Amends and adds to existing law to prohibit foreign influence in elections, to require certain reporting, and to restrict the release of certain donor information.

LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO Sixty-eighth Legislature Second Regular Session - 2026 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES HOUSE BILL NO. 970 BY SCOTT AN ACT1 RELATING TO CAMPAIGN DISCLOSURES; AMENDING SECTION 67-6607, IDAHO CODE, TO2 REQUIRE CERTAIN ADDITIONAL REPORTING FOR POLITICAL COMMITTEES SUPPORT-3 ING ANY MEASURE; AMENDING SECTION 67-6610D, IDAHO CODE, TO PROHIBIT4 CERTAIN FOREIGN INFLUENCE OF CANDIDATES, POLITICAL COMMITTEES, AND5 MEASURES; AMENDING CHAPTER 66, TITLE 67, IDAHO CODE, BY THE ADDITION OF6 A NEW SECTION 67-6610E, IDAHO CODE, TO PROVIDE RESTRICTIONS ON COLLEC-7 TION AND RELEASE OF CERTAIN DONOR INFORMATION AND TO PROVIDE A PENALTY8 FOR VIOLATIONS; AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE9 DATE.10

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho:11

SECTION 1. That Section 67-6607, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby12 amended to read as follows:13 67-6607. REPORTS OF CONTRIBUTIONS AND EXPENDITURES BY CANDIDATES AND14 POLITICAL COMMITTEES. (1) Each candidate or the political treasurer for each15 candidate, and each political committee or the political treasurer of each16 political committee, shall file with the secretary of state a statement of17 all contributions received and all expenditures and encumbrances made by or18 on behalf of the candidate or political committee, according to the schedule19 provided in this section. The statement shall itemize each contribution re-20 ceived and each expenditure or encumbrance made during the reporting period21 and shall include the following:22 (a) Under contributions, the statement shall include a list of all the23 contributions received, including any funds or property of the candi-24 date used to cover expenditures. The statement shall list the full name25 and complete address of each person who contributed an aggregate amount26 of more than fifty dollars ($50.00) and the amount contributed by that27 person. The statement may list as a single item the total amount of con-28 tributions of fifty dollars ($50.00) or less; and29 (b) Under expenditures, the statement shall include the name and ad-30 dress of each person to whom an expenditure or encumbrance was made in31 the amount of twenty-five dollars ($25.00) or more, and the amount,32 date, and purpose of each such expenditure. Each expenditure or encum-33 brance in the amount of twenty-five dollars ($25.00) or more shall be34 evidenced by an invoice, receipt, or canceled check or an accurate copy35 thereof. Such evidence shall not be filed with the statement but shall36 be retained by the committee or candidate for a period of one (1) year37 after the statement has been filed. The statement may list as a single38 item the total amount of expenditures and encumbrances of less than39 twenty-five dollars ($25.00) without showing the exact amount of or re-40 quiring evidence of each such expenditure or encumbrance. Anything of41

2 value, other than money, paid for or contributed by any person shall be1 listed both as an expenditure and as a contribution.2 (2) For the first report under this section, the reporting period shall3 cover the period beginning with the first contribution, expenditure, or en-4 cumbrance through the end of the current reporting period. Each candidate5 and each political committee, or the treasurer for a candidate or political6 committee or ballot measure, shall file the report described under subsec-7 tion (1) of this section as follows:8 (a) In the year of the election, a monthly report shall be filed for each9 month of the year. Each report shall be filed by the tenth day of the10 month following the month being reported; and11 (b) For the nonelection year, an annual report covering the nonelection12 year shall be filed by January 10 of the following year.13 (3) Notwithstanding any other reports required under this section,14 each candidate and each political committee, or the political treasurer for15 each candidate and each political committee, shall notify the secretary of16 state of any contribution of one thousand dollars ($1,000) or more. This17 notification shall be made within forty-eight (48) hours after the receipt18 of such contribution and shall include the name of the candidate, political19 committee or measure, the identification of the contributor, and the date of20 receipt and amount of the contribution. The notification shall be in addi-21 tion to the reporting of these contributions in the regular reports.22 (4) All reports required pursuant to this section shall be filed online23 with the secretary of state, unless a waiver has been provided under section24 67-6623, Idaho Code, by no later than midnight on the date the filing is due.25 (5)(a) In the case of any political committee organized for the purpose26 of supporting any measure, the following additional information shall27 be included in its reports filed pursuant to subsection (2) of this sec-28 tion:29 (i) A certification from the political treasurer of the political30 committee that no preliminary activity was funded by any foreign31 national, whether directly or indirectly; and32 (ii) A certification from the political treasurer of the politi-33 cal committee that the donor associated with each contribution is34 not a foreign national and such donor has not knowingly or will-35 fully received, solicited, or accepted, whether directly or indi-36 rectly, contributions or expenditures from one (1) or more foreign37 nationals in excess of ten thousand dollars ($10,000) within the38 four (4) year period immediately preceding the date of the contri-39 bution.40 (b) Upon receipt of a contribution, the political treasurer of the41 political committee shall obtain a written certification from each42 donor that the donor is not a foreign national and has not knowingly or43 willfully accepted funds aggregating in excess of ten thousand dollars44 ($10,000) from one (1) or more foreign nationals within the four (4)45 year period immediately preceding the date of the contribution. The46 donor certifications shall be retained by the committee but are not47 required to be filed with the political treasurer certifications re-48 quired by paragraph (a) of this subsection. If the committee does not49 receive this certification from each donor, the contribution shall be50

