Refounding America board member Aviam Soifer, former Dean and Emeritus Professor at the University of Hawai'i Richardson School of Law, played a direct role in Hawai'i's landmark new approach to corporate money in politics. In a letter to Governor Josh Green, Soifer affirmed the constitutional foundation for the bill, noting that states have exercised authority over corporate rights for over two centuries and that the U.S. Supreme Court has affirmed that authority repeatedly.

Governor Green signed the bill into law on May 14 with near-unanimous bipartisan support. Rather than trying to overturn Citizens United directly, Hawai'i drew on an 1819 Supreme Court principle: corporations are creatures of state law, so states can define their rights. Hawai'i has now declined to grant corporations the right to spend money on elections or ballot measures.

Fourteen other states have introduced similar legislation, with more to follow. As Ali Velshi reported on MS NOW, the potential impact on American political financing would be "seismic."

Watch Ali Velshi's full segment: