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Senate approves bill to restrict foreign funding in Missouri campaigns
Summary
Senate Substitute for SB152, aimed at limiting foreign funding of elections and imposing accountability measures, passed after sponsor statements that Missouri ranks fourth among states for foreign money influence.
The Missouri Senate on March 27 passed Senate Substitute for Senate Bill 152, a campaign-finance measure the sponsor described as creating a ban on foreign funding of elections and adding enforcement provisions.
The motion to take the bill up was made and renewed by the senator from Franklin. In floor remarks the senator said the bill would “create a ban on foreign funding of our elections” and asserted Missouri ranks fourth among states for foreign money flowing into elections. He said the bill would create accountability for violators and "reserve the electoral process in Missouri for Missourians."
The nut graf: the sponsor framed the measure as a response to outside influence in state elections; floor debate on the measure was brief and supporters moved quickly to final passage.
In the roll call the secretary recorded 28 ayes and 2 noes, and the chamber declared the bill passed with a constitutional majority. The transcript records a senator from the thirteenth voting no during the roll call.
The sponsor's floor remarks did not include statutory citations, definitions of "foreign funding," specific enforcement mechanisms, or implementation timelines in the recorded excerpt. Those details appear likely to be found in the bill text; they were not read into the floor record during the excerpted discussion.
No amendments or implementation dates were described in the recorded remarks. The sponsor closed by renewing the motion for final passage and the secretary announced the vote totals.
