Ohio House Bill 1 (2024)

Ohio House Bill 1 (2024)

Details • Enacted: Sept. 1, 2024 • Signed: June 2, 2024 • Passed Senate: May 31, 2024 • Passed House: May 30, 2024

See also • Legislation in 2024

Ohio House Bill 1 was enacted in Ohio in 2024. The legislation was designed to prohibit foreign nationals from making contributions or expenditures directly or indirectly to support or oppose a candidate for elective office or statewide ballot measures.

On August 31, 2024, U.S. District Court Judge Michael Watson issued an injunction against a provision of HB 1 that would have prohibited lawful permanent residents who are non-citizens from contributing to ballot measure campaigns. On September 24, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals stayed the injunction.

Lawsuit

OPAWL et al. v. Yost

U.S. District Court Judge Michael Watson issued an injunction on August 31, 2024, against a provision of Ohio House Bill 1 (HB 1) that would have prohibited lawful permanent residents who are non-citizens from contributing to ballot measure campaigns.

Watson said that while Ohio has a compelling interest in preventing foreign influence over state political processes, restricting speech around ballot initiatives does not achieve that interest. He said, “Lawfully resident foreign nationals also generally enjoy First Amendment rights… [and] it also protects U.S. citizens’ right to hear those foreign nationals’ political speech.”

Secretary of State Frank LaRose (R) and Attorney General Dave Yost (R) filed an appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth District on September 3, 2024. Secretary LaRose said, "The people of Ohio have made it clear that our elections are only for citizens. We’re especially not going to let foreign billionaires try to buy our constitution. It happened in two constitutional amendments on the ballot last year, and we’re seeing clear evidence that it’s happening again with another amendment on this November’s ballot."

House Minority Leader Allison Russo (D-7) responded, “Ohio Republican’s supermajority is drunk on power and hell-bent on rigging the rules against citizen-led ballot initiatives, even if it means likely violating the First Amendment and trampling our most fundamental American freedom.”

On June 27, 2024, five plaintiffs filed litigation against HB 1, which resulted in the injunction. Plaintiffs included OPAWL – Building AAPI Feminist Leadership, Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless, Elisa Bredendiek, Peter Quilligan, and John Gerrath. The litigation said, "The definition of this key term ['foreign nationals'] in HB 1 is so broad that it includes lawful permanent residents, threatening them with criminal prosecution and substantial fines for any amount of election-related spending—no matter how de minimus or indirect. In contrast, federal campaign finance law permits lawful permanent residents to contribute even to candidates."

Americans for Public Trust and Honest Elections Project submitted an amicus brief supporting Ohio. The brief said, “Ohio has undeniably gone farther than any other individual State in pursuit of this goal. H.B. 1 applies to every type of noncitizen contributor (including lawful permanent residents) and to every type of Ohio election (including ballot issue elections). Other States that have regulated in this area have chosen either the former or the latter, but not both. But the fact that Ohio has legislated up to the limits of its authority does not mean that it has overstepped constitutional bounds.”

Overview

House Bill 1 (HB 1) was designed to prohibit foreign nationals from making contributions or expenditures to support or oppose candidates for elective office or statewide certified or potential ballot measures. This included making contributions indirectly through another person or organization.

HB 1 defined foreign national to include the following persons and entities:

• an individual who is not a U.S. citizen or national;
• a foreign government;
• a foreign political party; and
• 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.

Before HB 1, state law prohibited foreign nationals from making contributions or expenditures to support or oppose political candidates. However, this prohibition did not extend to ballot measures. State law also did not classify lawful permanent residents, also known as green card holders, as foreign nationals. HB 1 changes that by including lawful permanent residents under the definition of foreign nationals.

HB 1 made the first violation of the law a first-degree misdemeanor and any subsequent violations a fifth-degree felony. The penalty would be a fine equal to three times the amount involved in the violation or $10,000, whichever is greater. Aiding a violation of the law is a first-degree misdemeanor with a fine of $1,000.

HB 1 gave authority to the Ohio Attorney General to supervise the investigation, prosecution, and enforcement of the law unless the attorney general is involved in an alleged violation, then the matter is referred to an appropriate prosecutor.

Text

The full text of the legislation is below:

Support

Supporters

Officials

• Secretary of State Frank LaRose (R)
• Attorney General Dave Yost (R)
• Senate President Matt Huffman (R-12)
• State Sen. Theresa Gavarone (R-2)
• State Sen. Robert McColley (R-1)

Organizations

• America First Policy Institute
• Americans for Public Trust
• Heritage Action for America
• Honest Elections Project

Arguments

• Rep. David Dobos (R-10): "Ohio’s constitution is sacred and foreign nationals have no business swaying historic decisions that may change it. I am pleased the House took action to ban foreign influence in state ballot issues."

• Secretary of State Frank LaRose (R): "As I’ve said, Ohioans deserve confidence in the integrity of our elections. Although there’s been a concentrated effort to confuse this issue through aggressive soccer-flopping and misinformation, this matter is simple: foreign nationals should not be able to interfere with our elections. The legislation passed today takes an aggressive step toward banning foreign nationals from funding Ohio elections and further cements Ohio's standing as a national leader on election integrity. I applaud the General Assembly for moving quickly to close this campaign finance loophole and I call on every state, as well as Congress, to pass similar measures."

• Former Kansas Assistant Secretary of State and Heritage Action Director of State Advocacy Catherine Gunsalus: "Legislation to stop foreign billionaires from meddling in Ohio’s elections is long overdue, and Heritage Action is happy to see this bill finally cross the finish line. For months, Heritage has praised the Ohio Senate for continually voting to ban foreign nationals from funding ballot issue campaigns—a commonsense position supported by the vast majority of Americans."

Opposition

Opponents

Officials

• Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio (D-23)
• State Sen. Bill DeMora (D-25)
• State Rep. Bride Rose Sweeney (D-16)
• State Rep. Dani Isaacsohn (D-24)

Arguments

• State Rep. Bride Rose Sweeney (D-16): "It seems as though the only time we act is to change the rules of the game to benefit power-hungry politicians that are up against the will of the voters."

• State Rep. Dani Isaacsohn (D-24): "This bill creates an incredibly confusing and broad set of potential violations. This bill is an affront to the people of Ohio. This bill is an attack at the root of our Democratic process."

Legislature

State Rep. Bill Seitz (R-30) introduced the legislation into the Ohio State Legislature. The following is the timeline for the bill:

• May 28, 2024: House Bill 1 (HB 1) is introduced.
• May 30, 2024: The Ohio House of Representatives voted 64-31 to pass the bill.
• May 31, 2024: The Ohio State Senate voted 24-7 to pass the bill.

The following table provides information on votes in the legislative chambers:

HB 1 Vote	Senate			House
	Yes	No	NV	Yes	No	NV
Total	24	7	2	64	31	4
Democratic	0	7	0	0	31	1
Republican	24	0	2	64	0	3

See also

• Changes in 2024 to laws governing ballot measures
• Laws governing foreign spending in ballot measure campaigns

External links

• Ohio House Bill 1 (2024)

Footnotes

Laws governing ballot measures in the United States

Laws governing ballot measures

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Changes to laws governing ballot measures

Types of ballot measures

Citizen-initiated ballot measures • Legislatively referred ballot measures • Automatically referred ballot measures • Commission-referred ballot measures • Convention-referred constitutional amendments

Ballot measure policy terms

Glossary of ballot measure policy terms