SB 520 Wisconsin Senate · 2025-2026 Regular Session

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

SB 520 prohibits foreign nationals from contributing money to referendum committees and bans referendum committees from accepting such contributions. The bill adds a specific provision (11.1208(4)(b)) to state law, defining "foreign national" per federal election regulations (11 CFR 110.20(a)(3) and 52 USC 30121(b)). This directly affects referendum committees organizing ballot measure campaigns and foreign nationals seeking to influence state-level referendums. The policy change explicitly bars foreign funding in referendum committee finances without altering broader campaign finance rules.
Bill status failed 1 of 4 stages cleared
Introduction
Oct 2025
Committee Review
Floor Vote
Governor
Introduced Oct 9, 2025 Last action Mar 23, 2026
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Oct 9, 2025
Introduced
Introduced by Senators Ratcliff, Larson, Spreitzer, Smith, Carpenter, Keyeski, Pfaff, Roys, Wall, Wirch and Hesselbein; cosponsored 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
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11 primary · 0 co-sponsors

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