Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe signed a bill Wednesday that prohibits foreign money from funding ballot issue campaigns, making it the ninth state to enact such legislation.
Senate Bill 152 “bans foreign nationals from contributing donations to campaign committees for ballot measures,” according to a release from Kehoe.
In a statement provided to The Center Square, Kehoe said of Senate Bill 152: “This legislation ensures that Missourians, not foreign interests, are determining the best policies for our state.”
“I appreciate the efforts of Senator Ben Brown and Representative Jim Murphy in getting this legislation to my desk as Missouri continues to lead the nation in election integrity policies,” Kehoe said.
Brown is SB152’s sponsor and Murphy is the bill’s joint sponsor, according to LegiScan.
Brown told The Center Square that the signing of SB152 puts “an end to foreign exploitation of our state’s electoral process once and for all.”
“This landmark piece of legislation closes the loopholes in state and federal law that have allowed foreign nationals and the groups funded by them to essentially purchase amendments to our constitution,” Brown said.
“No longer will our state’s sovereignty and right to self-determination be threatened by foreign nationals seeking to abuse a process that was intended to give a voice to the citizens of Missouri,” Brown said.
“For far too long, organizations such as the Sixteen Thirty Fund have funneled millions of foreign dollars to our state in order to influence our initiative petition process and push their progressive agendas,” Brown said.
Brown explained that “last year alone, [the Sixteen Thirty Fund] spent over 4.5 million dollars to prop up the Amendment 3 campaign that enshrined abortion in our constitution.” Additionally, the group has “contributed over 13 million to various ballot measures since 2014.”
Brown told The Center Square that the Sixteen Thirty Fund “is bankrolled by a Swiss billionaire by the name of Hansjorg Wyss.”
According to Brown, Wyss is “a man who has stated that he has no intent of ever becoming a U.S. citizen but nonetheless has poured over half a billion dollars into groups like this in order to accomplish his goal to ‘reimagine the US constitution in the light of progressive politics.’”
“The Sixteen Thirty Fund has meddled with the electoral process in states across the US,” Brown said. “However, Missouri ranks number three in terms of most foreign dollars spent.”
“The signing of this bill ensures that from this point forward, our electoral process will be reflective of Missouri values, not those of foreign interests,” Brown said.
The issue of foreign funding of ballot issue campaigns has been prevalent recently, with most of the now nine states that have banned such funding doing so this year, according to Americans for Public Trust.
Missouri’s SB152 follows similar legislation passed in Kansas, Louisiana, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Tennessee, Arkansas and Wyoming, according to The Center Square and Americans for Public Trust.
Montana also passed legislation similar to these nine states’, as The Center Square reported, but it was deemed “inadequate” by watchdog organizations because it still allows for foreign funding in some cases.
According to Missouri’s SB152’s summary, treasurers of committees – candidate committees excluded – are now “required to file an accompanying certificate declaring that no preliminary activity … was funded, directly or indirectly, by prohibited sources.”
Prohibited sources are defined as “any contribution from or expenditure made by a foreign national made with the intent to use such funds to influence an election on a ballot measure,” according to the summary.
Both Executive Director of Honest Elections Project Action Jason Snead and Executive Director at Americans for Public Trust Caitlin Sutherland are pleased with the signing of SB152.
Honest Elections Project Action is an organization dedicated to election reform, while Americans for Public Trust is a group dedicated to holding elected officials accountable.
In a statement obtained by The Center Square, Jason Snead said: “Honest Elections Project Action applauds State Senator Ben Brown, the Missouri legislature, and Governor Kehoe for taking bold action to protect Missouri’s constitution from foreign interference.”
Snead explained that Sixteen Thirty Fund has not only poured millions of dollars into Missouri, but has “spent $130 million on ballot measures in 26 states.”
Caitlin Sutherland said in a statement obtained by The Center Square that “Governor Kehoe, Senator Brown, and the Missouri Legislature should be commended for their swift and strong work to safeguard Missouri from foreign influence and ensure that only U.S. citizens are influencing policy.”
“With Senate Bill 152 signed into law, Missouri can now count itself amongst the states that have prohibited foreign money in their ballot issue campaigns,” Sutherland said.
