Senate Bill 520 aims to explicitly prohibit foreign nationals from making contributions to referendum committees in Wisconsin. The bill amends current law, which already prohibits foreign contributions in connection with elections, by adding a specific clause that states no foreign national may contribute to a referendum committee, and no referendum committee may accept such contributions. This legislative action is a response to a recent Federal Election Commission decision that allowed foreign contributions to ballot initiative committees, which the FEC determined were not considered elections under federal law.

To implement this change, the bill renumbers the existing statute 11.1208 (4) to 11.1208 (4) (a) and creates a new subsection, 11.1208 (4) (b), that outlines the prohibition against foreign national contributions to referendum committees. The definition of "foreign national" is aligned with existing federal regulations, ensuring clarity and consistency in the application of this law.