Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to present law.
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State of Arkansas 1
95th General Assembly A Bill 2
Regular Session, 2025 HOUSE BILL 1837 3
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By: Representative McAlindon 5
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For An Act To Be Entitled 8
AN ACT TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING DISCLOSURE FOR 9
MATTERS REFERRED TO VOTERS; TO BAN FOREIGN FUNDING 10
FOR BALLOT MEASURES; TO AMEND PORTIONS OF THE 11
ARKANSAS CODE THAT RESULTED FROM INITIATED ACT 1 OF 12
1996; AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES. 13
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15
Subtitle 16
TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING DISCLOSURE 17
FOR MATTERS REFERRED TO VOTERS; AND TO 18
BAN FOREIGN FUNDING FOR BALLOT MEASURES; 19
TO AMEND PORTIONS OF THE ARKANSAS CODE 20
THAT RESULTED FROM INITIATED ACT 1 OF 21
1996. 22
23
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS: 24
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SECTION 1. DO NOT CODIFY. Legislative findings and intent. 26
The General Assembly finds that: 27
(1) It is vital to the operation of an effective democracy for 28
the people to have full and complete confidence in their elections; 29
(2) It is crucial that those elections be free of unwanted 30
foreign influence; and 31
(3) It is the intent of the General Assembly to prevent foreign 32
contributions from influencing the outcome of Arkansas elections. 33
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SECTION 2. Arkansas Code § 7 -6-201, concerning definitions for 35
campaign financing, resulting from Initiated Act 1 of 1996, is amended to add 36 HB1837
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an additional subdivision to read as follows: 1
(19) "Prohibited sources" means the same as defined in § 7 -9-2
402. 3
4
SECTION 3. Arkansas Code § 7 -6-220(b), concerning contents of the 5
report for independent expenditures in campaign financing and resulting from 6
Initiated Act 1 of 1996, is amended to add an additional subdivision to read 7
as follows: 8
(5) An affirmation by the individual, committee, or entity 9
making the independent expenditure that the individual, committee, or entity 10
has not knowingly or willfully accepted funds in excess of ten thousand 11
dollars ($10,000) in the aggregate from one (1) or more prohibited sources 12
within the four-year period immediately preceding the date the independent 13
expenditure was made . 14
15
SECTION 4. Arkansas Code § 7 -9-402, concerning definitions for 16
disclosure matters referred to voters, is amended to add additional 17
subdivisions to read as follows: 18
(13) “Directly or indirectly” means acting either alone or 10 19
jointly with, through, or on behalf of any other: 20
(A) Ballot question committee; 21
(B) Legislative question committee; 22
(C) Political action committee; 23
(D) Organization; 24
(E) Person; or 25
(F) Other entity; 26
(14) “Foreign national” means: 27
(A) An individual who is not a citizen or lawful permanent 28
resident of the United States; 29
(B) A government or subdivision of a foreign country; or 30
(C) A foreign political party; 31
(D) An entity, including without limitation a partnership, 32
association, corporation, organization, or other combination of persons, that 33
is organized under the laws of, or has its principal place of business in, a 34
foreign country; or 35
(E) A partnership, association, corporation, or 36 HB1837
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organization, which is wholly or majority owned by a foreign national, 1
unless: 2
(i) A contribution or expenditure the entity makes 3
derives entirely from funds generated by the entity’s operations; and 4
(ii) All decisions concerning the contribution or 5
expenditure are made by individuals who are United States citizens or 6
permanent residents, except for setting overall budget amounts; 7
(15) "Independent expenditure" means the same as defined in § 7 -8
6-201; 9
(16) "Preliminary activity" includes: 10
(A) Conducting a poll; 11
(B) Drafting ballot question language; 12
(C) Drafting legislative question language; 13
(D) Conducting a focus group; 14
(E) Conducting telephone calls; or 15
(F) Traveling in connection with a ballot question or 16
legislative question activity; 17
(17) “Prohibited sources” includes: 18
(A) A prohibited political action committee as defined in 19
§ 7-6-201; 20
(B) A political action committee that accepts one (1) or 21
more contributions from a foreign national; 22
