LINCOLN - The state of Nebraska, via the office of Mike Hilgers, Attorney General, has filed a lawsuit against six national nonprofits and a key funder for allegedly funneling more than $10 million into Nebraska ballot initiatives using “foreign money.” The lawsuit traces funds from Swiss billionaire Hansjörg Wyss through a chain of nonprofits—such as Sixteen Thirty Fund, New Venture Fund, Hopewell Fund and The Fairness Project—which then contributed directly to ballot-question campaigns in Nebraska. The state’s 2022 law prohibits foreign nationals from contributing, either directly or indirectly, to ballot-measure campaigns, and the lawsuit asks the court to block future similar contributions.

The related article provides a detailed breakdown of eight Nebraska ballot-measure campaigns from 2018 through 2025 and shows how much of each one’s funding came from the targeted nonprofits. For example, the 2022 “Raise the Wage Nebraska” initiative raised about $3.67 million, of which roughly $2.77 million (about 75 %) came from those nonprofits. Even though the 2022 law took effect in July of that year, many of the contributions occurred before that date, and the state argues that a significant volume of activity post-law also may violate the statute.

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