Committee approves bill to bar foreign nationals from spending on state referenda and local bond elections
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Summary
House Bill 963 would extend federal prohibitions on foreign nationals' participation to state referenda and to county and city bond issues; committee members asked about scope and monitoring, and the measure was reported favorably by voice vote.
Chairman Chuck Martin presented HB 963 as a measure to "keep foreign money out" of Georgia referenda and local bond elections by applying the same prohibitions that federal law imposes on federal elections. He told the committee the bill targets foreign nationals' financial participation in referenda and related state-level ballot measures and sought to remove ambiguity about application at the state level.
Rep. Sanchez asked whether the bill would bar a particular group (APAC) from spending on referendums; Chairman Martin said if the funds came from foreign nationals they would be barred. Sanchez also asked whether any documented cases of foreign interference in Georgia referenda existed; Chairman Martin replied there is no clear law or monitoring so he could not say whether incidents had occurred. He clarified the measure is not a constitutional amendment and would not change the status of constitutional amendment ballots.
After brief questions, the committee recorded a motion, took a voice vote and reported HB 963 favorably out of committee. The transcript contains no roll-call vote or fiscal analysis.