U.S. Supreme Court Lowers the Boom on Campaign Finance Rules

The U.S. Supreme Court has altered the landscape of campaign finance with a 5-4 ruling certain to reverberate through West Virginia and most other states, The Associated Press reports.

"The court on Thursday overturned a 20-year-old ruling that said corporations can be prohibited from using money from their general treasuries to pay for campaign ads," the article said. "The justices also struck down part of the landmark McCain-Feingold campaign finance bill that barred union- and corporate-paid issue ads in the closing days of election campaigns."

West Virginia has debated such provisions for state campaign spending, but two recent rounds of legislation each resulted in federal court rulings striking them down.