congress, and support from three-quarters, or 38, of the states.

The text of the resolution is online at scribd.com.


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