This briefing presents a bold new strategy for states to use their long-standing authority to define the corporations they charter to no longer grant political-spending powers to their corporations, effectively making Citizens United irrelevant. By reframing the debate around state-granted powers rather than constitutional rights, this strategy opens a novel path to curb corporate money in politics while grounding reform in deeply established corporate law principles.

Tom Moore is a senior fellow at American Progress, where he focuses on democracy and government reform.