To Help Protect The Democracy For The People Act, Free Speech For People Files Motion To Intervene Posted on August 25, 2023 (September 6, 2023) Challenging Foreign Influence Free Speech For People, on behalf of Clean Elections Minnesota, defends against challenge to law banning political spending by foreign-influenced corporations. ST. PAUL, MN (August 25, 2023) – Free Speech For People, on behalf of Clean Elections Minnesota, today filed court papers to intervene in a corporate lobby’s lawsuit seeking to block enforcement of Minnesota’sRead More
New CAP Report Covers Nationwide Momentum to Ban Foreign-Influenced Corporate Spending in Elections Posted on June 28, 2023 Challenging Foreign Influence Our democracy is meant to serve the American people, not foreign interests. As the Center for American Progress (CAP) states in a report published this week, foreign investors now own a staggering 40 percent of U.S. corporate stock. Ninety-eight percent of S&P 500 companies are at least 5 percent foreign-owned. The ability of these investorsRead More
VIDEO: The Ongoing Campaign to End Foreign-Influenced Corporate Spending in U.S. Elections. Posted on May 23, 2022 (May 23, 2022) Challenging Foreign Influence The campaign to end foreign-influenced corporate spending in our elections continues to grow across the country! Our new video highlights the ongoing fight to advance our model legislation to prohibit foreign-influenced corporate spending in federal, state and local elections. The video features Congressman Jamie Raskin and leaders in New York State, Seattle, and California whoRead More
FSFP Legal Director Ron Fein Testifies Before Hawaii State Legislature and Urges Lawmakers to Lower Thresholds For Defining Foreign-Influenced Corporations. Posted on February 17, 2022 (May 23, 2022) Challenging Foreign Influence FSFP Legal Director Ron Fein recently appeared before the Hawaii State Legislature to provide testimony on why the deliberative body must consider expanding the definition of a foreign-influenced corporation as it looks to safeguard state elections. The following is an excerpt from his testimony: For a large multinational corporation, an investor that owns 1% ofRead More
WATCH: New York Democracy Preservation Act Virtual Town Hall – May 13, 2021 Posted on May 14, 2021 (May 14, 2021) Challenging Foreign Influence Since the Supreme Court’s 2010 decision in Citizens United, foreign-influenced corporations have spent millions to sway elections in New York. Take Airbnb, for example: the home-sharing platform, partly owned by a Russian oligarch’s venture fund, funneled $11M into a super PAC to defeat legislators seeking to impose restrictions on the company in 2016. But NewRead More
FSFP Legal Director Ron Fein Discusses Foreign-Influenced Corporate Spending On Maine Public Radio. Posted on April 15, 2021 (May 23, 2022) Challenging Foreign Influence Maine Public Radio recently published a segment on foreign-influenced corporate spending in elections which featured FSFP Legal Director Ron Fein. Throughout the segment, Fein discussed the need to fight against foreign influence in Maine, where a contentious ballot measure has prompted a state-wide discussion on the issue of democratic self-government. “Our position is that theRead More
VIDEO: Free Speech For People And Our Fight To End Foreign-Influenced Corporate Spending in Our Elections Posted on March 31, 2021 (April 2, 2021) Challenging Foreign Influence Free Speech For People has been at the forefront in the fight to end foreign-influenced corporate campaign spending, researching, drafting, and advocating for legislation on all levels of government. We helped to successfully pass laws in St. Petersburg, Florida in 2017, and in Seattle, Washington in 2020. Seven states (Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, NewRead More
New York State Senate Considers Ban On Foreign-Influenced Corporate Spending In State Elections Posted on February 12, 2020 (June 2, 2020) Challenging Foreign Influence Following in the footsteps of Seattle and St. Petersburg, FL, the Democracy Preservation Act seeks to ban political contributions from foreign-influenced corporations in New York The New York State Senate is considering a bill that would ban foreign-influenced corporations from contributing to political campaigns. The proposed legislation, introduced by Senate Deputy Leader Michael Gianaris, goesRead More
Americans Overwhelmingly Support Banning Foreign Corporate Spending in Elections Posted on January 14, 2020 (June 2, 2020) Challenging Foreign Influence A recent survey conducted by Civis Analytics on behalf of the Center for American Progress Action Fund found strong bipartisan support for banning corporate spending in elections from corporations with significant foreign ownership. Of the 2,633 voters interviewed for the survey, 73 percent said they supported spending limits on U.S. companies with “any” foreign ownership.Read More