State Laws Affected by Citizens UnitedĪt the time of the Citizens United decision, 24 states prohibited either corporations or unions from making political contributions. To see brief descriptions of other pertinent decisions, visit NCSL's webpage, Campaign Finance and the Supreme Court. The Citizens United decision is part of a series of recent Supreme Court decisions on campaign finance. This page focuses only on Citizens United and the impact the case has had on contributions limits as applied to corporations and unions. 21, 2010, has had a profound effect on the laws governing corporate political activity. The Court ruled that the federal government may not prohibit direct corporate and union spending on advertising for candidates' elections. While the ruling does not directly affect state laws, at the time of the Citizens United decision there were 24 states that prohibited or restricted corporate and/or union spending on candidate elections. Many of these states have repealed or re-written these laws to avoid legal challenges under the new standard set by Citizens United. Supreme Court's ruling in Citizens United v.

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