(C) An organization that is funded by a political action 23
committee that accepts one (1) or more contributions from a foreign national; 24
(D) Contributions from or expenditures by a foreign 25
national; and 26
(E) Contributions or expenditures that violate state or 27
federal law; and 28
(18)(A) “Tax-exempt organization” means an organization that 29
qualifies as exempt from federal income tax under § 501(c) of the Internal 30
Revenue Code of 1986, as it existed on January 1, 2025. 31
(B) This subchapter shall not be construed to treat a 32
political organization under § 527 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as 33
it existed on January 1, 2025, as a tax -exempt organization for purposes of 34
this subchapter. 35
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SECTION 5. Arkansas Code § 7 -9-407(2), concerning the information 1
contained in financial reports submitted by a ballot question committee or a 2
legislative question committee, is amended to add an additional subdivision 3
to read as follows: 4
(E) For a ballot question committee as defined under § 7 -5
9-402(2) or a legislative question committee as defined in § 7 -9-402(10): 6
(i) An affirmation that the ballot question 7
committee or legislative question committee has not knowingly or willfully 8
received, solicited, or accepted contributions or expenditures from a 9
prohibited source; and 10
(ii) An affirmation by the treasurer of the ballot 11
question committee or legislative question committee that the donor 12
associated with each contribution is not a foreign national and has not 13
knowingly or willfully received, solicited, or accepted, whether directly or 14
indirectly, contributions or expenditures from one (1) or more prohibited 15
sources in excess of ten thousand dollars ($10,000) in the aggregate within 16
the four-year period immediately preceding the date of the contribution; 17
18
SECTION 6. Arkansas Code Title 7, Chapter 9, Subchapter 4, is amended 19
to add additional sections to read as follows: 20
7-9-416. Prohibited sources of funding. 21
(a) Upon registering as a ballot question committee or legislative 22
question committee, the treasurer of the committee shall file an accompanying 23
certification that no preliminary activity was directly funded by prohibited 24
sources, whether directly or indirectly. 25
(b) After the ballot question committee or legislative question 26
committee has been registered, the committee shall not knowingly or willfully 27
receive, solicit, or accept contributions or expenditures from a prohibited 28
source, whether directly or indirectly. 29
(c) A person who makes an independent expenditure in support of or in 30
opposition to a ballot question committee or legislative question committee 31
in excess of ten thousand dollars ($10,000) in the aggregate shall keep 32
records of any contribution or expenditure and retain such records as 33
prescribed under § 7 -9-410 from the date of receipt of the contribution or 34
expenditure. 35
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7-9-417. Donor certification of no affiliation with prohibited 1
sources. 2
(a) Upon receipt of a contribution in excess of ten thousand dollars 3
($10,000) to a ballot question committee or legislative question committee, 4
the treasurer of the ballot question committee or legislative question 5
committee shall obtain from the donor associated with a contribution in 6
excess of ten thousand dollars ($10,000) in the aggregate an affirmation that 7
the donor: 8
(1) Is not a foreign national; and 9
(2) Has not knowingly or willfully accepted funds in excess of 10
ten thousand dollars ($10,000) in the aggregate from one (1) or more 11
prohibited sources within the four -year period immediately preceding the date 12
the contribution is made. 13
(b) An individual, committee, or entity making one (1) or more 14
independent expenditures supporting or opposing a ballot question or 15
legislative question shall certify to the Attorney General that the 16
individual, committee, or entity has not knowingly or willfully accepted 17
funds in excess of ten thousand dollars ($10,000) in the aggregate from one 18
(1) or more prohibited sources within the four -year period immediately 19
preceding the date the independent expenditure is made and that it will not 20
do so through the remainder of the calendar year in which the ballot question 21
or legislative question will appear on the ballot. 22
(c) A determination that an individual, committee, or entity filing 23
one (1) or more certifications under this section and § 7 -6-220 has accepted 24
