Veteran election leaders today unveiled “The Montana Plan,” a ballot initiative that seeks to eliminate corporate and dark money from Montana politics without running afoul of Citizens United. The initiative would amend Montana’s constitution to prohibit the state from granting corporations it creates the power to spend in politics. Today, Montana, like most states, grants its corporations every power held by an individual to do all things necessary or convenient to carry out its business and affairs. The initiative if passed would change that to eliminate the power to spend in politics.

Proponents argue, “This is authority every state possesses but no state has used in more than a century.”

But what about out-of-state corporations? Well, Montana law already limits corporations chartered in other states to the same set of powers that Montana-chartered corporations hold. Thus, were Montana to limit its own corporations’ political spending, the restriction would automatically apply to out-of-state corporations.

Intriguing. The Montana Plan is being sponsored by the Transparent Election Initiative, a Montana-based nonprofit organization.