Serving Southern Jefferson County in the Great State of Montana
Serving Southern Jefferson County in the Great State of Montana
This opensecrets.org chart illustrates the influx of money in elections since 1990.
Whitehall Indivisible hosted its first speaker of July, Jeff Mangan and Chris Burke of "The Montana Plan," at the Whitehall Elementary School Library on Wednesday, July 2nd.
The Montana Plan is a 2026 ballot initiative aimed at removing corporate spending from Montana elections. Unlike recent efforts to remove dark money from influencing Montana elections, this will not attack Citizens United regarding free speech. Instead, the Montana Plan will rely on the 10th Amendment's states' rights to revisit the corporate framework in Montana and explicitly disallow corporations from giving money to campaigns or ballot initiatives.
Montana already has a law (MCA 13.35.227) prohibiting corporate contributions to political endeavors, but because federal law is stronger than state law, Citizens United overshadows and nullifies the Montana law. The Montana Plan targets the state-controlled foundation of corporations, an avenue to eliminate corporate election spending that has not yet been tried.
Signature gathering for the initiative will not begin until spring of 2026; there are eight months to build momentum and get the word out.
TheMontanaPlan.org provides more information about this initiative, as well as the 100-year-plus history of election corruption and grassroots, citizen-led efforts to reclaim fair elections in Montana.
The accompanying chart (opensecrets.org) illustrates the influx of money in elections since 1990.
On July 9th at 6:00 PM, our second speaker, Livingston resident Reilly Neill, will present her plan for her US Senate candidacy. She has been traveling across Montana listening to communities, and now she is coming to Whitehall from 6 PM to 8 PM at the Whitehall Elementary School library.
Whitehall Indivisible is a nonpartisan, pro-democracy group that meets every Wednesday from 6 PM to 7 PM at the Whitehall Elementary School library. There are about 20 friendly local people in regular attendance, and everyone is welcome. We hope to see you!
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