BOSTON -- Ben Cohen, of Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream fame, will be in Boston Friday scooping ice cream to call attention to a ballot initiative aimed at limiting the influence of corporate money in politics.

"Massachusetts is now ground zero for the campaign to get money out of politics," Cohen said in an interview.

The ballot initiative is a project of American Promise, a national organization based in Concord aimed at getting citizen support for a constitutional amendment to overturn the Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling.

The 2010 decision allowed corporations to spend unlimited amounts of money supporting or opposing a candidate as long as they did not coordinate directly with the candidate. Overturning the decision would require an amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which would take a two-thirds vote in the House and Senate, then ratification by three-quarters of the states.

American Promise is trying to gain public support to begin that process. So far, voters in 19 states passed resolutions saying they would support a "28th Amendment" overturning Citizens United. Efforts are underway to place resolutions on the ballot in Wyoming and Missouri in 2018.

In Massachusetts, the state Legislature passed resolutions supporting a 28th Amendment in 2012 and 2014.

A Massachusetts ballot initiative is not allowed to be a resolution taking a stance on an issue; it must make new law. As a result, the ballot initiative would create a 15-member Citizens Commission to research, report and make recommendations to assist in drafting and promoting a constitutional amendment.

Ben Gubits, associate director of American Promise, said Massachusetts is the first state to propose a Citizens Commission. If the ballot question does well here, American Promise may push for similar language elsewhere in 2020.

"It's a precedent-setting ballot initiative because it establishes a Citizens Commission that actually holds politicians' feet to the fire," Cohen said. "The politicians' feet, they haven't really been hot enough."

Gubits said the issue of money in politics is getting increasingly important as more money is pouring into political races. "Money in politics, corporate overreach in government is an issue that's not getting better, it's getting worse," Gubits said.

Although a commission can be created without a ballot question, Gubits said the point of the question is to generate public attention and excitement.

"The idea for a citizens commission is to keep the heat up, hold elected officials accountable to make sure the 28

th

Amendment is moving forward," Gubits said. "By issuing public statements, holding hearings, talking about money in politics in Massachusetts, and ensuring swift ratification when it comes back to states."

Gubits acknowledged that the chance of passing a Constitutional Amendment through today's polarized Congress is slim. But he said that is the point of generating public pressure.

"Without building out that grassroots base and power, we essentially won't have the political power we need to say, Hey, x member of Congress, you need to support this," Gubits said.

Cohen argued that the influence of money and special interests in politics is the reason why the country is facing numerous problems, such as high health care costs, lack of regulations on climate issues and high student loan debt.

He pointed to the current debate in Congress over tax reform as an example of corporate influence. Congressional Republicans are considering cuts to the top tax rate, the corporate tax rate, the estate tax and the alternative minimum tax, all of which would help wealthier individuals.

"Eighty percent of the cuts go to corporations and the ultra wealthy," Cohen said. "It's not a philosophy, it's a payoff. They're giving back money to the people who have been funding their campaigns."

Cohen will be scooping ice cream on Friday at 1 p.m. at Boston University, at 3 p.m. at the Ben and Jerry's store on Newbury Street in Boston and at 6 p.m. at Old West Church in Boston. He will kick off signature-gathering events for the ballot question on Saturday at noon at The Ballot Box bar in Worcester and at 5 p.m. at Shire City Sanctuary in Pittsfield.

Asked what flavor ice cream he would be scooping, Cohen would not say. But he said he has recently been enjoying Urban Bourbon and Chubby Hubby.

According to Gubits, the People Govern, Not Money initiative has gathered close to 60,000 signatures, with a goal of 90,000 by Nov. 22, using a combination of volunteers, staff and paid signature gatherers. To get on the ballot in November 2018, an initiative needs 64,750 certified signatures.