AB 517 Wisconsin Assembly · 2025-2026 Regular Session

Relating to: expressly prohibiting a foreign national from making a contribution to a referendum committee.

AB 517 prohibits foreign nationals from contributing to referendum committees and bans referendum committees from accepting such contributions. The bill directly affects foreign nationals (defined using federal campaign finance rules) and referendum committees organizing ballot initiatives. It adds a new provision to state law stating: "No foreign national may make a contribution to a referendum committee, and no referendum committee may accept a contribution from a foreign national." This clarifies existing federal restrictions apply to state-level referendum committees. The bill is currently in committee for review after its October 2025 introduction.
Bill status failed 1 of 4 stages cleared
Introduction
Oct 2025
Committee Review
Floor Vote
Governor
Introduced Oct 15, 2025 Last action Mar 23, 2026
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Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
9
Key actions
0
Committee
0
Amendments
1
Feb 12, 2026
Introduced
Assembly Amendment 1 offered by Representative Bare
lower
Oct 15, 2025
Introduced
Introduced by Representatives Anderson, Joers, Andraca, Arney, Bare, Clancy, DeSmidt, Emerson, Fitzgerald, Goodwin, Johnson, Madison, Miresse, Ortiz-Velez, Roe, Sinicki, Snodgrass, Stroud, Udell, Brown and Palmeri; cosponsored by Senators Ratcliff, Larson, Spreitzer, Smith, Carpenter, Keyeski, Pfaff, Roys, Wall, Wirch and Hesselbein
lower
21 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors