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HF2044 • 2026

A bill for an act relating to campaign finance, including participation in ballot issue campaigns by foreign nationals and investigations of election misconduct, and making penalties applicable.(See HF 2601 .)

A bill for an act relating to campaign finance, including participation in ballot issue campaigns by foreign nationals and investigations of election misconduct, and making penalties applicable.(See HF 2601 .)

Elections
Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor
HARRIS
Last action
2026-03-26
Official status
Withdrawn. H.J. 760 .
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

A bill for an act relating to campaign finance, including participation in ballot issue campaigns by foreign nationals and investigations of election misconduct, and making penalties applicable.(See HF 2601 .)

A bill for an act relating to campaign finance, including participation in ballot issue campaigns by foreign nationals and investigations of election misconduct, and making penalties applicable.(See HF 2601 .)

What This Bill Does

  • A bill for an act relating to campaign finance, including participation in ballot issue campaigns by foreign nationals and investigations of election misconduct, and making penalties applicable.(See HF 2601 .)

Limits and Unknowns

  • This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Bill History

  1. 2026-03-26 Iowa Legislature

    Withdrawn. H.J. 760 .

  2. 2026-02-19 Iowa Legislature

    Committee report approving bill, renumbered as HF 2601 .

  3. 2026-02-17 Iowa Legislature

    Committee vote: Yeas, 21. Nays, 0. Excused, 2. H.J. 325 .

  4. 2026-02-17 Iowa Legislature

    Committee report, recommending amendment and passage. H.J. 325 .

  5. 2026-02-10 Iowa Legislature

    Subcommittee recommends passage.

  6. 2026-02-04 Iowa Legislature

    Subcommittee Meeting: 02/10/2026 8:00AM House Lounge.

  7. 2026-01-27 Iowa Legislature

    Subcommittee: Harris, Lundgren and Srinivas. H.J. 159 .

  8. 2026-01-14 Iowa Legislature

    Introduced, referred to State Government. H.J. 76 .

Official Summary Text

A bill for an act relating to campaign finance, including participation in ballot issue campaigns by foreign nationals and investigations of election misconduct, and making penalties applicable.(See HF 2601 .)

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text
House

File

2044

-

Introduced

HOUSE

FILE

2044

BY

HARRIS

A

BILL

FOR

An

Act

relating

to

campaign

finance,

including

participation

1

in

ballot

issue

campaigns

by

foreign

nationals

and

2

investigations

of

election

misconduct,

and

making

penalties

3

applicable.

4

BE

IT

ENACTED

BY

THE

GENERAL

ASSEMBLY

OF

THE

STATE

OF

IOWA:

5

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Section

1.

Section

68A.102,

Code

2026,

is

amended

by

adding

1

the

following

new

subsections:

2

NEW

SUBSECTION

.

12A.

“Directly

or

indirectly”

means

acting

3

either

independently

or

jointly

with,

through,

or

on

behalf

of

4

a

committee

or

other

person.

5

NEW

SUBSECTION

.

14A.

“Foreign

national”

means

any

of

the

6

following:

7

a.

An

individual

who

is

not

a

citizen

or

lawful

permanent

8

resident

of

the

United

States.

9

b.

A

government

or

political

subdivision

of

a

foreign

10

country.

11

c.

A

foreign

political

party.

12

d.

An

entity,

such

as

a

partnership,

association,

13

corporation,

organization,

or

other

combination

of

persons,

14

that

is

organized

under

the

laws

of,

or

has

its

principal

place

15

of

business

in,

a

foreign

country.

16

e.

A

United

States

entity,

such

as

a

partnership,

17

association,

corporation,

or

organization,

that

is

wholly

owned

18

or

majority-owned

by

a

foreign

national,

unless

both

of

the

19

following

apply:

20

(1)

All

contributions

and

expenditures

made

by

the

entity

21

are

derived

entirely

from

funds

generated

by

the

entity’s

22

operations

in

the

United

States.

23

(2)

All

decisions

concerning

contributions

and

expenditures

24

are

made

by

an

individual

who

is

a

citizen

or

lawful

permanent

25

resident

of

the

United

States,

except

that

a

person

who

is

not

26

a

citizen

or

lawful

permanent

resident

of

the

United

States

may

27

set

overall

budget

amounts

for

the

entity.

28

Sec.

2.

Section

68A.203,

subsection

3,

Code

2026,

is

amended

29

by

adding

the

following

new

paragraph:

30

NEW

PARAGRAPH

.

f.

All

affirmations

obtained

pursuant

to

31

subsection

5.

32

Sec.

3.

Section

68A.203,

Code

2026,

is

amended

by

adding

the

33

following

new

subsection:

34

NEW

SUBSECTION

.

5.

Upon

receipt

of

a

contribution

from

a

35

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political

committee

expressly

advocating

the

passage

or

defeat

1

of

a

ballot

issue,

the

treasurer

shall

obtain

from

the

donor

2

an

affirmation

that

the

donor

is

not

a

foreign

national

and

3

has

not

knowingly

or

willfully

accepted

funds

in

excess

of

one

4

hundred

thousand

dollars

in

aggregate

from

one

or

more

foreign

5

nationals

within

the

four

years

immediately

preceding

the

date

6

the

contribution

is

made.

7

Sec.

4.

Section

68A.402,

subsection

8,

Code

2026,

is

8

amended

by

adding

the

following

new

paragraphs

after

unnumbered

9

paragraph

1:

10

NEW

PARAGRAPH

.

a.

A

report

filed

by

a

political

committee

11

pursuant

to

this

subsection

shall

include

an

affirmation

by

12

the

treasurer

of

the

political

committee

that

the

political

13

committee

has

not

knowingly

or

willfully

received,

solicited,

14

or

accepted

a

contribution

from

a

foreign

national.

15

NEW

PARAGRAPH

.

b.

A

report

filed

by

a

political

committee

16

pursuant

to

this

subsection

shall

include

an

affirmation

by

the

17

treasurer

of

the

political

committee

that

no

donor

associated

18

with

a

contribution

covered

by

the

report

is

a

foreign

national

19

and

that

no

donor

associated

with

a

contribution

covered

by

20

the

report

has

knowingly

or

willfully

received,

solicited,

or

21

accepted,

whether

directly

or

indirectly,

funds

in

excess

of

22

one

hundred

thousand

dollars

in

aggregate

from

one

or

more

23

foreign

nationals

within

the

four

years

immediately

preceding

24

the

date

the

contribution

was

made

to

the

political

committee.

25

Sec.

5.

Section

68A.404,

subsection

2,

paragraph

c,

Code

26

2026,

is

amended

to

read

as

follows:

27

c.

A

foreign

national

shall

not

make

an

independent

28

expenditure,

directly

or

indirectly,

that

advocates

the

29

nomination,

election,

or

defeat

of

any

candidate

or

the

30

passage

or

defeat

of

any

ballot

issue.

As

used

in

this

31

section

,

“foreign

national”

means

a

person

who

is

not

a

citizen

32

of

the

United

States

and

who

is

not

lawfully

admitted

for

33

permanent

residence.

“Foreign

national”

includes

a

foreign

34

principal,

such

as

a

government

of

a

foreign

country

or

a

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foreign

political

party,

partnership,

association,

corporation,

1

organization,

or

other

combination

of

persons

that

has

its

2

primary

place

of

business

in

or

is

organized

under

the

laws

of

3

a

foreign

country.

“Foreign

national”

does

not

include

a

person

4

who

is

a

citizen

of

the

United

States

or

who

is

a

national

of

5

the

United

States.

6

Sec.

6.

Section

68A.404,

subsection

5,

Code

2026,

is

amended

7

by

adding

the

following

new

paragraph:

8

NEW

PARAGRAPH

.

i.

For

an

independent

expenditure

statement

9

for

a

communication

which

expressly

advocates

the

passage

or

10

defeat

of

a

ballot

issue,

an

affirmation

that

the

person

making

11

the

independent

expenditure

has

not

knowingly

or

willfully

12

accepted

funds

in

excess

of

one

hundred

thousand

dollars

in

13

aggregate

from

one

or

more

foreign

nationals

within

the

four

14

years

immediately

preceding

the

date

the

expenditure

was

made

15

and

will

not

do

so

through

the

date

of

the

election

in

which

the

16

ballot

issue

will

appear

on

the

ballot.

17

Sec.

7.

NEW

SECTION

.

68A.507

Influence

by

foreign

national

18

prohibited

——

investigation.

19

1.

A

foreign

national

shall

not

direct,

dictate,

control,

20

or

directly

or

indirectly

participate

in

the

decision-making

21

process

of

a

person

regarding

the

person’s

activities

to

22

influence

a

ballot

issue,

including

decisions

concerning

the

23

making

of

contributions

or

expenditures

to

influence

a

ballot

24

issue.

25

2.

A

foreign

national

shall

not

solicit,

directly

or

26

indirectly,

the

making

of

a

contribution

or

expenditure

by

27

another

person

to

influence

a

ballot

issue.

28

3.

a.