3 divested in the same manner as unlawful contributions pursuant to sec-1 tion 67-6610(b), Idaho Code.2 (6) Each person, or political treasurer of any entity, who makes any ex-3 penditure supporting or opposing any measure shall certify that such person4 has not knowingly or willfully accepted funds aggregating in excess of ten5 thousand dollars ($10,000) from one (1) or more foreign nationals within the6 four (4) year period immediately preceding the date the expenditure is made7 and that such person will not do so through the remainder of the calendar year8 in which the ballot initiative or referendum will appear on the ballot.9 (7) For the purposes of this section:10 (a) "Foreign national" has the same meaning as defined in section11 67-6610D, Idaho Code.12 (b) "Preliminary activity" means any activity undertaken by the propo-13 nents of a proposed measure prior to the time such proposal is deemed a14 measure pursuant to the provisions of section 67-6602(11), Idaho Code.15 Such activity includes but is not limited to conducting a poll, draft-16 ing ballot measure language, conducting a focus group, making telephone17 calls, or undertaking travel related to the proposed measure.18 (5) (8) Reports required to be filed under the provisions of this sec-19 tion shall be filed until the account no longer shows any unexpended balance20 of contributions or expenditure deficit.21

SECTION 2. That Section 67-6610D, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby22 amended to read as follows:23 67-6610D. FOREIGN CONTRIBUTIONS, FOREIGN INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURES,24 AND FOREIGN ELECTIONEERING COMMUNICATIONS, AND FOREIGN INFLUENCE PROHIB-25 ITED.26 (1)(a) A Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this subsection, a for-27 eign national shall not make a contribution, directly or indirectly, to28 any candidate, political committee, or measure or, make electioneer-29 ing communications or, make independent expenditures, or direct, dic-30 tate, control, or directly or indirectly participate in the decision-31 making process related to any election campaign, including any deci-32 sions concerning the making of contributions or expenditures to influ-33 ence an election campaign. A foreign national shall not solicit, di-34 rectly or indirectly, the making of a contribution or expenditure by an-35 other person to influence an election campaign, and no candidate or po-36 litical committee shall knowingly or willfully receive, solicit, or ac-37 cept contributions from any foreign national, whether directly or indi-38 rectly.39 (b) A foreign national, pursuant to subsection (2)(e) of this section,40 may make contributions and independent expenditures if such contri-41 butions or expenditures originate entirely from funds generated by42 such entity's United States operations and all decisions concerning43 such contributions or expenditures, except for setting overall budget44 amounts, are made by individuals who are United States citizens or per-45 manent residents.46 (2) As used in this section, "foreign national" means:47 (a) An individual who is not a citizen of the United States and is not48 lawfully admitted for permanent residence;49

4 (b) A government or subdivision of a foreign country;1 (c) A foreign political party; or2 (d) Any entity, such as a partnership, association, corporation, or-3 ganization, union, or other combination of persons, that is organized4 under the laws of or has its principal place of business in a foreign5 country.; or6 (e) Any entity, such as a partnership, association, corporation, or-7 ganization, union, or other combination of persons, that is organized8 under the laws of the United States or has its principal place of busi-9 ness in the United States that is wholly owned or majority-owned by any10 foreign national.11 (3) A violation of the provisions of this section shall be prosecuted12 and punished as provided in section 67-6625(2) through (5), Idaho Code. Pro-13 vided, however, any person who knowingly and willfully violates the provi-14 sions of this section is guilty of a felony when:15 (a) The aggregate amount of contributions, independent expenditures,16 or cost of electioneering communications made in violation of this sec-17 tion exceeds one thousand dollars ($1,000) in a consecutive twelve (12)18 month period; or19 (b) The person pleads guilty to or is found guilty of a knowing and will-20 ful violation of the provisions of this section for a second time within21 ten (10) years, notwithstanding the form of the judgment or withheld22 judgment.23 (4) If any provision of this section or its application to any person or24 circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the section or the applica-25 tion of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected.26

SECTION 3. That Chapter 66, Title 67, Idaho Code, be, and the same is27 hereby amended by the addition thereto of a NEW SECTION, to be known and des-28 ignated as Section 67-6610E, Idaho Code, and to read as follows:29 67-6610E. RESTRICTIONS ON COLLECTION AND RELEASE OF DONOR INFORMATION30 -- PENALTY. (1) Lawful donors to a tax-exempt organization possess a right31 of privacy in their donations. Any investigation of an alleged violation of32 section 67-6607 or 67-6610D, Idaho Code, must occur in a manner that shields33 the identity of lawful donors as much as possible. The secretary of state,34 county clerks, and other state or local governmental entities may not col-35 lect or require the submission of information on the identity of any donor36 to a tax-exempt organization other than those directly related to an alleged37 violation of section 67-6607 or 67-6610D, Idaho Code.38 (2) The secretary of state, county clerks, and other state or local gov-39 ernmental entities may not disclose to the public, or to another government40 official not directly involved in the investigation, information revealing41 the identity of any donor to a tax-exempt organization, unless the informa-42 tion is regarding the identity of a donor that engaged in conduct prohibited43 by section 67-6607 or 67-6610D, Idaho Code, after a final determination has44 been made confirming that such violation occurred.45 (3) Knowing or willful violations of this section shall be punishable46 as a misdemeanor.47

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SECTION 4. An emergency existing therefor, which emergency is hereby1 declared to exist, this act shall be in full force and effect on and after2 July 1, 2026.3