The original content of Democracy Now! Headlines appears under the Creative
Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 License (United States). For more, including their other
shows and media, visit www.democracynow.org.
January 15, 2020

Seattle Bans Foreign-Influenced Companies from Political Spending
-----------------------------------------------------------------

In Seattle, the City Council has voted to ban most political spending by
foreign-influenced corporations in an attempt to obstruct multinational
tech companies from influencing local elections. The legislation's
author, City Council President Lorena González, said the ban could
potentially apply to Amazon, despite the company being based in Seattle,
because the legislation will also cover businesses that are
substantively owned by foreign investors. In a statement, González said,
"We have an epidemic of big money in our elections, and this step helps
to address the appearance and risk of corruption."


.