State of Advocacy: Legislative Update

On today's episode, we are breaking down the 2026 state legislative season and how the landscape affecting nonprofit advocacy is shifting across the country. We are recording this in mid-June, and while most states have wrapped up for the year, not all have, so you are going to want to look at your state to get a sense of what's enacted, what's moving, and what's dead. What we're seeing this year is not just incremental change, but a rapid expansion of state-level regulation over campaign finance, ballot measures, voter access, and increasingly, what we are calling foreign influence laws or national security-style frameworks applied to civil society.   Attorneys for this episode Maggie Ellinger-Locke Susan Finkle Sourlis Natalie Ossenfort   Shownotes Overview ·      This year, 46 states plus DC held legislative sessions. ·      We tracked roughly 1,000 bills that could impact nonprofit advocacy. ·      Of those bills that have now become law, almost half relate to state campaign finance and / or ballot measure processes. ·      Perhaps the biggest story of the 2026 legislative session is the expansion of laws that borrow concepts from national security and apply them to nonprofit advocacy. New Campaign Finance Laws ·      Louisiana increased the threshold triggering disclosure for certain campaign contributions. ·      West Virginia now not only prevents the public disclosure of certain contributor information, but also created a new criminal penalty for violations of the disclosure prohibition. ·      Kansas eliminated the requirement for political committees to disclose the names of vendors when reporting disbursements New Ballot Measure Procedures ·      Ballot measure legislation accounted for 20% of the bills we monitored, about 350 pieces of legislation. Here, we saw 22 laws enacted across 13 states plus DC. ·      Both Wisconsin and Utah now require signature gatherers to be at least 18 y.o. ·      New York now requires legislators to draft questions at an 8th grade reading level or below, and Maryland did something similar. ·      South Dakota eliminated the requirement to place ballot measures on a separate ballot from candidate elections. ·      In Missouri, voters will decide this August whether to approve a change to that state's ballot measure procedures. Currently, in order to pass, measures need a simple statewide majority, but under Amendment 4, a majority in all eight of the state's congressional districts would be required. New Lobbying and Ethics Laws ·      This type of legislation constituted about 13% of all bills we tracked. ·      In Minnesota, certain lobbying communications conveyed to the public must now include a disclaimer to identify the lobbying principal, who is responsible for the communication. Laws Related to Law Enforcement Presence at the Polls and Voting ·      Legislation was enacted in California, Maryland, New Mexico, and Connecticut to restrict law enforcement presence at the polls. ·      The new Connecticut law also removed the statutory list of reasons required to vote absentee, effectively allowing no-excuse absentee voting. It also permits 17-year-olds who will be 18 by election day to vote early or by absentee ballot. ·      Kansas moved up the deadline for early voting. ·      Mississippi now requires ballot counting to be finalized on the night of the election.[SS1] [ME2]  Foreign Influence Laws ·      We made note of 89 such bills filed across 26 states and 12 laws enacted across seven states. ·      Florida enacted a domestic terrorist organization (DTO) designation framework that will allow the state to designate certain groups as terrorist organizations and then criminalize any support those groups receive from that point forward. ·      In Indiana, a new law authorizes the designation of domestic groups and individuals as "affiliates" of federally designated foreign terrorist organizations. The same law creates new investigatory powers for the state AG. ·      Other foreign influence laws we saw enacted this session come out of Alabama, Iowa, Nebraska, and Oklahoma, all of which seek to curb the flow of money into elections from overseas. Takeaways & Reminders ·      Many of the most significant experiments in regulating nonprofit advocacy are now occurring at the state level. ·      Compliance teams should continue to update and refine their review processes to ensure any obligations that could be triggered by state-specific rules are being met. ·      Remember that states differ on when and whether a ballot measure committee must register, what counts as a contribution or expenditure, when disclaimers are required, and what donor disclosure rules apply. These rules are in active evolution. ·      When it comes to foreign influence or terrorist designation laws, states are increasingly willing to experiment with new regulatory frameworks. ·      It is critical to stay informed about developments in your state and remain vigilant to ensure your nonprofit is flexing its advocacy might to the fullest extent possible under the law.