House passes bill barring foreign-national contributions to ballot-issue committees; stricter disclosure amendment fails

The House on Tuesday passed House File 2601, a bill that defines "foreign national" in state campaign-finance law and bars contributions from foreign nationals to committees that advocate for or against ballot issues. Representative Harris moved the bill for final passage and said, "If you want foreign nationals to meddle in our elections, vote no." The bill was approved by the House by a roll call of 89 yeas, 0 nays, 11 absent.

Supporters said the measure is aimed at protecting election integrity by preventing foreign influence in ballot campaigns. Representative Conferst, sponsor of an amendment, argued his change would bring more transparency to campaign finance by lowering the threshold at which groups are treated as reportable "packs" from $1,000 to $250 and expanding the definition of "communication." "Campaign finance is a problem in our country," Conferst said, urging members to "add sunshine to the process."

Opponents, including Representative Harris during debate, said the House and Senate had not aligned on the change and urged members to resist the amendment. Conferst moved the amendment H8218 and requested a recorded division; the roll-call resulted in 29 ayes, 60 noes, 11 absent and the amendment failed.

After amendments were disposed of (one amendment was withdrawn by unanimous consent), Representative Srinivas urged support for the underlying bill. The clerk read House Bill 2601 before the final vote. The House agreed to the title and ordered the bill messaged to the Senate.

The vote totals and the failed amendment were recorded in the House proceedings; the clerk’s roll calls were read into the record.