Hawaii legislature passes first-in-nation bill stripping corporations of political spending power

The Hawaii legislature passed Senate Bill 2471, a first-in-nation measure that redefines the powers granted to corporations and other artificial entities under state law, explicitly excluding the power to spend money or contribute anything of value to influence elections or ballot measures. The bill, based on the Center for American Progress Corporate Power Reset model, argued that since states create corporations through law, states can also define the limits of those corporate powers — a legal theory distinct from directly regulating political speech.