Journalist: Destiny Lugo (ORU)
The “Foreign Influence Prohibition” Act of 2026, a House Bill No. OBU-506, authored by David Brothers (OBU) and Noah Zachary (OBU), and presented by Brothers, was a bill intending to put a stop to foreign actors contributing to the outcome of American politics within the consequential contexts of local elections.
This bill aimed to make sure state representatives of Oklahoma represent their constituents faithfully. He defined this elect group as, “Public official” defining it as, “…any elected or appointed official of the State of Oklahoma or any political subdivision thereof, including candidates for such offices.”
Brothers defined “contribution” as, “…any gift, subscription, loan, advance, deposit of money, or anything of value made for the purpose of influencing an election or official action. Influencing the nomination or election of a candidate to public office. This term shall not include communications regarding legislation or official actions protected under the Right to Petition.”
This bill has a more intense nature as some of the terms under the New Law section included elected officials being unable to accept contributions from “…a Foreign Lobbyist or a Foreign Agent.” Additionally, foreign principals would not be permitted to “…provide any contribution, or make an independent expenditure, to support or oppose a candidate for public office.”
The enforcement for this bill is none other than The Oklahoma Ethics Commission which would be given the authority to investigate instances where this law may have been disobeyed. The commission would even have the power to “…Refer willful violations to the Attorney General for criminal prosecution.”
Naturally, this bill caused quite a stir. The bill barely passed with a near fifty-fifty split: thirty-seven to thirty-five.
During time for questions as the room caucused loudly, Trevor Friesen (OSU) asked, “Don’t donations to political campaigns require some sort of obligation?” and continued saying, “It shouldn’t matter where you come from- that’s discrimination”.
“If you want to represent the American people then it should be the American people that pay for your elections, not foreign lobbies” said Ryan Ward (SE).