Tag: foreign corporate spending

To Help Protect The Democracy For The People Act, Free Speech For People Files Motion To Intervene

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’s
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New CAP Report Covers Nationwide Momentum to Ban Foreign-Influenced Corporate Spending in Elections

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 investors
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VIDEO: The Ongoing Campaign to End Foreign-Influenced Corporate Spending in U.S. Elections.

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 who
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FSFP Legal Director Ron Fein Testifies Before Hawaii State Legislature and Urges Lawmakers to Lower Thresholds For Defining Foreign-Influenced Corporations.

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% of
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WATCH: New York Democracy Preservation Act Virtual Town Hall – May 13, 2021

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 New
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FSFP Legal Director Ron Fein Discusses Foreign-Influenced Corporate Spending On Maine Public Radio.

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 the
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VIDEO: Free Speech For People And Our Fight To End Foreign-Influenced Corporate Spending in Our Elections

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, New
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New York State Senate Considers Ban On Foreign-Influenced Corporate Spending In State Elections

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, goes
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Americans Overwhelmingly Support Banning Foreign Corporate Spending in Elections

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.
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