# Montana HB 818: Ban foreign funding for ballot measures Montana HB 818, Ban foreign funding for ballot measures, is a 69th Legislature, Regular Session (2025) House bill sponsored by Braxton Mitchell (Republican); status signed, last action 2025-05-19 (Chapter Number Assigned) (as of 2026-10-12). - Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MT-HB818-2025 - As of: 2026-10-12 - Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts. ## Facts - Bill: Montana HB 818 - State: Montana - Session: 69th Legislature, Regular Session (2025) - Title: Ban foreign funding for ballot measures - Status: signed - Chamber: House - Introduced: 2025-02-26 - Last action: 2025-05-19, Chapter Number Assigned - Sponsor: Braxton Mitchell (Republican) - Cosponsors: 0 - Subjects: Ballot Issues, Elections - Touches household money: no - Roll calls: 10 (472 yes, 276 no in all) - Economic provisions PRIA read: 3 ## Summary No summary available. ## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read - No foreign money in Montana elections: cost, low. The law bans foreign nationals from giving or promising money in Montana elections. This covers ballot issues and candidate races. It includes ads, contributions, and other spending, even through another person. No one may ask for, take, or spend money they know came from a foreign national. Treasu… - Who counts as a foreign national: cost, low. The law counts a U.S. company as a foreign national if a foreign national owns most or all of it. The company is not counted as foreign if it meets one of these tests: it employs people who pay Montana income tax and the company pays Montana property taxes; or all money used for politics comes from… - How violations are enforced and punished: mixed, low. When a possible case also breaks federal election law, the state sends it to the Federal Election Commission. Montana officials do not bring cases on the parts that overlap federal law. Anyone who breaks the state’s foreign‑funding bans can be sued in civil court. ## Sponsors and cosponsors - Sponsor: Braxton Mitchell (Republican), House ## Roll call votes | Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 2025-04-30 | Senate | Do Adopt | pass | 37 | 13 | | | 2025-04-30 | House | Do Adopt | pass | 56 | 44 | | | 2025-04-29 | House | Do Adopt | pass | 57 | 43 | | | 2025-04-29 | Senate | Do Adopt | pass | 39 | 11 | | | 2025-04-17 | House | Do Concur | fail | 46 | 54 | | | 2025-04-12 | Senate | Do Concur | pass | 38 | 12 | | | 2025-04-10 | Senate | Do Concur As Amended | pass | 36 | 14 | | | 2025-04-10 | Senate | AMD-HB0818.002.001 Cuffe D/PASS | pass | 49 | 1 | | | 2025-03-07 | House | Do Pass | pass | 57 | 42 | | | 2025-03-06 | House | Do Pass | pass | 57 | 42 | | ## Actions (41) - 2025-05-19: Chapter Number Assigned (House) - 2025-05-13: Signed by Governor (House) - 2025-05-07: Transmitted to Governor (House) - 2025-05-06: Signed by President (Senate) - 2025-05-05: Signed by Speaker (House) - 2025-05-02: Returned from Enrolling (House) - 2025-04-30: Sent to Enrolling (House) - 2025-04-30: 3rd Reading Conference Committee Report (Senate) - 2025-04-30: 3rd Reading Conference Committee Report (House) - 2025-04-29: 2nd Reading Conference Committee Report (House) - 2025-04-29: 2nd Reading Conference Committee Report (Senate) - 2025-04-26: Hearing (House) - 2025-04-24: Conference Committee Appointed (Senate) - 2025-04-22: Conference Committee Appointed (House) - 2025-04-17: 2nd Reading Senate Amendments (House) - 2025-04-12: Returned to House with Amendments (Senate) - 2025-04-12: 3rd Reading (Senate) - 2025-04-10: 2nd Reading (Senate) - 2025-04-10: 2nd