An

investigation

of

a

violation

of

this

section,

29

section

68A.203,

subsection

5,

section

68A.402,

subsection

30

8,

section

68A.404,

subsection

2,

paragraph

“c”

,

or

section

31

68A.404,

subsection

5,

paragraph

“i”

,

or

an

investigation

32

undertaken

pursuant

to

a

court

order

issued

following

a

33

complaint

submitted

under

section

68B.32B,

shall,

to

the

34

greatest

extent

possible,

shield

the

identity

of

lawful

donors

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to

a

tax-exempt

organization.

1

b.

A

governmental

entity

or

employee

of

a

governmental

2

entity

engaged

in

the

investigation

of

a

violation

of

this

3

chapter

shall

not

collect,

or

require

the

submission

of,

4

information

concerning

the

identity

of

a

donor

to

a

tax-exempt

5

organization

other

than

those

directly

related

to

a

violation

6

of

this

chapter.

7

4.

A

governmental

entity

or

employee

of

a

governmental

8

entity

shall

not

disclose

information

concerning

the

identity

9

of

a

donor

to

a

tax-exempt

organization

to

the

public

or

10

another

governmental

entity,

other

than

to

another

governmental

11

entity

directly

involved

in

an

investigation

described

in

12

subsection

3.

This

subsection

does

not

apply

to

information

13

concerning

the

identity

of

a

donor

after

a

final

determination

14

has

been

made

that

the

donor

violated

a

provision

of

this

15

chapter.

16

EXPLANATION

17

The

inclusion

of

this

explanation

does

not

constitute

agreement

with

18

the

explanation’s

substance

by

the

members

of

the

general

assembly.

19

This

bill

relates

to

campaign

finance.

The

bill

defines

20

the

terms

“directly

or

indirectly”

and

“foreign

national”

for

21

purposes

of

the

bill

and

for

independent

campaign

expenditures

22

and

transfers

of

campaign

funds

under

current

law.

23

The

bill

requires

the

treasurer

of

a

candidate’s

committee

24

that

receives

a

contribution

from

a

political

committee

25

expressly

advocating

the

passage

or

defeat

of

a

ballot

issue

to

26

obtain

an

affirmation

that

the

donor

is

not

a

foreign

national

27

and

has

not

knowingly

or

willfully

accepted

funds

in

excess

of

28

$100,000

in

aggregate

from

one

or

more

foreign

nationals

within

29

the

four

years

immediately

preceding

the

date

the

contribution

30

is

made.

31

The

bill

also

requires

a

political

committee

expressly

32

advocating

the

passage

or

defeat

of

a

ballot

issue

to

include

33

with

its

required

reports

to

the

Iowa

ethics

and

campaign

34

disclosure

board

affirmations

that

the

political

committee

has

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not

knowingly

or

willfully

received,

solicited,

or

accepted

1

contributions

from

a

foreign

national,

or

from

a

donor

that

has

2

knowingly

or

willfully

accepted

funds

in

excess

of

$100,000

3

in

aggregate

from

one

or

more

foreign

nationals

within

the

4

four

years

immediately

preceding

the

date

the

contribution

is

5

made.

A

person

required

to

file

an

independent

expenditure

6

report

must

also

affirm

that

the

person

will

not

knowingly

or

7

willfully

accept

funds

in

excess

of

$100,000

in

aggregate

from

8

one

or

more

foreign

nationals

through

the

date

of

the

election

9

in

which

the

ballot

issue

will

appear

on

the

ballot.

10

The

bill

prohibits

a

foreign

national

from

directly

or

11

indirectly

participating

in

the

decision-making

process

of

a

12

person

regarding

the

person’s

activities

to

influence

a

ballot

13

issue.

The

bill

requires

a

governmental

entity

conducting

an

14

investigation

related

to

certain

forms

of

election

misconduct

15

to,

to

the

greatest

extent

possible,

shield

the

identity

of

16

lawful

donors

to

tax-exempt

organizations.

The

bill

prohibits

17

a

governmental

entity

from

collecting

information

regarding

the

18

identity

of

a

donor

to

a

tax-exempt

organization

that

is

not

19

directly

related

to

a

violation

of

Code

chapter

68A

(campaign

20

finance).

The

bill

also

prohibits

a

governmental

entity

from

21

disclosing

information

concerning

the

identity

of

a

donor

to

a

22

tax-exempt

organization

to

the

public

or

another

governmental

23

entity,

other

than

to

another

governmental

entity

directly

24

involved

in

an

investigation,

unless

a

final

determination

has

25

been

made

that

the

donor

violated

a

provision

of

Code

chapter

26

68A.

27

By

operation

of

law,

a

person

who

willfully

violates

a

28

provision

of

the

bill

is

guilty

of

a

serious

misdemeanor.

A

29

serious

misdemeanor

is

punishable

by

confinement

for

no

more

30

than

one

year

and

a

fine

of

at

least

$430

but

not

more

than

31

$2,560.

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