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Arkansas House Bill HB1837

Arkansas 2025 Regular Session

Arkansas House Bill HB1837 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.
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11 Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to present law.
22 *SSS058* 03/18/2025 2:08:38 PM SSS058
33 State of Arkansas 1
44 95th General Assembly A Bill 2
55 Regular Session, 2025 HOUSE BILL 1837 3
66 4
77 By: Representative McAlindon 5
88 6
99 7
1010 For An Act To Be Entitled 8
1111 AN ACT TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING DISCLOSURE FOR 9
1212 MATTERS REFERRED TO VOTERS; TO BAN FOREIGN FUNDING 10
1313 FOR BALLOT MEASURES; TO AMEND PORTIONS OF THE 11
1414 ARKANSAS CODE THAT RESULTED FROM INITIATED ACT 1 OF 12
1515 1996; AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES. 13
1616 14
1717 15
1818 Subtitle 16
1919 TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING DISCLOSURE 17
2020 FOR MATTERS REFERRED TO VOTERS; AND TO 18
2121 BAN FOREIGN FUNDING FOR BALLOT MEASURES; 19
2222 TO AMEND PORTIONS OF THE ARKANSAS CODE 20
2323 THAT RESULTED FROM INITIATED ACT 1 OF 21
2424 1996. 22
2525 23
2626 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS: 24
2727 25
2828 SECTION 1. DO NOT CODIFY. Legislative findings and intent. 26
2929 The General Assembly finds that: 27
3030 (1) It is vital to the operation of an effective democracy for 28
3131 the people to have full and complete confidence in their elections; 29
3232 (2) It is crucial that those elections be free of unwanted 30
3333 foreign influence; and 31
3434 (3) It is the intent of the General Assembly to prevent foreign 32
3535 contributions from influencing the outcome of Arkansas elections. 33
3636 34
3737 SECTION 2. Arkansas Code § 7 -6-201, concerning definitions for 35
3838 campaign financing, resulting from Initiated Act 1 of 1996, is amended to add 36 HB1837
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4141 an additional subdivision to read as follows: 1
4242 (19) "Prohibited sources" means the same as defined in § 7 -9-2
4343 402. 3
4444 4
4545 SECTION 3. Arkansas Code § 7 -6-220(b), concerning contents of the 5
4646 report for independent expenditures in campaign financing and resulting from 6
4747 Initiated Act 1 of 1996, is amended to add an additional subdivision to read 7
4848 as follows: 8
4949 (5) An affirmation by the individual, committee, or entity 9
5050 making the independent expenditure that the individual, committee, or entity 10
5151 has not knowingly or willfully accepted funds in excess of ten thousand 11
5252 dollars ($10,000) in the aggregate from one (1) or more prohibited sources 12
5353 within the four-year period immediately preceding the date the independent 13
5454 expenditure was made . 14
5555 15
5656 SECTION 4. Arkansas Code § 7 -9-402, concerning definitions for 16
5757 disclosure matters referred to voters, is amended to add additional 17
5858 subdivisions to read as follows: 18
5959 (13) “Directly or indirectly” means acting either alone or 10 19
6060 jointly with, through, or on behalf of any other: 20
6161 (A) Ballot question committee; 21
6262 (B) Legislative question committee; 22
6363 (C) Political action committee; 23
6464 (D) Organization; 24
6565 (E) Person; or 25
6666 (F) Other entity; 26
6767 (14) “Foreign national” means: 27
6868 (A) An individual who is not a citizen or lawful permanent 28
6969 resident of the United States; 29
7070 (B) A government or subdivision of a foreign country; or 30
7171 (C) A foreign political party; 31
7272 (D) An entity, including without limitation a partnership, 32
7373 association, corporation, organization, or other combination of persons, that 33
7474 is organized under the laws of, or has its principal place of business in, a 34
7575 foreign country; or 35
7676 (E) A partnership, association, corporation, or 36 HB1837
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7979 organization, which is wholly or majority owned by a foreign national, 1
8080 unless: 2
8181 (i) A contribution or expenditure the entity makes 3
8282 derives entirely from funds generated by the entity’s operations; and 4
8383 (ii) All decisions concerning the contribution or 5
8484 expenditure are made by individuals who are United States citizens or 6
8585 permanent residents, except for setting overall budget amounts; 7
8686 (15) "Independent expenditure" means the same as defined in § 7 -8
8787 6-201; 9
8888 (16) "Preliminary activity" includes: 10
8989 (A) Conducting a poll; 11
9090 (B) Drafting ballot question language; 12
9191 (C) Drafting legislative question language; 13
9292 (D) Conducting a focus group; 14
9393 (E) Conducting telephone calls; or 15
9494 (F) Traveling in connection with a ballot question or 16
9595 legislative question activity; 17
9696 (17) “Prohibited sources” includes: 18
9797 (A) A prohibited political action committee as defined in 19
9898 § 7-6-201; 20
9999 (B) A political action committee that accepts one (1) or 21
100100 more contributions from a foreign national; 22
101101 (C) An organization that is funded by a political action 23
