Dark Money Funds The Initiative It’s Proponents Say Is To Prevent Dark Money

by Trevor Walter, Representative-elect HD 69

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When Montanans fill out their ballots this fall, they’ll find Initiative 194, billed as “The Montana Plan.” The pitch is simple: get corporate and dark money out of our elections. Those are two very different things, yet I-194 lumps them together. When a Montana business spends its own money, its name is on the ad. Dark money hides who’s behind the name.

But I-194 won’t fix the problem it names. It will silence Montanans and Montana businesses while leaving the biggest spenders untouched.

Start with what it doesn’t touch: wealthy individuals. A billionaire in New York or California can spend unlimited amounts on independent ads in Montana races, and I-194 doesn’t change that. Supporters say that spending would at least be disclosed, but who cares? Certainly not the donors – they will keep spending to control Montana whether we shine a spotlight on them or not.

I’ve run a business in Montana since 1996. I don’t personally have the money to fight a bad ballot measure or back a good one, but my company does. So does the local co-op, the county stockgrowers association, your chamber of commerce, and the church down the road. That’s how ordinary Montanans have always competed: we pool our resources through the businesses and organizations we build together. I-194 takes that away and leaves the field to individuals rich enough to go it alone, many of whom don’t live here.

The ballot summary says I-194 doesn’t apply to news, commentary, or editorial content. However, the actual law exempts only “bona fide” commentary, a term it never defines. That missing definition could decide whether a Facebook post from your local hardware store or real estate brokerage firm weighing in on a ballot question is protected speech or a violation.

An organization that crosses the line automatically forfeits its charter privileges, including limited liability. To get them back, it must hand over every dollar it spent, win or lose. For a family business, that puts owners’ homes and savings on the table. An out-of-state group risks far less. I-194 can only strip privileges Montana grants, so a Virginia-based nonprofit that never registered here keeps its Virginia liability shield. The state’s fallback is a lawsuit that could drag on long after the votes are counted.

Montana’s campaign finance law already has guardrails: it focuses on paid advertising, sets a $250 floor before a group becomes a political committee, and protects communications with employees and church congregations. I-194 sits in a different title of state law and brings none of them along.

Under I-194, a Farm Bureau chapter, a taxpayer association, or a group of Main Street business owners couldn’t spend a dime on a ballot measure aimed squarely at their own livelihoods. However, government entities and wealthy individuals are still exempt. The people with the most at stake are the ones gagged.

We’ve been here before. In 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Montana’s century-old ban on corporate election spending. I-194’s backers say their theory is different — taxpayers will pay for years of litigation to find out.

Consider who’s selling it. Until late April, this campaign against dark money was funded almost entirely through a nonprofit that doesn’t have to disclose its donors – talk about the pot calling the kettle black. A Washington, D.C., think tank fellow helped build the model, and its best-known endorsers are Democrats: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Pete Buttigieg, Jon Tester, and Steve Bullock. This initiative is being shopped in some 32 states. That’s not a Montana plan. It’s a national template with a Montana name on it.

Even the dark money I-194 targets may slip through. The initiative never defines what it means to “support or oppose” a candidate. The classic dark-money ad doesn’t say “vote against Smith.” It says “call Smith and tell him to stop raising your taxes.” If a court reads I-194 the way Montana’s campaign finance code already defines that phrase, those ads could fall outside it entirely, with most donors still hidden.

I-194 may reach some dark-money groups, but it drags Montana businesses and organizations down with them. If the problem is hidden donors, then simply require pass-through groups to name them. Don’t make Montana businesses give up their First Amendment rights to keep their charters. Read the law, not the label. Vote No on I-194.