Councilman Dan Halloran, R-Whitestone, said he plans to vote against a City Council resolution calling for a constitutional amendment to declare that “corporations are not persons.”
The council will vote today on a resolution that will oppose the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in the 2010 case Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission.
The court’s 2010 ruling held that the First Amendment prohibits government from limiting independent spending for political purposes by unions and corporations.
In a statement, Halloran said he would not support the City Council resolution. The statement reads:
“It’s a politically motivated bill designed to limit political speech to anyone who might oppose the Council’s anti-growth, anti-jobs agenda.
Everyone, from union members to corporate board members and everyone in between, ought to be able to contribute freely to the candidates and causes of their choosing. This is America. We are guaranteed the right to free speech, no matter what your political persuasion might be.
While I've been trying to cut taxes and fees for New Yorkers, some of my colleagues in the Council would rather send aimless political missives to Washington. My constituents sent me to City Hall to get results, not to waste their time and money making political statements.”
In December, the Los Angeles City Council voted to support the idea that as individual Americans under the Constitution in terms of political contributions.
