Wednesday marked the fifth anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the landmark ruling that has led to an explosion in campaign spending.

So far, the state Legislature hasn’t passed any legislation to deal with the fallout of Citizens United and related court rulings, but it gets another chance in the 60-day legislative session that began last week.

In Citizens United, a divided Supreme Court struck down a federal law that prohibited corporations from spending money on elections, freeing them to make unlimited independent expenditures.

Corporations aren’t just for-profit companies. Generally, anyone can form a corporation. Citizens United, a political advocacy group, is a nonprofit corporation.

The Supreme Court’s decision also opened the door for unions and others to make unlimited independent expenditures on elections. Those are expenditures made independently to support or oppose candidates, meaning they can’t be contributions to candidates or money spent in coordination with candidates.

Read more here: http://www.abqjournal.com/531736/news/nm-news/lawmakers-again-consider-postcitizens-united-bill.html