Heritage Action Calls for Veto of Montana Bill Permitting Foreign Funding to Ballot Initiatives

Heritage Action, a conservative grassroots organization, is calling for Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte (R) to veto a bill that fails to close loopholes regarding indirect foreign funding to ballot initiatives.

In a press release obtained by Breitbart News, Heritage Action Vice President Janae Stracke issued a statement urging Gianforte to veto Montana House Bill 818. While Stracke noted that “six states have enacted laws prohibiting” the corrupt practice of foreign funding in elections, she added that HB 818 “stops short of actually protecting” the people of Montana’s “voices at the ballot box.”

“Heritage Action has seen a groundswell of conservative grassroots support nationwide to ban foreign funding for state ballot initiatives,” Stracke said in her statement. “Six states have enacted laws prohibiting this corrupt practice, and several more states are considering similar legislation. These states have taken decisive action to close all loopholes in their election laws. Unfortunately, HB 818 stops short of actually protecting Montanan’s voices at the ballot box. We urge Governor Gianforte to veto this ineffective foreign funding legislation.”

Heritage Action’s call for Gianforte to veto the “ineffective foreign funding legislation” comes as a poll from Honest Elections Project Action found that 78 percent of Americans believe that “foreign nationals should not be influencing elections.”

The poll noted that Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss “has pumped $475 million into American politics” and that Wyss has also “funneled millions of dollars to New Venture Fund,” which in turn has given millions to the Center for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL), “the group behind ‘Zuck Bucks’ in 2020.”

• Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss has pumped $475 million into American politics through an array of dark money groups, including the progressive Arabella Advisors network.

•Hansjorg Wyss has funneled millions of dollars to New Venture Fund, a grant making entity in the Arabella Advisors network.

•New Venture Fund has given nearly $25 million to the Center for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL), the group behind “Zuck Bucks” in 2020 and that now leads the U.S. Alliance for Election Excellence, a collaborative of left-wing organizations influencing and bankrolling election administration offices.

In a post on X, Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk shared a video that revealed that a 2024 report by Americans for Public Trust found that “over $100,000,000 in foreign dark money” had been laundered into the United States political system through “the Sixteen Thirty Fund pushing far left ballot initiatives in 25 states.”

The Washington Examiner reported that in an October 2024 report, Americans for Public Trust (APT) “pointed to a loophole in many states’ election laws that they claim allowed foreign citizens to donate to 501(c)(4) nonprofit organizations and for those organizations to then spend money advocating for or against ballot measures.”

The report from the APT found that Wyss is “one of Sixteen Thirty Fund’s top donors,” and added that since the inception of Sixteen Thirty Fund, Wyss “has contributed at least $243 million to the left’s top outside group.”

“After receiving this foreign cash, Sixteen Thirty Fund takes advantages of foreign influence loopholes to bankroll efforts to elevate the Biden-Harris agenda, fund Supreme Court nomination fights, invest in massive voter turnout operations, engage in issue advocacy campaigns, and of course — support ballot issue campaigns,” the report added.

During the current 2025 legislative sessions, several states such as Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, and Wyoming have enacted laws that restrict “foreign contributions to ballot measure campaigns,” according to Ballotpedia.

The states joined other states such as; California, Colorado, Maine, Maryland, Nevada, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Washington in having “laws prohibiting foreign nationals, governments, or other entities from contributing to ballot measure committees.”