AB 599

Current law provides that no person may make or accept a contribution, make

a disbursement, make an expenditure, or incur an obligation in violation of the

federal law that prohibits a foreign national from making a contribution in

connection with any federal, state, or local election. This bill provides, in addition,

that no foreign national may make a contribution to a referendum committee and no

referendum committee may accept a contribution from a foreign national. A recent

decision by the Federal Elections Commission allowed a foreign national to make a

contribution to a ballot initiative committee because the FEC determined that a

ballot initiative is not an “election” for purposes of the federal law prohibiting

contributions from foreign nationals.