La Crosse city council to vote on petition to get big money out of politics

La Crosse voters could see Constitutional amendment provision on April 3 ballot 

It’s hard to amend the U.S Constitution.

That, however, is not preventing groups all over the nation from trying with an amendment that seeks to basically get big corporate donors out of politics.

The amendment could be coming in front of La Crosse voters April 3, if approved by the city council.

The group La Crosse United to Amend submitted 3,693 signatures to the city council on the petition for an amendment that would, among other things, blunt Supreme Court decisions allowing corporate political donations.

“A lot of people do not understand the impacts of the Supreme Court decision, Citizens United, and how it allows large organizations to give unlimited amounts of money without disclosure to our elected officials. We want people to know about that all over the state,” Pam Knudtson, who represents the group in La Crosse, said.

Over 750 local governments and 19 states have already approved the amendment resolution. Over 100 local governments in Wisconsin have passed it, as well.

The process faces long odds but Knudtson said it’s absolutely necessary.

“We have other amendments that have been made to the Constitution that have been necessary and significant, and they’ve changed the course of our history,” she said. “This is another one of them.”

The petition states it will help “reclaim democracy from the expansion of corporate personhood rights.”

“It’s a problem on all parts of the spectrum of political parties and not a lot of people know that it compromises everyone,” Knudtson said.