Hawaii Bans Corporate Election Spending in US First
The Spin
Democratic narrative
Hawaii's Act 011 is a landmark win for democracy — it redefines what powers the state grants corporations in the first place. Citizens United never addressed whether states must grant political spending power at all, so this law operates on entirely different legal ground. Every state serious about fair elections should follow Hawaii's lead and strip corporate money from politics at the source.
Republican narrative
Hawaii's Act 011 is a thinly veiled attempt to silence political speech by stripping corporations — which are associations of real citizens — of First Amendment rights the Supreme Court already affirmed. Hawaii's own attorney general warned the law is likely unconstitutional, and the penalties for any political spending, including automatic loss of corporate status, are extreme. This law will almost certainly be struck down in court.