Yarmuth Applauds Conway for Joining Brief Against Citizens United Decision

U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth, D-Ky., is commending Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway for backing the state of Montana in a case that revisits the U.S. Supreme Court's controversial Citizens United ruling.Two years ago, justices in a 5-to-4 majority rejected spending limits for corporations and labor unions within federal election law. However, the Montana Supreme Court made the opposite ruling earlier this year and upheld a century-old state law banning corporate campaign spending.Attorneys are asking the justices to decide whether Citizens United case also applies to state and local elections. "I applaud Attorney General Conway and his office for their efforts to limit the reach of the disastrous Citizens United decision and keep unlimited anonymous money from continuing to corrupt our political system," Yarmuth said in a news release. "Special-interest groups that aren’t accountable to voters have already spent millions of dollars on federal elections this year, jamming the airwaves with attack ads. Without a change to the law, we can only expect more spending, more negativity, and less accountability."Conway's office joined 21 other attorneys general and the District of Columbia in asking the Supreme Court to revisit its decision.Earlier this month, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnel, R-Ky., urged the High Court to safeguard its decision by overturning the Montana ruling without holding a hearing.For months, Yarmuth has been jousting with McConnell through the media while touting his proposed Constitutional amendment, which says financial expenditures and in-kind contributions do not qualify as protected speech under the First Amendment. "Until we get big money out of politics, we will never be able to responsibly address the major issues facing American families," said Yarmuth.