An aggressive campaign to silence nonprofits and corporations in elections and policy debates is foreclosed by Citizens United and the U.S. Constitution.

People United for Privacy Foundation (PUFPF) today released a new report warning that a rapidly spreading campaign in the states would eviscerate First Amendment protections for millions of Americans who advocate through nonprofit organizations, labor unions, trade associations, churches, businesses, and other incorporated entities.

In so doing, this scheme would force all speech about candidates, elected officials, ballot measures, and policy debates into the campaign finance system, where speakers are subject to extensive registration, reporting, and donor exposure requirements. It would upend 250 years of American tradition protecting anonymous speech and associational rights, freedoms understood and exercised by the Founders themselves.

“The ‘Corporate Power Reset’: An Existential Threat to Civil Society” traces the origins of the proposal, documents its spread to 20 states in less than a year, and examines the plan’s constitutional and policy implications.

“The 2026 legislative session saw an explosion of sinister proposals aimed at stripping Americans of First Amendment rights in elections and policy debates. These schemes would not only censor businesses whose interests are directly affected by public policies, but countless nonprofit organizations that Americans rely on every day to advocate for their communities and favored causes,” said Matt Nese, PUFPF Vice President and the report’s co-author.

Inspired by a plan from the Center for American Progress, versions of the proposal have appeared in 34 bills across 18 states in under a year. Activists have attempted to place the proposal on the ballot in two additional states, Colorado and Montana, with more campaigns underway for 2027 and beyond. One state, Hawaii, has already enacted the plan into law, where it now faces a First Amendment challenge in federal court.

The scheme exploits state powers over corporate registration to prohibit any such entity (besides media companies, which are exempt) from participating in broadly defined “election activity” or “ballot issue activity.” If successful, this tactic could be replicated to strip other constitutional rights from associations of Americans – religious liberty, petition rights, legal representation, firearms production, and more would all be vulnerable.

The Supreme Court has already rejected efforts to prohibit corporations from exercising First Amendment rights, the report explains. Quoting the late Justice Antonin Scalia, the Court noted in Citizens United v. FEC that, “It is rudimentary that the State cannot exact as the price of those special advantages [granted to corporations] the forfeiture of First Amendment rights.” The Corporate Power Reset violates a longstanding rule against unconstitutional conditions on government benefits.

“The Supreme Court has already considered and rejected the argument on which this unlawful proposal rests. States cannot condition the benefits of incorporation on the surrender of First Amendment rights,” said Allen Dickerson, former Chairman of the Federal Election Commission and the report’s co-author.

The report, co-authored by Nese, Dickerson, and Senior Fellow Zac Morgan, is part of PUFPF’s Right to Participate Project, a national initiative focused on defending Americans’ ability to support and advocate through the organizations of their choosing amid a new generation of threats to civic participation.

“The ‘Corporate Power Reset’: An Existential Threat to Civil Society” is available to download here (PDF) or access online at: https://unitedforprivacy.com/the-corporate-power-reset-an-existential-threat-to-civil-society/.