If passed in the House and signed into law, Hawaii would be the second state following Minnesota to ban multinational corporate money in elections.

Honolulu, Hawaii (March 5, 2025) – The Hawaii State Senate yesterday passed unanimously and with bipartisan support SB1032, a bill prohibiting foreign-influenced corporations from spending money to influence local and state elections.

The legislation, introduced by Senator Chris Lee, would bar corporations with significant foreign ownership from contributing to candidates, parties, or committees (including super PACs) or from engaging in their own direct election spending.

“It’s easy for foreign corporations who want to change laws and policies over the objection of local communities to dump millions into Super PACs and try to buy their way,” says Senator Lee. “This bill would help stop foreign influence in elections, and keep local decisions in the hands of local communities.”

#BREAKING: Hawaii’s State Senate has unanimously passed a bill to BAN multinational corporations from spending in state & local elections. If signed into law, Hawaii would become the second state after Minnesota to outlaw multinational corporate money in elections.

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— Free Speech For People (@fsfp.bsky.social) March 5, 2025 at 10:41 AM

Across the country, companies with significant foreign ownership, like Amazon, have used their money to influence the outcome of elections and political agendas in their favor. The Supreme Court’s 2010 decision in Citizens United created a loophole for foreign interests to acquire stakes in U.S. corporations and then use that leverage to influence or control the corporation’s political activity, including campaign contributions, contributions to super PACs, and independent expenditures.

Multinational corporations affected by the SB1032 are those owned 1% or more by a single foreign investor, or 5% or more by multiple foreign investors. These thresholds reflect levels of ownership that are widely agreed (including by entities such as the Business Roundtable) to be high enough to influence corporate governance.

The policy grows from model legislation developed by Free Speech For People, a national nonpartisan, non-profit organization that works to renew our democracy and to limit the influence of money in our elections. Free Speech For People helped to pass similar legislation in Minnesota in 2023, San Jose, California in 2024, and in Seattle, Washington in 2020. Additional bills are under consideration in Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania, as well as in the U.S. Congress. Congressman Jamie Raskin of Maryland and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island introduced the Get Foreign Money Out of U.S. Elections Act, which is a federal companion bill to SB1032.

“This is a bold reform in the fight to put democracy back in the hands of the people where it belongs,” says Alexandra Flores-Quilty, Campaign Director at Free Speech For People. “We applaud the Hawaii State Senate for passing this bill and we urge the Hawaii House to do so as well and make Hawaii the second state in the country to protect self-government.”

Free Speech For People is working in partnership with the Common Cause Hawaii and Center For American Progress to support SB1032.

“In a time when it counts the most, Hawaii state senators have taken an unwavering stand in helping to ensure that elections in Hawaii are safeguarded from foreign money influence,” says Camron Hurt, State Director for Common Cause Hawaii. “We thank them for their profound leadership in this moment. We are truly inspired and hopeful that their colleagues in the House will adopt this bill as well, making it law.”