Bill moves one step closer to New York barring foreign-influenced corporations from spending in state and local elections

ALBANY, NY (January 12, 2026) – The New York State Senate today passed, with bipartisan support, the Democracy Preservation Act (S324), landmark legislation designed to block multinational corporations with significant foreign ownership from spending money to influence New York’s state and local elections.

If enacted, New York would close a long-standing loophole that allows foreign interests to influence American elections through U.S.-based corporations.

The legislation, introduced by Senate Deputy Leader Michael Gianaris, would bar corporations with significant foreign ownership from contributing to candidates, parties, or committees (including super PACs) or from engaging in their own direct election spending. A companion bill (A-1258) has been introduced in the State Assembly by Assemblywoman Latrice Walker. 

In recent elections, corporations with significant foreign ownership, like Amazon, Airbnb, Chevron, and Uber, have used their money to influence the outcome of elections and political agendas in their favor. The Supreme Court’s 2010 decision in Citizens United created a loophole for foreign interests to acquire stakes in U.S. corporations and then use that leverage to influence or control the corporation’s political activity, including campaign contributions, contributions to super PACs, and independent expenditures.

Multinational corporations affected by the Democracy Preservation Act are those owned 1% or more by a single foreign investor, or 5% or more by multiple foreign investors. These thresholds reflect levels of ownership that are widely agreed (including by entities such as the Business Roundtable) to be high enough to influence corporate governance.

The legislation is based on model policy developed by Free Speech For People, a national nonpartisan non-profit organization that works to renew our democracy and to limit the influence of money in our elections. The cities of San Jose, California and Seattle, Washington have enacted the policy for their local elections.. Additional bills are under consideration in Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania,. Congressman Jamie Raskin and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse introduced in the last Congress the Get Foreign Money Out of U.S. Elections Act, which is a federal companion bill to the Democracy Preservation Act in New York.

“This vote brings New York closer to setting a national standard for protecting elections from foreign corporate influence,” said Alexandra Flores-Quilty, Campaign Director at Free Speech For People. “We applaud the Senate’s leadership and urge the Assembly to act swiftly so New York can once again lead the nation in defending democratic self-government.”

Free Speech For People is working in partnership with Citizen Action of New York and other public interest organizations to support the Democracy Preservation Act. 

With today’s Senate approval, advocates are calling on the Assembly to pass the Democracy Preservation Act and send it to the Governor’s desk.

Read more about the Democracy Preservation Act.