The most current version of this guide is maintained online at peopleprimaries.com. The online edition may include updates, additional training materials, and district-specific resources not reflected in this printed version.

Full Text

JOINT RESOLUTION

Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to restore the sovereignty of natural persons, to establish that money is not speech, and to protect the right of human beings to engage in fairly compensated labor and to preserve the economic participation of workers and communities against displacement by technological systems

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled (two-thirds of each House concurring therein),

ARTICLE

Section 1. Corporate Personhood Limited

The rights, protections, and immunities guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States are the exclusive rights, protections, and immunities of natural persons. Corporations, limited liability companies, partnerships, trusts, foundations, associations, and all other legal entities created under the laws of the United States or any State shall have only those rights, protections, and immunities expressly granted to them by statute. No such entity shall be entitled to claim rights, protections, or immunities under the First Amendment, the Fourth Amendment, the Fifth Amendment, the Fourteenth Amendment, or any other provision of the Constitution or its amendments that are reserved to natural persons.

Section 2. Money Is Not Speech

The expenditure of money to influence elections, including contributions to candidates, political parties, political action committees, ballot initiatives, referenda, and any other electoral activity, shall not be considered speech or expression protected by the First Amendment. Congress and the States shall have the power to regulate, limit, and prohibit such expenditures to prevent corruption, the appearance of corruption, and the undue influence of concentrated wealth over the political process. Such regulations shall not be subject to strict scrutiny or any heightened standard of review that would impede the ability of Congress and the States to protect the integrity of elections and the political process.

Section 3. Protection of Human Labor and Economic Participation

The right of human beings to engage in fairly compensated labor is a fundamental right essential to human dignity, economic participation, and the health of the Republic. Artificial intelligence, automation, and other technological systems are tools. They are not persons, not workers, and not rights-holders under this Constitution. The right of human beings to work shall not be abridged by the deployment of any tool to perform work that a human being would otherwise perform. The right of workers to form, join, or assist labor organizations, to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing, and to engage in concerted action for mutual aid or protection shall not be abridged by any employer or by any law.

No corporation, partnership, limited liability company, or other legal entity shall functionally displace human labor through the deployment of artificial intelligence, automation, or other technological systems. Functional displacement includes any reduction in workforce, reclassification of positions to lower compensation, elimination of job categories, or substitution of technological output for human output that renders a human worker’s labor unnecessary. No displacement shall proceed unless the displacing entity first demonstrates, by clear and convincing evidence submitted to a federal Labor Displacement Review Board, that no human-centered alternative exists and that the displacement serves a compelling public purpose beyond cost reduction or profit maximization. Displacement for the purpose of reducing labor costs, increasing shareholder returns, or improving corporate efficiency shall not constitute a compelling public purpose.

Any displacement approved under this section shall require: mandatory advance notice of not less than one hundred eighty days to all affected workers and their communities; transition support including retraining, relocation assistance, and bridge income at full prior compensation for not less than twenty-four months; continuation of all health and retirement benefits for no less than five years; full severance and pension protection; priority right of reinstatement if the displaced function is restored in any form; and payment into a federally administered Community Stabilization Fund of a levy equal to five times the first-year labor cost savings generated by the displacement, to be disbursed to affected workers and communities.

No employer that has displaced workers under this section shall increase executive compensation, conduct share buybacks, or pay shareholder dividends in excess of pre-displacement levels for a period of five years following the displacement, unless all displaced workers have been fully compensated and the Community Stabilization Fund levy has been paid in full.

Any displacement found to violate this section shall entitle affected workers to reinstatement or, at the worker’s election, treble damages plus attorney fees. Displaced workers shall have a private right of action to enforce this section in any court of competent jurisdiction.

