OHIO LEGISLATIVE SERVICE COMMISSION
Office of Research Legislative Budget
www.lsc.ohio.gov and Drafting Office
S.B. 215 Bill Analysis
135th General Assembly
Click here for S.B. 215’s Fiscal Note
Version: As Passed by the Senate
Primary Sponsors: Sens. Gavarone and McColley
Effective date:
S. Ben Fogle, Attorney
SUMMARY
Campaign spending by foreign nationals
 Prohibits a foreign national from making a contribution or expenditure to support or
oppose a state or local ballot issue, either directly or through another entity, and retains
the current prohibition against a foreign national making a contribution or expenditure
regarding a candidate.
 Prohibits any entity from soliciting or accepting a contribution or expenditure from a
foreign national.
 Prohibits a lawful permanent U.S. resident, also known as a green card holder, from
making contributions or expenditures regarding ballot issues or candidates.
 Requires all political entities to certify on their campaign finance filings, under penalty of
election falsification, that they have not accepted, and will not accept, any campaign
contributions that are prohibited under the Campaign Finance Law.
 Requires an entity that accepts a prohibited foreign contribution to return the
contribution.
 Requires the Ohio Elections Commission (OEC), if it finds a violation of the prohibition
regarding foreign nationals, to either (1) impose the maximum fine and, if applicable,
require the violator to return the contribution or (2) refer the matter for prosecution.
 Allows the Attorney General to prosecute a violation of the prohibition regarding foreign
nationals under certain circumstances.
Expenditures from alternate sources of funds
 Clarifies that the term “expenditure” means the disbursement or use of a contribution or
other funds or anything of value for the purpose of influencing the results of an election.
March 13, 2024
Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office
Independent expenditures regarding ballot issues
 Clarifies that the term “independent expenditure” includes an expenditure to advocate
support of or opposition to an identified ballot issue or to achieve the successful
circulation of an initiative or referendum petition, regardless of whether the issue has yet
been certified to appear on the ballot.
Ballot issue committees
 Specifies that if the committee in charge of a statewide or local initiative or referendum
petition receives a contribution or makes an expenditure for the purpose of achieving the
successful circulation of the petition, the committee is considered a political action
committee (PAC) for that purpose and must file periodic disclosures in the same manner
as any other PAC.
Alternative political organizations (APOs)
 Creates a new category of regulated political entity, an “alternative political
organization,” which includes all of the entities that currently are not required to disclose
their donors under the Campaign Finance Law, other than an individual or an
unincorporated business.
 Requires every APO to appoint a treasurer and file a designation of that appointment in
the same manner as other political entities.
 Requires an APO, unless it qualifies for an exemption, to file statements of contributions
and expenditures in the same manner as a political contributing entity (PCE) and to
comply with all other restrictions that apply to PCEs under the Campaign Finance Law.
 Requires an APO that commingles its political and nonpolitical funds to report the sources
of all funds it receives, regardless of whether they are received for political purposes.
 Provides an accounting procedure that an APO may use to avoid commingling those funds
so that when it discloses its donors under the bill, the APO is only required to report the
sources of funds it uses for political purposes.
 Exempts an APO from being regulated as a PCE and being required to disclose its donors
if the APO files a certificate attesting that either of the following apply to the APO:
 It does not commingle its political and nonpolitical funds;
 It does commingle its political and nonpolitical funds, but it has not accepted, and will
not accept, anything of value from a foreign national, directly or indirectly, in the form
of a political contribution or for any other purpose.
 Specifies that the certificate becomes void if the APO stops qualifying for the exemption.
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DETAILED ANALYSIS
Campaign spending by foreign nationals
Foreign nationals making contributions or expenditures
The bill prohibits a foreign national from making a contribution or expenditure to support
or oppose a state or local ballot issue, either directly or through another entity. Existing Ohio and
federal law prohibit a foreign national from making a contribution or expenditure in support of
or opposition to a candidate, but the current prohibitions do not cover ballot issues.1
Accepting contributions or expenditures from foreign nationals
Further, the bill expands the list of entities that may not solicit or accept a contribution
or expenditure from a foreign national so that, in effect, the prohibition applies to any person
other than an individual. Currently, no candidate, campaign committee, political party, legislative
campaign fund, political action committee, political contributing entity, or separate segregated
fund may solicit or accept such a contribution or expenditure. The bill adds a federal political
committee and an alternative political organization to that list. (See “Alternative political
organizations (APOs),” below.)
