Released on the second anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision in the Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission case—which opened the floodgates to corporate spending on elections—this report takes a hard look at the lobbying activities of profitable Fortune 500 companies that exploit loopholes and distort the tax code to avoid billions of dollars in taxes.
Today, the second anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, Vermont lawmakers and activists are holding a press conference in support of a state resolution calling for a constitutional amendment to overturn the ruling and challenge the notion of corporate personhood.
On Thursday, the Senate gave final approval to S.92, a bill that requires manufacturers and distributors of cleaning products to only sell environmentally preferable cleaning products to schools. The bill will now make its way to the Governor’s desk for his signature.
“This legislation will create safer and healthier learning environments in our schools,” said Charity Carbine-March, environmental health advocate for Vermont Public Interest Research Group (VPIRG). “Children in classrooms across Vermont will soon be breathing easier.”
VPIRG is working to make Vermont the first state in the nation to ban the drilling process known as hydraulic fracturing. Hydrofracking, or fracking as the practice is also known, can be extremely hazardous to the environment and a danger to public health for a number of reasons. This issue has recieved extensive media attention recently due to these serious concerns.
Strengthening the Bottle Bill will take two main forms: updating it so that you’ll be able to redeem water bottles and other non-carbonated beverage containers (including hard cider and wine bottles), and closing the “unclaimed nickel” loophole. That way, the deposits from unredeemed containers will go back to the State to be reinvested in recycling programs.
Our advocates are following these bills and we’ll keep you posted on opportunities to take action. Find the bill language by clicking the title.
Our advocates are following these bills and we’ll keep you posted on opportunities to take action. Find the bill language by clicking the title.
Our advocates are following these bills and we’ll keep you posted on opportunities to take action. Find the bill language by clicking the title.
On January 21, 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court unleashed a flood of corporate money into our political system by ruling that, contrary to longstanding precedent, corporations have a first amendment right to spend unlimited amounts of money to promote or defeat candidates. The decision in this historic case – Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission – overturned a century of campaign finance law and stands to deal a devastating blow to our democracy unless we act.
Our advocates are following these bills and we’ll keep you posted on opportunities to take action. Find the bill language by clicking the title.
