B Corps are important tools for leveraging for-profit corporate structures on behalf of social change. In fact, several progressive tech companies are B Corps. It’s useful as a way to “hard-code” the social mission of a company into its founding documents, so that it’s difficult to undo if the company is later acquired.
However, progressive state legislatures can do more to make B Corps more widespread and effective. To begin with, state legislators can exempt B Corps from state income taxes, so that there is more of an incentive for companies to incorporate as B Corps. In addition, B Corps can have additional social responsibility regulations imposed upon them, such as voluntary recognition of bargaining units, nonparticipation in lobbying, and similar types of responsible behavior. Similar reforms could eventually be made at the federal level, as well.