Congress shall establish the Labor Displacement Review Board within one year of ratification. The Board shall be composed of a majority of members who are or have been workers in industries subject to automation displacement, and no more than one-third of its members may have direct financial ties to technology, artificial intelligence, or automation industries. Congress and the States shall have the power to enforce this section through appropriate legislation, provided that no such legislation shall diminish the minimum protections established by this section.

Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit technological tools that augment rather than displace human labor, or automation that demonstrably creates a net increase in employment within the same enterprise and community within three years of deployment. The burden of proving net job creation shall rest with the employer.

Section 4. Foreign Influence Prohibited

No foreign national, foreign government, foreign corporation, or entity controlled by a foreign national, foreign government, or foreign corporation shall contribute, donate, or expend funds to influence any election in the United States, whether directly or indirectly through intermediaries, including but not limited to trade associations, chambers of commerce, nonprofit organizations, or other entities. Congress shall have the power to enforce this section through appropriate legislation, including mandatory auditing and disclosure requirements for any organization that accepts membership dues or contributions from foreign sources and engages in political activity in the United States.

Section 5. Enforcement

Congress shall have the power to enforce this article through appropriate legislation. The States shall have the power to enforce this article through appropriate legislation, provided that such legislation is not less protective than federal legislation.

PROPOSED TO THE STATES

This Article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by conventions in three-fourths of the States, or by the legislatures of three-fourths of the States, within seven years from the date of its submission to the States by the Congress.

Section-by-Section Explanation

Section 1: Corporate Personhood Limited

This section directly overturns the doctrine of corporate constitutional personhood established through judicial interpretation, beginning with Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad (1886) and extending through Citizens United v. FEC (2010) and Burwell v. Hobby Lobby (2014).

What it does:

• Declares that constitutional rights belong exclusively to natural persons (human beings)
• Requires that corporations and other legal entities have only those rights granted by statute
• Explicitly removes First, Fourth, Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendment claims from corporate entities

What it means: Corporations can no longer claim First Amendment free speech rights to justify unlimited political spending. They cannot claim Fourth Amendment protections against regulatory inspection. They cannot claim Fifth Amendment protections against self-incrimination. They cannot claim Fourteenth Amendment equal protection rights. These constitutional protections are restored to their original purpose: protecting human beings.

Section 2: Money Is Not Speech

This section directly overturns the money-as-speech doctrine established in Buckley v. Valeo (1976) and extended in Citizens United v. FEC (2010) and McCutcheon v. FEC (2014).

What it does:

• Establishes that spending money to influence elections is not constitutionally protected speech
• Grants Congress and the States explicit power to regulate campaign finance
• Removes strict scrutiny review from campaign finance regulations

What it means: Congress can limit campaign contributions and expenditures. States can experiment with different approaches to campaign finance regulation. The constitutional obstacle that has blocked every meaningful reform since 1976 is removed. The argument that “money is speech” no longer has legal force.

Section 3: Protection of Human Labor and Economic Participation

This section establishes for the first time in American history a constitutional right to work, protecting both individual workers and the communities that depend on their economic participation. It declares that AI, automation, and other technological systems are tools — not persons, not workers, and not rights-holders. The question it answers is simple: are we going to let a tool replace a human?

What it does:

• Declares that AI and technological systems are tools, not persons or rights-holders
• Protects the right of workers to form, join, or assist labor organizations, to bargain collectively, and to engage in concerted action without employer or legal interference
• Establishes the right to fairly compensated labor as a fundamental right essential to human dignity, economic participation, and the health of the Republic
• Defines functional displacement broadly — including workforce reduction, reclassification to lower pay, elimination of job categories, and substitution of technological output for human output
• Requires pre-displacement certification by a federal Labor Displacement Review Board before any displacement may proceed
• Requires entities to prove by clear and convincing evidence that no human-centered alternative exists and that displacement serves a compelling public purpose beyond cost reduction or profit maximization
• Explicitly excludes cost reduction, shareholder returns, and corporate efficiency from qualifying as a compelling public purpose
• Mandates self-executing minimums: 180-day advance notice, 24-month transition support at full prior compensation, five-year continuation of health and retirement benefits, full severance, pension protection, and priority right of reinstatement
• Requires payment into a Community Stabilization Fund of a levy equal to five times first-year labor cost savings, disbursed to affected workers and communities
• Prohibits executive compensation increases, share buybacks, and dividend increases above pre-displacement levels for five years unless workers are fully compensated and the Fund levy is paid
• Provides treble damages plus attorney fees for violations, with the worker’s election of reinstatement or damages
• Grants displaced workers a private right of action to enforce the section directly in court
• Requires Congress to establish the Labor Displacement Review Board within one year of ratification, with a worker-majority composition and no more than one-third of members having financial ties to tech/AI/automation industries
• Grants Congress and the States power to enforce through legislation, with a floor provision prohibiting any law from diminishing the minimum protections
• Carves out protection for tools that augment rather than displace human labor, and for automation that demonstrably creates net new employment

What it means: Corporations cannot simply fire workers and replace them with AI systems. The abrupt mass displacements projected for the next decade cannot occur without pre-certification by a review board where workers have majority representation. Workers whose positions are automated must be supported through transition with concrete, enforceable minimums. The communities that lose workers’ wages and spending power are compensated through the Community Stabilization Fund — because the consumer economy collapses when workers can no longer afford to buy what corporations produce. The CEO cannot collect a bonus the same quarter as a mass layoff. The benefits of automation must be shared, not captured entirely by corporate owners. And crucially, workers can go to court themselves to enforce these protections — they need not wait for Congress to act. The amendment’s minimums are self-executing: they apply whether or not Congress passes implementing legislation, and no future Congress can weaken them.

Section 4: Foreign Influence Prohibited

This section closes the foreign money pipeline that has allowed foreign corporations and entities to influence American elections through the U. S. Chamber of Commerce and similar organizations.

What it does:

• Prohibits foreign nationals, governments, and corporations from spending to influence U. S. elections
• Extends prohibition to indirect spending through intermediaries
• Grants Congress power to enforce through auditing and disclosure requirements

What it means: The U. S. Chamber of Commerce can no longer accept dues from foreign corporations and use those funds for political activity without disclosure. Any organization engaged in political activity must demonstrate that its funding comes from American sources. Foreign influence in American elections becomes explicitly unconstitutional.

Section 5: Enforcement

This section establishes the enforcement mechanism and the division of authority between federal and state governments.

What it does:

• Grants Congress power to enforce through legislation
• Grants States power to enforce through legislation
• Establishes a federal floor—states can be more protective but not less

What it means: Both federal and state governments have authority to implement the Amendment. States can experiment with different approaches to campaign finance, AI regulation, and corporate accountability, provided they meet the minimum standards established by federal law.

Ratification Pathway

The Amendment follows the Article V ratification process:

• Passage by Congress: Two-thirds majority in both House and Senate
• Ratification by States: Three-fourths of state legislatures or state conventions (38 of 50 states)
• Time limit: Seven years from submission to the states

The People Primaries Strategy:

The Amendment cannot pass the current Congress. Every member has taken corporate money. Every member is compromised by the system the Amendment would dismantle.

Therefore, the only path to ratification runs through replacing the entire Congress with representatives who have pledged to pass the Amendment. This is the People Primaries strategy:

• Recruit candidates in all 435 House districts and 33 Senate seats up for election
• Require candidates to sign The WORK FOR US! Promise committing to pass the Amendment
• Build district organizations of 70 volunteers each
• Execute the largest congressional replacement in American history in November 2028
• Pass the Amendment in the new Congress

The Amendment is the goal. People Primaries is the path.

The US Majority Amendment restores the Constitution to its original purpose: “We the People” means human beings, not corporations. The sovereign authority of the American people can only be exercised by human persons, not legal fictions created to shield their owners from accountability.