102102 committee that accepts one (1) or more contributions from a foreign national; 24
103103 (D) Contributions from or expenditures by a foreign 25
104104 national; and 26
105105 (E) Contributions or expenditures that violate state or 27
106106 federal law; and 28
107107 (18)(A) “Tax-exempt organization” means an organization that 29
108108 qualifies as exempt from federal income tax under § 501(c) of the Internal 30
109109 Revenue Code of 1986, as it existed on January 1, 2025. 31
110110 (B) This subchapter shall not be construed to treat a 32
111111 political organization under § 527 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as 33
112112 it existed on January 1, 2025, as a tax -exempt organization for purposes of 34
113113 this subchapter. 35
114114 36 HB1837
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117117 SECTION 5. Arkansas Code § 7 -9-407(2), concerning the information 1
118118 contained in financial reports submitted by a ballot question committee or a 2
119119 legislative question committee, is amended to add an additional subdivision 3
120120 to read as follows: 4
121121 (E) For a ballot question committee as defined under § 7 -5
122122 9-402(2) or a legislative question committee as defined in § 7 -9-402(10): 6
123123 (i) An affirmation that the ballot question 7
124124 committee or legislative question committee has not knowingly or willfully 8
125125 received, solicited, or accepted contributions or expenditures from a 9
126126 prohibited source; and 10
127127 (ii) An affirmation by the treasurer of the ballot 11
128128 question committee or legislative question committee that the donor 12
129129 associated with each contribution is not a foreign national and has not 13
130130 knowingly or willfully received, solicited, or accepted, whether directly or 14
131131 indirectly, contributions or expenditures from one (1) or more prohibited 15
132132 sources in excess of ten thousand dollars ($10,000) in the aggregate within 16
133133 the four-year period immediately preceding the date of the contribution; 17
134134 18
135135 SECTION 6. Arkansas Code Title 7, Chapter 9, Subchapter 4, is amended 19
136136 to add additional sections to read as follows: 20
137137 7-9-416. Prohibited sources of funding. 21
138138 (a) Upon registering as a ballot question committee or legislative 22
139139 question committee, the treasurer of the committee shall file an accompanying 23
140140 certification that no preliminary activity was directly funded by prohibited 24
141141 sources, whether directly or indirectly. 25
142142 (b) After the ballot question committee or legislative question 26
143143 committee has been registered, the committee shall not knowingly or willfully 27
144144 receive, solicit, or accept contributions or expenditures from a prohibited 28
145145 source, whether directly or indirectly. 29
146146 (c) A person who makes an independent expenditure in support of or in 30
147147 opposition to a ballot question committee or legislative question committee 31
148148 in excess of ten thousand dollars ($10,000) in the aggregate shall keep 32
149149 records of any contribution or expenditure and retain such records as 33
150150 prescribed under § 7 -9-410 from the date of receipt of the contribution or 34
151151 expenditure. 35
152152 36 HB1837
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155155 7-9-417. Donor certification of no affiliation with prohibited 1
156156 sources. 2
157157 (a) Upon receipt of a contribution in excess of ten thousand dollars 3
158158 ($10,000) to a ballot question committee or legislative question committee, 4
159159 the treasurer of the ballot question committee or legislative question 5
160160 committee shall obtain from the donor associated with a contribution in 6
161161 excess of ten thousand dollars ($10,000) in the aggregate an affirmation that 7
162162 the donor: 8
163163 (1) Is not a foreign national; and 9
164164 (2) Has not knowingly or willfully accepted funds in excess of 10
165165 ten thousand dollars ($10,000) in the aggregate from one (1) or more 11
166166 prohibited sources within the four -year period immediately preceding the date 12
167167 the contribution is made. 13
168168 (b) An individual, committee, or entity making one (1) or more 14
169169 independent expenditures supporting or opposing a ballot question or 15
170170 legislative question shall certify to the Attorney General that the 16
171171 individual, committee, or entity has not knowingly or willfully accepted 17
172172 funds in excess of ten thousand dollars ($10,000) in the aggregate from one 18
173173 (1) or more prohibited sources within the four -year period immediately 19
174174 preceding the date the independent expenditure is made and that it will not 20
175175 do so through the remainder of the calendar year in which the ballot question 21
176176 or legislative question will appear on the ballot. 22
177177 (c) A determination that an individual, committee, or entity filing 23
178178 one (1) or more certifications under this section and § 7 -6-220 has accepted 24