The bill specifies that the prohibition against accepting a foreign contribution or
expenditure includes transferring funds, or accepting a transfer of funds, directly or indirectly
into an account from which the person makes political contributions or expenditures from an
account that is controlled by the person or the person’s affiliate and that, at any time, has
contained funds received directly or indirectly from a foreign national. A person is affiliated with
another person if they are both established, financed, maintained, or controlled by, or if they are,
the same corporation, organization, labor organization, or other person, including any parent,
subsidiary, division, or department of that corporation, organization, labor organization, or other
person.
For example, assume that Branch A and Branch B are branches of the same organization.
Branch A accepts funds from a foreign national and places them in its general account. Later,
Branch A transfers some funds from its general account into Branch B’s political account and
Branch B accepts the transfer. Branch B would be in violation of the bill, even though it did not
accept funds directly from a foreign national, and even though it might be difficult to trace those
specific funds to a foreign national because they were commingled with other funds in Branch
A’s general account.2
1R.C. 3517.13(W)(1). See also 52 United States Code (U.S.C.) 30121, prohibiting foreign nationals from
making contributions “in connection with a federal, state, or local election.” In 2021, the Federal Election
Commission determined that the federal statute does not apply to ballot issues. (Federal Election
Commission, Matter Under Review #7523 (2021), available at fec.gov under “Legal resources,”
“Enforcement” via a search for closed MURs.)
2 R.C. 3517.13(W) and conforming change in R.C. 3517.01(C)(24).
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Definition of “foreign national”
The bill prohibits a lawful permanent U.S. resident, also known as a green card holder,
from making contributions or expenditures regarding ballot issues or candidates. Under current
Ohio and federal law, “foreign national” means any of the following:3
 In the case of an individual, an individual who is not a U.S. citizen or national or a lawful
permanent resident. (The bill removes Ohio’s exception for lawful permanent residents,
meaning that those individuals may not make contributions or expenditures.)
 A government of a foreign country or of a political subdivision of a foreign country;
 A foreign political party;
 A person, other than an individual, that is organized under the laws of a foreign country
or has its principal place of business in a foreign country.
Certifying compliance
Under the bill, all campaign committees and other political entities must certify on their
campaign finance filings, under penalty of election falsification, that they have not accepted, and
will not accept, any campaign contributions that are prohibited under the Campaign Finance Law.
This certification must be included on an entity’s designation of treasurer that it files with the
Secretary of State upon initially forming, as well as on its periodic statements of contributions
and expenditures.4
Enforcement
The continuing penalty for a foreign national who makes a prohibited contribution or
expenditure, or for a person that accepts a prohibited contribution or expenditure from a foreign
national, is a fine of three times the amount involved or $10,000, whichever is greater. Current
law also allows the Secretary of State to direct a person that accepts a contribution or
expenditure from a foreign national to return it to the foreign national. Under the bill, the violator
must return the contribution, in addition to paying the fine.5
Under continuing law, before any prosecution or court proceeding may begin for a
violation of the Campaign Finance Law, a complaint must be filed with the Ohio Elections
Commission (OEC). If the Commission determines that a violation has occurred, the Commission
has discretion to refer the matter to the appropriate prosecutor for potential court proceedings
or instead to impose an administrative fine in any amount, up to the maximum court fine. For
violations involving statewide or State Board of Education elections, the appropriate prosecutor
is the Franklin County Prosecutor. For violations involving district or local elections, the OEC may
choose between the Franklin County Prosecutor and the relevant county prosecutor.
