Relating to campaign finance, including participation in ballot issue campaigns by foreign nationals and investigations of election misconduct, and making penalties applicable

This bill relates to campaign finance. The bill defines the terms “directly or indirectly” and “foreign national” for purposes of the bill and for independent campaign expenditures and transfers of campaign funds under current law. The bill requires the treasurer of a political committee expressly advocating the passage or defeat of a ballot issue that receives a contribution from a donor to obtain an affirmation that the donor is not a foreign national and has not knowingly or willfully accepted funds in excess of $100,000 in aggregate from one or more foreign nationals within the four years immediately preceding the date the contribution is made. The bill also requires a political committee expressly advocating the passage or defeat of a ballot issue to include with its required reports to the Iowa ethics and campaign disclosure board affirmations that the political committee has not knowingly or willfully received, solicited, or accepted contributions from a foreign national, or from a donor that has knowingly or willfully accepted funds in excess of $100,000 in aggregate from one or more foreign nationals within the four years immediately preceding the date the contribution is made. A person required to file an independent expenditure report must also affirm that the person will not knowingly or willfully accept funds in excess of $100,000 in aggregate from one or more foreign nationals through the date of the election in which the ballot issue will appear on the ballot. The bill prohibits a foreign national from directly or indirectly participating in the decision-making process of a person regarding the person’s activities to influence a ballot issue. The bill requires a governmental entity conducting an investigation related to certain forms of election misconduct to, to the greatest extent possible, shield the identity of lawful donors to tax-exempt organizations. The bill prohibits a governmental entity from collecting information regarding the identity of a donor to a tax-exempt organization that is not directly related to a violation of Code chapter 68A (campaign finance). The bill also prohibits a governmental entity from disclosing information concerning the identity of a donor to a tax-exempt organization to the public or another governmental entity, other than to another governmental entity directly involved in an investigation, unless a final determination has been made that the donor violated a provision of Code chapter 68A. A person who knowingly or willfully violates a provision of the bill shall be subject to a civil penalty of $10,000 or three times the amount of the contribution or expenditure, whichever is greater, to be collected by the Iowa ethics and campaign disclosure board and deposited in the general fund of the state. By operation of law, a person who willfully violates a provision of the bill is also guilty of a serious misdemeanor. A serious misdemeanor is punishable by confinement for no more than one year and a fine of at least $430 but not more than $2,560.