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Bill would rid of foreign contributions for issue campaigns in Ohio

News Channel 4 - Thu, 02/29/2024 - 15:59

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – Some lawmakers at the Ohio Statehouse are worried about foreign influence on elections, specifically issue-based campaigns. That is why Senators Theresa Gavarone (R-Bowling Green) and Rob McColley (R-Napoleon) brought forward Senate Bill 215.

“Are we against foreign money in elections or not,” McColley said. “It’s as simple as that.”

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“The smell test on this one is that it seems like a sore loser response,” Ohio Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio (D-Lakewood) said.

State and federal law does already prohibit foreign contributions to candidates. But for issue campaigns like the reproductive rights and marijuana legalization measures in November — the door was left open to overseas donors. SB215 passed the Senate on Wednesday, on partly lines, 25 to seven.

“We want to shut that door and stop foreign interference in all our elections,” Gavarone said. “A no vote says that for them to meddle in our elections is not only acceptable but encouraged.”

Republicans use the latest issue election as an example. Millions of dollars poured into the reproductive rights campaign, including millions of dollars of contributions from the Sixteen Thirty Fund, a group heavily supported by a Swiss billionaire. 

DeMora said he doesn’t have a problem with the group giving money to the abortion-rights ballot issue, because the group didn’t do anything illegal. 

“It is not solely in response to that,” Senate President Matt Huffman (R-Lima) said. “But it’s an ongoing problem and I think the practical matter is, for a lot of elections, folks outside of Ohio care about what’s going on.”

Senator Bill DeMora (D-Columbus) said, he agrees, foreign influence is not necessarily good, but said either way, millions of dollars are poured into Ohio elections from out of state. 

“The campaign got money from a foundation that got money from a foreign national, who’s to say that the money the foreign national put in there is the same money the Ohio ballot issue got,” he said. “I don’t know what the difference between a billionaire from Canada and Switzerland is versus a billionaire from Texas.”

Huffman said the bill should be passed to minimize election influence by people outside of Ohio.

The bill also prohibits “a lawful permanent U.S. resident, also known as a green card holder,” from making contributions both to ballot issues and candidates.

DeMora said the language in the bill will discourage participation in the election process, like collecting signatures for ballot issues, even for things as simple as adding a stop sign on a street. 

“They now have to file as a PAC because they’re spending money and collecting signatures for a ballot issue, which is absolutely ludicrous,” DeMora said. “Republicans have passed this whole convoluted mess.”

DeMora, and other Democrats, said they worry this bill will have a chilling effect on grassroots efforts to put issues on ballots.  

“The point of this bill is so that a guy in Switzerland who wants to give $10 million to effect a ballot issue in Ohio won’t be able to do that,” Huffman said.

The bill is still in the statehouse; the next step for approval is the Ohio House. If it passes before August, it will take effect before the November election.

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