S.J.Res. 78 — A joint resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States relating to the authority of Congress and the States to regulate contributions and expenditures intended to affect elections and to enact public financing systems for political campaigns.

This section proposes an amendment to the U.S. Constitution, valid upon ratification by legislatures of three-fourths of the states within seven years of submission, that (1) authorizes Congress and the states to regulate and impose reasonable viewpoint-neutral limitations on the raising and spending of money by candidates and others to influence elections; (2) authorizes Congress and the states to regulate and enact public campaign financing systems, including those designed to offset private spending with increased public funding to restrict the influence of private wealth; (3) grants Congress and the states power to implement and enforce the amendment through legislation, including authority to distinguish between natural persons and corporations or other artificial entities and to prohibit the latter from spending money to influence elections; and (4) states that nothing in the amendment authorizes abridging freedom of the press.