(File Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congressman Bryan Steil announced Monday that he has introduced two major campaign finance reform bills aimed at cracking down on fraudulent political donations and foreign interference in American elections.
Steil, who chairs the House Committee on House Administration, unveiled the Campaign Finance Transparency Act and the Preventing Foreign Interference in American Elections Act. According to a press release from his office, the legislation is designed to modernize campaign finance laws and close loopholes that Steil says have been exploited through online donation platforms.
“My investigation into ActBlue has demonstrated that the current campaign finance laws weren’t drafted for the modern era we live in,” Steil said in the release. “The major gaps we’ve uncovered are being exploited by fraudsters and foreign nationals to make illegal political donations.”
The Campaign Finance Transparency Act would require the name on a credit or debit card to match the donor’s name, mandate CVV numbers and billing ZIP codes for political donations, eliminate the current minimum reporting threshold for donors, and prohibit the use of gift cards for campaign contributions. The bill would also require additional verification for donors without U.S. mailing addresses and create new reporting requirements for suspected straw-donor schemes.
Steil’s second proposal, the Preventing Foreign Interference in American Elections Act, would prohibit foreign nationals from financially supporting certain election-related activities, including voter registration drives, ballot harvesting operations, voter research, polling, get-out-the-vote initiatives, and election administration efforts by state or local officials.
The legislation also seeks to prohibit individuals or organizations from helping foreign nationals make campaign contributions and would limit federal agencies from collecting or disclosing certain tax-exempt donor information, with specified exceptions.
According to the release, Steil’s investigation into the Democratic fundraising platform ActBlue has been ongoing for several years and has helped shape many of the proposals included in the legislation.
Both bills are expected to be considered later this week by the House Administration Committee.
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