Reading Motion to Amend (Senate) - 2025-04-09: Committee Report (Senate) - 2025-04-09: Committee Executive Action (Senate) - 2025-04-07: Hearing (Senate) - 2025-04-06: Hearing Canceled (Senate) - 2025-04-05: Hearing (Senate) - 2025-03-31: Hearing Canceled (Senate) - 2025-03-30: Hearing (Senate) - 2025-03-19: Referred to Committee (Senate) - 2025-03-14: 1st Reading (Senate) - 2025-03-07: Transmitted to Senate (House) - 2025-03-07: 3rd Reading (House) - 2025-03-06: 2nd Reading (House) - 2025-03-03: Committee Report (House) - 2025-03-03: Fiscal Note Printed (House) - 2025-03-03: Fiscal Note Signed (House) - 2025-03-03: Fiscal Note Received (House) - 2025-03-01: Committee Executive Action (House) - 2025-02-27: Hearing (House) - 2025-02-27: 1st Reading (House) - 2025-02-27: Referred to Committee (House) - 2025-02-26: Fiscal Note Requested (House) - 2025-02-26: Introduced (House) ## Bill text - As Amended (Version 4), 2025-05-01: [PDF](https://docs.legmt.gov/download-ticket?ticketId=77e2ea10-1b5c-4c6f-91b1-bccec49ea0ec) - Enrolled, 2025-05-01: [PDF](https://docs.legmt.gov/download-ticket?ticketId=704e56a8-da51-473d-871c-b6b16a19b049) - As Amended (Version 3), 2025-04-10: [PDF](https://docs.legmt.gov/download-ticket?ticketId=47d7e409-077f-4a90-8260-97176bc64b6d) - As Amended (Version 2), 2025-04-09: [PDF](https://docs.legmt.gov/download-ticket?ticketId=31610440-3589-49ef-a2f8-516c6eeb000b) - Introduced, 2025-02-26: [PDF](https://docs.legmt.gov/download-ticket?ticketId=e2a5d6dc-8ed8-4aff-b5f3-3b4e845e2fcb) ## Related bills - SB 437: Revise definition of sex in Montana law (signed) - HB 831: Increase elderly homeowner and renter income tax credit (vetoed) - HB 628: Revise early literacy targeted intervention laws (vetoed) - SB 410: Provide for Montana genomic security act (vetoed) - SB 424: Revising the disabled veteran property tax assistance program (vetoed) - SB 422: Generally revise laws relating to insurance coverage relating to cancer (vetoed) ## Sources - [As Amended (Version 4) (PDF)](https://docs.legmt.gov/download-ticket?ticketId=77e2ea10-1b5c-4c6f-91b1-bccec49ea0ec) - [Enrolled (PDF)](https://docs.legmt.gov/download-ticket?ticketId=704e56a8-da51-473d-871c-b6b16a19b049) - [As Amended (Version 3) (PDF)](https://docs.legmt.gov/download-ticket?ticketId=47d7e409-077f-4a90-8260-97176bc64b6d) - [As Amended (Version 2) (PDF)](https://docs.legmt.gov/download-ticket?ticketId=31610440-3589-49ef-a2f8-516c6eeb000b) - [Introduced (PDF)](https://docs.legmt.gov/download-ticket?ticketId=e2a5d6dc-8ed8-4aff-b5f3-3b4e845e2fcb) ## Related - [SB 437: Revise definition of sex in Montana law](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MT-SB437-2025) - [HB 831: Increase elderly homeowner and renter income tax credit](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MT-HB831-2025) - [HB 628: Revise early literacy targeted intervention laws](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MT-HB628-2025) - [SB 410: Provide for Montana genomic security act](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MT-SB410-2025) - [SB 424: Revising the disabled veteran property tax assistance program](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MT-SB424-2025) - [SB 422: Generally revise laws relating to insurance coverage relating to cancer](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MT-SB422-2025) - [Montana bills](https://policyrisk.com/states/montana/bills) - [Montana state hub](https://policyrisk.com/states/montana) - [All state legislation](https://policyrisk.com/state-bills) Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MT-HB818-2025 (as of 2026-10-12).