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Committee advances bill to require disclosure of foreign funding in political activity, adopts changes
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Summary
After stakeholder-driven changes, the Judiciary committee voted 12–0 to pass Senate Bill 256, a state-level foreign registration framework that raises the ownership threshold to 51% and revises definitions and reporting timelines; testimony included support from State Shield and concerns from the Indiana Bankers Association about ambiguous language in Section 14(b).
The Judiciary committee passed Senate Bill 256 on Feb. 16, approving the state-level foreign registration framework 12–0 after adopting stakeholder-led amendments and hearing public testimony.
Representative Collins, the bill sponsor in the House, told the committee the bill "creates a foreign agent registration framework that brings needed transparency to who is funding and engaging in political activity." He said the measure targets disclosure — not prohibition — and that stakeholders, including the Indiana Chamber and others, helped shape a series of amendments.
Amendment highlights: the committee adopted Amendment 2 by consent, which changes the terminology from "hostile foreign principal" to "covered foreign principal," moves compliance dates to allow stakeholder review, raises the ownership threshold from 20% to 51% to align with other state statutes' definition of a controlling interest, and updates registration and reporting requirements. Representative Ireland also introduced Amendment 1 to clarify retroactivity for prior sister-city cooperative agreements with countries listed as foreign adversaries; he cited Fort Wayne's agreement with Taizhou, China as an example of the kinds of existing agreements the change would reach.
Public testimony and concerns: Matt Bell of State Shield testified in support, saying federal enforcement focuses on major counterintelligence cases and arguing state disclosure sends a signal and provides enforceable clarity. "We\'re not asking anyone to stop political activity... There simply needs to be a choice that if you\'re receiving money from a covered foreign entity, you\'re disclosing that," Bell said. Connor Wong of the Indiana Bankers Association said his group is neutral but asked for clarification of Section 14(b), which refers to "recipients of state funds" and could be read to include banks that hold public deposits; he asked sponsors to refine the language to avoid unintended compliance burdens.
Representative Collins acknowledged the bank's concern and said he would look to clarify the wording, likely soon, while reiterating the bill's goals around national-security-related transparency. After final discussion the committee moved the amended bill forward; the roll call showed a unanimous vote of 12–0.
The committee passed SB256 as amended and the measure will continue through the legislative process for further consideration.
