Talking points for LD 1495

1. The first thing this legislation says is that in Maine a "person" is a human being and a corporation is an "entity," restoring the clear intent of Maine's founders and early lawmakers. An amendment to the Democratic platform stating that corporations are not persons was unanimously approved at last year's state caucus, and many conservatives also support making this distinction.

2. LD 1495 implicitly acknowledges these truths: Our founders created government to serve the people. Our government created corporations to serve an economic function, but they are not people--and calling them that puts government at the service of corporations, turning the right relationship upside down.

3. The primary goal of this bill is to restore to Maine's citizens full control of their government and to keep corporate activity in the economic arena, not in politics. Many corporations are wealthy enough to be courting legislators from both sides of the aisle and the regulators, all at the same time, wreaking havoc on the concept of "one person, one vote." Corporations also can make unlimited expenditures to support or undermine local referenda, even employing individuals to gather signatures for so-called citizen initiatives. (One firm advertises that it can be hired to defeat citizen initiatives.) It disrupts the democratic process to allow corporations--many from outside of Maine--to wield their financial might politically. LD 1495 will correct this.

4. The headnotes to an 1886 U.S. Supreme Court case--not the decision itself--have been used to extend human rights and protections to corporations. But a corporation has powers and protections that no human being has: it has an unlimited existence in this world, and its directors, employees, and stockholders are all immune from personal financial liability for the corporation's actions. Just as human beings cannot fight for those powers, the corporation has no place in government "by the people and for the people."

5. The rightness of this legislation has potentially massive impact nationally. If eliminating ways in which corporations now sway our democratic processes leads to a U. S. Supreme Court case that reexamines the 1886 ruling and the intent of the Constitution, that case could affirm and restore democracy in every state and at the federal level (where there are roughly 35 lobbyists for every member of Congress). This would further strengthen the voices of Maine's citizens.

6. Because political action committees (PACs) exist by federal law and Supreme Court rulings, LD 1495 acknowledges a corporation's legal right to form PACs.

7. While the bill preempts any corporate claim to inherent rights as a person, it does grant to a corporation (by statute--i.e., the will of the legislature) the rights it needs to conduct business and be protected from government abuse, including due process, a redress of grievances, and protection from unreasonable searches and seizures. There is no reason for this legislation to drive out corporations or scare any away from doing business in Maine--unless manipulating local referenda and other democratic processes is critical to how they do business.

8. Recognizing that no other form of business has the legal and financial powers that corporations wield, LD 1495 grants to non-corporate entities, such as business partnerships, the same rights as a person.

9. To read the bill, visit http://www.peoplefirstmaine.net/.