{"id":418,"date":"2023-08-07T16:25:04","date_gmt":"2023-08-07T20:25:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/articles\/foreign-influenced-political-spending-is-a-threat-to-our-democracy\/"},"modified":"2025-08-11T13:57:30","modified_gmt":"2025-08-11T17:57:30","slug":"foreign-influenced-political-spending-is-a-threat-to-our-democracy","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/articles\/foreign-influenced-political-spending-is-a-threat-to-our-democracy\/","title":{"rendered":"Foreign-influenced political spending is a threat to our democracy"},"template":"","class_list":["post-418","article","type-article","status-publish","hentry","article_type-blog-post"],"acf":{"details":{"summary":"What Massachusetts lawmakers can do to protect our elections from foreign influences. ","featured_image":"","article_type":214,"authors":"","related_issues":[92,464,462],"related_work":false,"location":null},"sidebar":{"helper_enable_sidebar":false,"helper_media_contact":{"heading":"Media Contact","manually_enter_person":false,"person":"","name":"","role":"","phone":"","email":""},"helper_links_downloads":{"heading":"Links & Downloads","links":null}},"page_layout":[{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","_acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_wysiwyg":{"content":"Our country\u2019s Founders were worried about potential foreign influence in our nation\u2019s elections from the very start \u2014 and rightfully so. In George Washington\u2019s 1796 <\/span>farewell address<\/span><\/a>, he warned, \u201cAgainst the insidious wiles of foreign influence... the jealousy of a free people ought to be constantly awake, since history and experience prove that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of republican government.\"<\/span>\r\n\r\nFearing that Europe would try to undermine our new republic\u2019s independence through the most powerful office, the Founding Fathers wrote <\/span>two measures<\/span><\/a> into the Constitution that give the legislative and judicial branches the power to check the executive branch if necessary: the emoluments clause, which prevents any elected representative or ambassador from accepting gifts from foreign powers, and the power to impeach a president.<\/span>\r\n\r\nThe influence of foreign powers is far more complex today than it was in 1787, and it goes beyond just the office of the President. The Supreme Court\u2019s 2010 decision <\/span>Citizens United v. FEC<\/span><\/a> opened the door for corporations to donate freely to American campaigns, including state elections in Massachusetts. This means that for-profit corporations \u2014 including those under foreign control or influence \u2014 have the power to spend unlimited money in our elections.<\/span>\r\n\r\nForeign influence comes in many new and impactful forms in 2023. Consider the gig worker ballot measure that was <\/span>shut down<\/span><\/a> by our state Supreme Court last year. Corporations like Uber and Lyft, who stood to benefit from the passage of the ballot measure, donated tens of millions of dollars towards the initiative. Lyft\u2019s $13 million contribution in December 2021 was the <\/span>largest political donation<\/span><\/a> in state history.<\/span>\r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n\r\nCorporate influence on our political systems is concerning on its own. But if we look closer, we\u2019ll also see that foreign investors influence the corporations that are making these large contributions.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nFor example, S\u200b\u200baudi Arabia\u2019s Kingdom Holding, the investment firm of billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, bought 5.3 percent of Lyft for $247.7 million in <\/span>2015<\/span><\/a>. Uber accepted $3.5 billion from Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman in <\/span>2016<\/span><\/a>. Saudi Arabia alone has a $700 billion dollar <\/span>Public Investment Fund<\/span><\/a>, which has invested in a wide range of companies and projects, from Russian infrastructure to the investment firm run by Jared Kushner, former President Trump\u2019s son-in-law.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nThough Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman likely had no involvement in the Massachusetts gig worker ballot measure, there is obvious potential for powerful foreign influence on our state elections. <\/span>It\u2019s a loophole that is easily exploited, and it needs to be closed.<\/b>\r\n\r\nHere in Massachusetts, we can act by passing legislation that protects our elections from political spending by companies under foreign influence. <\/span>An Act Limiting Political Spending by Foreign-Influenced Corporations,<\/span><\/i> introduced<\/span> by state Senator Mark Montigny as bill <\/span>S.430<\/span><\/a> and Representative Erika Uyterhoeven as<\/span> bill <\/span>H.722<\/span><\/a>, would limit political spending in Massachusetts elections by foreign-influenced corporations. \u201cForeign-influenced\u201d would be defined as any corporation with a single foreign owner with 1 percent ownership or more, or multiple foreign owners with at least 5 percent ownership or more.<\/span>\r\n\r\nMany <\/span>other states<\/span><\/a> are taking similar actions to protect our elections. Colorado and Minnesota have recently passed similar prohibitions on political spending by foreign-influenced corporations, and similar bills have been introduced in California and New York this year.\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nHere at the birthplace of the American Revolution, we should act now to protect our democracy. Fight back against the \u201cinsidious wiles of foreign influence\u201d today by calling your state Representatives and Senators and asking them to support H.722 and S.430 to close this foreign-influenced corporation loophole in our campaign finance law.<\/span>"}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_add_component","_acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_add_component":null},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_work","_acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_work":{"heading":"Work","manually_curate":false,"work":null}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_related_articles","_acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_related_articles":{"heading":"Updates","button_text":"See all Related Articles","manually_curate":false,"articles":null}}]},"yoast_head":"\nForeign-influenced political spending is a threat to our democracy - Common Cause Massachusetts<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/articles\/foreign-influenced-political-spending-is-a-threat-to-our-democracy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Foreign-influenced political spending is a threat to our democracy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/articles\/foreign-influenced-political-spending-is-a-threat-to-our-democracy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Common Cause Massachusetts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-08-11T17:57:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/common-cause-share-image.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/articles\/foreign-influenced-political-spending-is-a-threat-to-our-democracy\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/massachusetts\/articles\/foreign-influenced-political-spending-is-a-threat-to-our-democracy\/\",\"name\":\"Foreign-influenced political spending is a threat to our democracy - 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