3 R.C. 3517.13(W) and 52 U.S.C. 30121.
4 R.C. 3517.10.
5 R.C. 3517.13(W) and 3517.992(AA).
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The bill creates an exception to this system for violations of the prohibition regarding
foreign nationals. Under the bill, if the OEC finds a violation of that kind, it must either (1) impose
the maximum fine described above and, if applicable, order the violator to return the funds, or
(2) refer the matter to the appropriate prosecutor or to the Attorney General. Once the OEC
determines that a violation has occurred, the bill gives the Attorney General the authority to
prosecute the violation if the OEC refers the matter to the Attorney General, if the appropriate
prosecutor requests the Attorney General to prosecute the case, or upon the Attorney General’s
own initiative.6
Expenditures from alternate sources of funds
The bill clarifies that the term “expenditure” means the disbursement or use of a
contribution or other funds or anything of value for the purpose of influencing the results of an
election. Under continuing law, “contribution” means a donation that is made, received, or used
for the purpose of influencing the results of an election. By making this change, the bill ensures
that an entity that does not collect political contributions, but that uses its funds for political
purposes, still is considered to be making an expenditure under the Campaign Finance Law and
is subject to regulation. For example, if a foreign corporation uses its business profits to fund a
campaign ad, that spending is considered a prohibited expenditure. 7
Independent expenditures regarding ballot issues
The bill clarifies that the term “independent expenditure” includes an expenditure to
advocate support of or opposition to an identified ballot issue or to achieve the successful
circulation of an initiative or referendum petition, regardless of whether the issue has yet been
certified to appear on the ballot. Currently, the definition refers only to an expenditure regarding
a candidate that is not made with the consent of, in coordination, cooperation, or consultation
with, or at the request or suggestion of any candidate or agent of a candidate. However, the
continuing law that requires entities to disclose their independent expenditures refers to both
ballot issue and candidate related spending as independent expenditures.8
Ballot issue committees
Additionally, the bill specifies that if the committee in charge of an initiative or
referendum petition receives a contribution or makes an expenditure for the purpose of
achieving the successful circulation of the petition, the committee is considered a political action
committee (PAC) for that purpose and must file periodic disclosures in the same manner as any
other PAC. The bill applies this requirement both to statewide petition activities, as under current
law, and also to local initiative or referendum petitions.
Although the current law generally would appear to include any petition committee as a
PAC, the section of law specifically governing statewide petition committees does not refer to
6 R.C. 3517.155. See also R.C. 3517.153 and 3517.993, not in the bill.
7 R.C. 3517.01(C)(5) and (6).
8 R.C. 3517.01(C)(17). See also R.C. 3517.105, not in the bill.
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them in that manner and lays out separate reporting requirements. Under that law, a statewide
petition committee that receives contributions or makes expenditures must file a report of its
contributions and expenditures within 30 days after filing the petition with the Secretary of State.
If the signature drive is not successful, and the committee never files the petition with the
Secretary, the statute would appear not to require the committee to file any report.
Instead, under the bill, a statewide or local petition committee that accepts any
contributions or makes any expenditures must file disclosures as a PAC according to the general
campaign finance reporting schedule. If the committee never accepts a contribution or makes an
expenditure, it must file a statement to that effect within 30 days after it files the completed
petition with the election officials.9
Alternative political organizations (APOs)
Background on continuing associations and corporations
The bulk of Ohio’s existing campaign finance requirements apply only to a specific set of
regulated political entities:
 Candidates and their campaign committees;
 Political parties and their state candidate funds;
 Legislative campaign funds (LCFs), which are operated by the majority and minority
caucuses in the General Assembly;
 Political action committees (PACs), which are organizations whose primary purpose is to
influence election results through express advocacy and that are not an entity listed
above;
 Political contributing entities (PCEs), which are entities that may lawfully make
contributions and expenditures and that are not one of the entities listed above. A PCE
may include an organization whose primary purpose is not politics, but that engages in
political spending on a limited basis, such as an unincorporated labor organization.
Under existing law, only these entities are required to file regular reports of contributions and
expenditures and to disclose the source of their donations. The law also requires federal political
entities (separate segregated funds and federal political committees) that receive contributions
or make expenditures in connection with a state or local election in Ohio to file a copy of the
relevant portions of their federal campaign finance disclosures with the Secretary of State.
This system excludes certain other entities that lawfully make contributions or
expenditures, either as authorized under the Revised Code or as permitted under court decisions:
 Continuing associations, which are permanent, year-round association