Protecting Ballot Measures From Foreign Influence Act of 2025
Summary
What This Bill Does
This bill amends section 319 of the Federal Election Campaign Act to add State or local ballot initiatives and ballot referenda to the existing foreign-national contribution and donation prohibition. The change applies to contributions and donations made on or after enactment, so foreign nationals would be barred from giving money or things of value in connection with ballot-measure campaigns just as they are already restricted in candidate-election contexts covered by the statute.
Who Benefits and How
Voters, State election administrators, local election administrators, and ballot measure committees benefit from clearer federal protection against foreign money influencing State and local direct-democracy campaigns. Campaign compliance attorneys also gain a clearer statutory rule to apply to ballot initiatives and referenda.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Foreign nationals, ballot measure committees, Federal Election Commission staff, State election officials, and local election officials must account for the expanded prohibition. Foreign nationals lose a funding channel, committees must screen contributions and donations for foreign-national sources, and election regulators may need to update guidance and enforcement materials after enactment.
Key Provisions
- Amends the Federal Election Campaign Act foreign-national ban to include State and local ballot initiatives.
- Extends the same restriction to State and local ballot referenda.
- Applies the prohibition to contributions and donations made on or after enactment.
- Requires ballot measure committees to screen donors under the expanded foreign-national rule.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Extend the federal foreign-national contribution ban to State and local ballot initiatives and referenda for contributions and donations made after enactment.
Key Policy Areas
Elections, Campaign Finance, State & Local Government
Primary Purpose
Extend the federal foreign-national contribution ban to State and local ballot initiatives and referenda for contributions and donations made after enactment.
Policy Domains
Substantive provisions
Identified Gains
- Voters
- State election administrators
- Local election administrators
- Ballot measure committees
- Campaign compliance attorneys
Identified Costs
- Foreign nationals
- Ballot measure committees
- Federal Election Commission staff
- State election officials
- Local election officials
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeMr. Cline (for himself, Ms. Perez, Mrs. Bice, Mr. McGuire, …
Referred to the House Committee on House Administration.
Introduced in House
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "Beneficiaries"
- → ['Voters', 'Election administrators', 'Ballot measure committees', 'Attorneys']
- "Burden bearers"
- → ['Foreign nationals', 'Federal Election Commission staff', 'State election officials', 'Local election officials']
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology