Pete Buttigieg to visit Butte to endorse 'Montana Plan' regulating corporate money in elections

BUTTE, Mont. – Pete Buttigieg, the former U.S. Secretary of Transportation, endorsed the “Montana Plan” and will speak about it at a Butte town hall on May 17. 

The plan was proposed by the Transparent Election Initiative (TEI), which described it as a “first-in-the-nation, grassroots effort to rein in corporate political spending through Initiative I-194, a 2026 ballot measure in Montana.”

TEI is a nonpartisan nonprofit based in Montana that creates and advocates for policy that reduces corporate money’s influence in elections. 

The “Montana Plan” focuses on state power to define corporate limits. TEI’s website says the plan is a response to U.S. Supreme Court’s “Citizens United” decision, which allows corporations to donate to political campaigns as if it were a citizen, rather than placing them under different political donation regulations. 

“States have always had the authority to define what powers corporations possess. By redefining corporate charters to exclude political spending powers, we don't restrict speech—we simply don't grant the power to spend politically. This makes Citizens United irrelevant, not violated,” TEI says on its webpage about the Montana Plan.

The Montana Plan faced initial challenges from the state Attorney General and Supreme Court, but TEI eventually adjusted the plan to its current form, I-194, which operated as a statutory initiative. The new plan requires signatures before it can be voted on, but would create a new law instead of altering the Constitution. 

Buttigieg is scheduled to speak at a public town hall in Butte on May 17 focusing on “the influence of money in politics and a future where government and elected leaders are more accountable to people than to special interests,” TEI wrote in its announcement about the event.

“Americans don’t have to accept a system where absurd amounts of corporate and dark money drown out their voices,” Buttigieg said in TEI’s release about his visit to Butte. “A change to the law could ensure that elected leaders are more accountable to the people, which means a chance to finally break through and deliver on key issues from housing to health care.”

“I’m glad to do my part to support these efforts and believe The Montana Plan could be a blueprint for how to put citizen voices, no special interests, at the center of our politics,” he continued. 

The event will be at 1 p.m. on May 17 and TEI said the venue would be released closer to the event. Community members hoping to attend must RSVP at https://pete.montanaplan.org/, but a livestream option will be made available as well, TEI wrote.