On August 16, Free Speech For People and the Minnesota law firm, Lockridge Grindal Nauen, on behalf of Clean Elections Minnesota, filed an amicus brief in federal court in support of the State of Minnesota and its landmark law prohibiting foreign-influenced corporations from spending money in state elections. The law, which protects Minnesota voters and their democratic self-government, has been challenged by the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce. The State of Minnesota is now asking the District Court of Minnesota to affirm the clear constitutionality of the law and to reject  the Chamber of Commerce’s motion for summary judgment, filed on July 19, which seeks to permanently enjoin the law.

In June 2023, the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce sued to block the law from going into effect. In December, a federal district court judge temporarily enjoined the law pending a full trial. Both the Chamber and the State have moved for summary judgment upon the close of discovery. If the State’s motion is granted, then this important law will be allowed to go into effect, protecting Minnesota’s elections from an influx of money from foreign-influenced corporations. 

The amicus brief emphasizes both the constitutionality and critical importance of Minnesota’s ban on foreign-influenced political spending. First, the brief corrects the Chamber’s contention that Citizens United creates an absolute right for corporations significantly owned by foreign investors to spend unlimited amounts of money to influence U.S. elections. Citizens United only addresses corporations that are “associations of citizens.” The Minnesota law does not affect any such association, and nothing in Citizens United overrides Minnesota’s compelling state interest to preserve its democratic self-government. 

Second, the brief discusses the intersection of rapid expansion of foreign ownership in U.S. corporations and foreign investors’ increased ability to influence company decisions. American corporations are increasingly multinational, with powerful foreign investors–including the investment arms of foreign governments–often topping the list of company owners. 

Minnesota became the first state to ban foreign-influenced corporate spending when the Democracy for the People Act was passed in April 2023 and signed into law in May by Governor Walz, the Democratic Party’s nominee for vice president in the 2024 US presidential election. Several other states have followed suit to introduce and pass similar legislation, such as in Maine and Pennsylvania. 

To read FSFP’s amicus brief, click here. 

To read Campaign Legal Center’s amicus brief, click here.

Click here to read the State’s motion for summary judgment, and here for the Chamber’s motion for summary judgment.

To learn more about this case, visit our case page here.