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Bill would extend federal foreign‑donation ban to Georgia ballot referenda and require campaign affirmations
Summary
Chairman Martin introduced HB 963 to mirror federal restrictions on foreign‑national contributions and apply them to ballot referenda, including SPLOST and constitutional amendments; sponsors said enforcement would rest with the State Ethics Commission and campaigns would need to affirm donations were not from foreign nationals.
Chairman Martin presented House Bill 963 to the committee, saying the measure would mirror federal law to bar foreign‑national contributions and extend reporting and return requirements to ballot referenda and constitutional amendments.
"It basically commits that committees that are required to report today, if they receive donations from foreign nationals are required to acknowledge those, and those, would need to be returned," Chairman Martin said. He explained the bill would make such donations unallowed for referenda and that reporting procedures would be similar to current practice for state elections.
Committee members asked technical questions about enforcement. Martin said allegations of foreign donations would fall under the purview of the State Ethics Commission, which would investigate complaints. When asked whether campaigns would need to certify each donation, Martin said campaigns would have to affirm whether a donation came from a foreign national and suggested a checkbox could be used to indicate the source of funds. A committee member asked whether the provisions would apply to SPLOST or other local referenda; Martin confirmed they would apply to any ballot referendum.
The committee discussed the bill but did not record a vote during the session.
