WASHINGTON Massachusetts Representative Niki Tsongas is trying once again to ban private companies from using federal money to fund lobbying or other political advocacy.
Tsongas introduced a bill last year to stop the practice but it died without passage. She tried unsuccessfully to introduce an amendment with the same intent last month. Today, the congresswoman from Lowell introduced another bill.
"Democracy cannot function when special interests can drown out the influence of the average voter," Tsongas said in a statement. "It would be further inhibited when citizens have their money spent on political causes they do not support."
Her efforts began after a Supreme Court ruling last year, Citizens United, permitted corporations and other special interests to spend unlimited amounts on political advocacy.
"We quickly saw the consequence of this ill-conceived decision, when a record-shattering $4 billion was spent during the 2010 election cycle, which included an unprecedented influx of corporate funds being used for political purposes," Tsongas said. "While the effort to completely reverse the Supreme Court's wrong-headed ruling is one that will take years, I believe that this commonsense legislation addresses one of its most harmful consequences."
A spokesman for Tsongas said she wants companies that receive federal funds whether through contracts, grants or other means such as the bailout loans extended during the recession to segregate that money in separate accounts or find some other way to ensure it would not be used to hire lobbyists or engage in other political activities.
The spokesman, John Noble, said he did not know offhand of instances where corporations spent federal money on politics because they are difficult to track but said there are plenty of companies that benefit from federal money and also engage in lobbying and other political advocacy activities.
Tsongas, who so far has not secured any co-sponsors for the bill, singled out several high profile coporations, saying "Companies like AIG, Goldman Sachs, and Halliburton should not be able to take taxpayer dollars and use them to support political candidates who do their bidding, or oppose those that don't."