First Amendment

Hawaii's End Run Around Citizens United Faces a First Amendment Roadblock

A new Hawaii law reclassifies corporate political speech as a "power" the state can revoke at will.

Tosin Akintola | 8.6.2026 12:38 PM

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When the Supreme Court ruled on Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission in 2010, the majority opinion reaffirmed that political speech is "indispensable to decision-making in a democracy, and this is no less true simply because the speech comes from a corporation."

The state of Hawaii disagrees. In May, Democratic Gov. Josh Green signed Act 11 into law, which strips away corporations' "power to spend money or contribute anything of value to influence elections or ballot measures" in the state. This means that under the law, all corporations—except for political action committees, political parties, and candidate committees—cannot fund initiatives on ballot measures, support proposed amendments, or contribute money to campaigns.

The law cuts directly into the mission of organizations such as the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, a nonprofit that engages in political advocacy and education on ballot measures, legislation, and candidates.

In June, the group sued the state in district court, with the help of the Institute for Free Speech. The nonprofit is asking the court to void the law as a violation of the First and 14th Amendments. It has also filed a motion for a preliminary injunction to prevent Hawaii from enforcing the law while the court process plays out.

Tom Moore, senior fellow at the progressive think tank the Center for American Progress (CAP)—and the leading mind behind Hawaii's law and dozens more like it—tells Reason that every right a corporation has "attaches to some kind of power" bestowed by the state. Moore says the Supreme........

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