funds from one (1) or more prohibited sources in excess of ten thousand 25
dollars ($10,000) in the aggregate within the applicable four -year period 26
immediately preceding the contribution or independent expenditure at issue 27
shall create a presumption that the individual, committee, or entity has 28
violated this section. 29
30
7-9-418. Prohibited influence by a foreign national. 31
(a) A foreign national shall not direct, dictate, control, or directly 32
or indirectly participate in the decision -making process of any person with 33
regard to that person’s activities to influence a ballot question or 34
legislative question, including without limitation decisions concerning the 35
making of contributions or expenditures to influence a ballot question or 36 HB1837
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legislative question. 1
(b) A foreign national shall not solicit, directly or indirectly, the 2
making of a donation, contribution, or expenditure by another person to 3
influence a ballot question or legislative question. 4
(c) Nothing in this subchapter shall create or eliminate any existing 5
donor disclosure rights or duties beyond those specifically stated in §§ 7 -9-6
416 – 7-9-420. 7
8
7-9-419. Enforcement for violations of ban on foreign funding for 9
ballot questions and legislative questions. 10
(a)(1) The Attorney General may bring a civil action to enforce §§ 7 -11
9-416 – 7-9-420. 12
(2) An individual, committee, or entity alleged to have violated 13
any provision under §§ 7 -9-416 – 7-9-420 shall be provided a full opportunity 14
of notice, discovery, and an opportunity to be heard before being found 15
liable for a violation of any provision under §§ 7 -9-416 – 7-9-420. 16
(b) If the Attorney General prevails in an action brought under § 7 -9-17
419(a), the court shall award: 18
(1) Injunctive relief sufficient to prevent the defendant from 19
violating this subchapter or engaging in acts that aid or abet violations of 20
any provision under §§ 7 -9-416 – 7-9-420; and 21
(2) Statutory damages up to twice the amount of the prohibited 22
contribution or expenditure. 23
(c) In addition to the penalties in this section and any other 24
remedies provided by law, if the court finds the defendant knowingly or 25
willfully violated any provision under §§ 7 -9-416 – 7-9-420, the court may 26
assess a penalty of up to three (3) times the statutory damages. 27
28
7-9-420. Restrictions on collection and release of donor information. 29
(a)(1) A lawful donor to a tax -exempt organization possesses a right 30
of privacy in the lawful donor's donations. 31
(2) An investigation of an alleged violation of any provision 32
under §§ 7-9-416 – 7-9-420 or a lawful court order in an action brought under 33
§ 7-9-419(a) shall occur in a manner that shields the identity of lawful 34
donors to the extent possible. 35
(3) A governmental body shall not collect or require the 36 HB1837
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submission of information on the identity of any donor to a tax -exempt 1
organization other than those directly related to an alleged violation of §§ 2
7-9-416 – 7-9-420. 3
(4) Any collection or required submission of information by any 4
governmental body regarding the identity of any donor to a tax -exempt 5
organization beyond that permitted by any provision under §§ 7 -9-416 – 7-9-6
420 shall be deemed a violation of the Personal Information Protection Act, § 7
4-110-101 et seq. 8
(b)(1) A governmental body shall not disclose to the public or another 9
government official not directly involved in the investigation, information 10
revealing the identity of any donor to a tax -exempt organization, unless the 11
information is regarding the identity of a donor that engaged in conduct 12
prohibited by any provision under §§ 7 -9-416 – 7-9-420 after a final 13
determination has been made that the donor violated any provision under §§ 7 -14
9-416 – 7-9-420. 15
(2) Knowing or willful violations of this subsection shall be 16
punishable under the Personal Information Protection Act, § 4 -110-101 et seq. 17
(3) Any public disclosure of information revealing the identity 18
of any donor to a tax -exempt organization by a governmental body incident to 19
this section is a violation of the Personal Information Protection Act, § 4 -20
110-101 et seq., unless the information is regarding the identity of a donor 21
that engaged in conduct prohibited by any provision under §§ 7 -9-416 – 7-9-22
420 after a final determination has been made that the donor violated any 23
provision under §§ 7 -9-416 – 7-9-420. 24
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