179179 funds from one (1) or more prohibited sources in excess of ten thousand 25
180180 dollars ($10,000) in the aggregate within the applicable four -year period 26
181181 immediately preceding the contribution or independent expenditure at issue 27
182182 shall create a presumption that the individual, committee, or entity has 28
183183 violated this section. 29
184184 30
185185 7-9-418. Prohibited influence by a foreign national. 31
186186 (a) A foreign national shall not direct, dictate, control, or directly 32
187187 or indirectly participate in the decision -making process of any person with 33
188188 regard to that person’s activities to influence a ballot question or 34
189189 legislative question, including without limitation decisions concerning the 35
190190 making of contributions or expenditures to influence a ballot question or 36 HB1837
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193193 legislative question. 1
194194 (b) A foreign national shall not solicit, directly or indirectly, the 2
195195 making of a donation, contribution, or expenditure by another person to 3
196196 influence a ballot question or legislative question. 4
197197 (c) Nothing in this subchapter shall create or eliminate any existing 5
198198 donor disclosure rights or duties beyond those specifically stated in §§ 7 -9-6
199199 416 – 7-9-420. 7
200200 8
201201 7-9-419. Enforcement for violations of ban on foreign funding for 9
202202 ballot questions and legislative questions. 10
203203 (a)(1) The Attorney General may bring a civil action to enforce §§ 7 -11
204204 9-416 – 7-9-420. 12
205205 (2) An individual, committee, or entity alleged to have violated 13
206206 any provision under §§ 7 -9-416 – 7-9-420 shall be provided a full opportunity 14
207207 of notice, discovery, and an opportunity to be heard before being found 15
208208 liable for a violation of any provision under §§ 7 -9-416 – 7-9-420. 16
209209 (b) If the Attorney General prevails in an action brought under § 7 -9-17
210210 419(a), the court shall award: 18
211211 (1) Injunctive relief sufficient to prevent the defendant from 19
212212 violating this subchapter or engaging in acts that aid or abet violations of 20
213213 any provision under §§ 7 -9-416 – 7-9-420; and 21
214214 (2) Statutory damages up to twice the amount of the prohibited 22
215215 contribution or expenditure. 23
216216 (c) In addition to the penalties in this section and any other 24
217217 remedies provided by law, if the court finds the defendant knowingly or 25
218218 willfully violated any provision under §§ 7 -9-416 – 7-9-420, the court may 26
219219 assess a penalty of up to three (3) times the statutory damages. 27
220220 28
221221 7-9-420. Restrictions on collection and release of donor information. 29
222222 (a)(1) A lawful donor to a tax -exempt organization possesses a right 30
223223 of privacy in the lawful donor's donations. 31
224224 (2) An investigation of an alleged violation of any provision 32
225225 under §§ 7-9-416 – 7-9-420 or a lawful court order in an action brought under 33
226226 § 7-9-419(a) shall occur in a manner that shields the identity of lawful 34
227227 donors to the extent possible. 35
228228 (3) A governmental body shall not collect or require the 36 HB1837
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231231 submission of information on the identity of any donor to a tax -exempt 1
232232 organization other than those directly related to an alleged violation of §§ 2
233233 7-9-416 – 7-9-420. 3
234234 (4) Any collection or required submission of information by any 4
235235 governmental body regarding the identity of any donor to a tax -exempt 5
236236 organization beyond that permitted by any provision under §§ 7 -9-416 – 7-9-6
237237 420 shall be deemed a violation of the Personal Information Protection Act, § 7
238238 4-110-101 et seq. 8
239239 (b)(1) A governmental body shall not disclose to the public or another 9
240240 government official not directly involved in the investigation, information 10
241241 revealing the identity of any donor to a tax -exempt organization, unless the 11
242242 information is regarding the identity of a donor that engaged in conduct 12
243243 prohibited by any provision under §§ 7 -9-416 – 7-9-420 after a final 13
244244 determination has been made that the donor violated any provision under §§ 7 -14
245245 9-416 – 7-9-420. 15
246246 (2) Knowing or willful violations of this subsection shall be 16
247247 punishable under the Personal Information Protection Act, § 4 -110-101 et seq. 17
248248 (3) Any public disclosure of information revealing the identity 18
249249 of any donor to a tax -exempt organization by a governmental body incident to 19
250250 this section is a violation of the Personal Information Protection Act, § 4 -20
251251 110-101 et seq., unless the information is regarding the identity of a donor 21
252252 that engaged in conduct prohibited by any provision under §§ 7 -9-416 – 7-9-22
253253 420 after a final determination has been made that the donor violated any 23
254254 provision under §§ 7 -9-416 – 7-9-420. 24
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