Pillen Signs Bill to Ban Foreign Funding of Nebraska Elections
by John Gage
(Screenshot of Nebraska Public Media livestream)
Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen held a bill signing for a bill that would ban foreign funding of Nebraska elections. Pillen praised the measure, saying it was “fixing loopholes” in Nebraska election laws.
“Being able to hold these businesses and individuals accountable is essential,” Pillen said Wednesday at the bill signing press conference. The governor said that foreign funders were dumping “bushel baskets of money” into Nebraska elections.
Pillen was joined at the press conference by Secretary of State Bob Evnen, State Senator Bob Hallstrom, and State Senator Bob Andersen, who introduced the measure in the Legislature.
“Nebraskans don’t need foreign money in our elections,” Evnen said. “We’ve needed to beef it up because the foreign money has been coming in anyway.”
Andersen said the bill was an issue “we can all agree on.” The bill, LB1075, passed the Legislature 49-0 last week.
Conservative election integrity groups praised the signing of the bill. Jason Snead, executive director of Honest Elections Project Action, said the new law would protect the state from “foreign dark money.”
“Nebraskans deserve elections that are free from foreign interference. Due to loopholes in the law, however, Nebraska’s ballot issue campaigns have been tainted by foreign dark money for years,” Sneed said. “Thankfully, state lawmakers, Secretary of State Robert Evnen, and Governor Jim Pillen have stepped up with critical legislation to strengthen state law and ensure that foreign billionaires cannot drown out the voices of Nebraskans.”
Caitlin Sutherland, the executive director of Americans for Public Trust (APT), said the legislation was “critical” for continued confidence that politics would be “free from foreign influence.”
“It is critical Americans have confidence our politics and lawmaking are free from foreign influence. Yet, for far too long, foreign nationals like Hansjörg Wyss have exploited a loophole that has allowed them to funnel foreign dark money into Nebraska ballot issue campaigns,” she said. “By enacting this comprehensive ban on foreign funding of ballot issues, Nebraska is setting a strong example for other states on how to safeguard their political process from foreign influence.”
Attorney General Suing Foreign Billionaire Over Election Influence
The bill signing comes in the wake of Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers suing Swiss billionaire Hansjörg Wyss, alleging he illegally funneled money into Nebraska to fund ballot initiatives.
Hilgers said during the announcement of his lawsuit that Nebraska was “under an unprecedented assault of foreign money, flowing unlawfully into our state’s elections.” The attorney general said billionaires like Wyss were attempting to “radically remake Nebraska’s laws and constitution.”
The lawsuit alleged Wyss was funding Nebraska nonprofits that were engaged in electioneering, including Nebraska Appleseed, Civic Nebraska, and Nebraska Abortion and Reproductive Justice Fund Inc.
A spokesperson for the Wyss Foundation at the time called the allegations “false” and said the organization “complied with the law.”
John Gage is the executive editor of The Plains Sentinel.
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