Don’t Throw Baby FARA Out with the Bath Water

By: Fred Dombo, Nossaman LLP

It would be easy for a lobbyist to push into the background all the noise regarding burgeoning “Baby FARA” state laws. Glancing at the articles written on these new laws, one could be forgiven for thinking they are just state level versions of a federal law on disclosure of foreign lobbying, which is also widely misunderstood. In fact, the term “Baby FARA” is a bit of a misnomer.

Baby FARA laws are a relatively recent development. Utah and Georgia developed this type of law prior to 2025, and most we are discussing here were introduced in 2025 or later. Many are narrower than FARA in the respect that they are limited to disclosing activities involving a “foreign adversary” or “hostile foreign principal.” Also, Baby FARA laws should be seen as on part of a wider set of efforts to limit foreign-influenced spending and expand transparency requirements.

The state measures differ meaningfully from federal FARA concepts. Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas are narrower because they focus on hostile foreign nations, foreign adversaries, or foreign-adversary-linked clients rather than all foreign principals, but they do not provide the same exemptions available under FARA. Nebraska is closer to FARA because its definition of an agent of a foreign principal mirrors the federal formulation. Oklahoma departs from the foreign-adversary-focused state laws and more closely tracks FARA’s broader coverage. Instead of targeting only hostile foreign nations or foreign adversaries, it reaches compensated efforts to influence state laws or state funding awards for any foreign company or company that is at least 51% foreign-owned or controlled. Oklahoma is narrower than FARA on exemptions, exempting only persons covered by a national security agreement with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States. Covered individuals must register publicly as international corporation agents and disclose the represented corporation and advocacy period. Forthcoming Secretary of State guidance will therefore be important for companies engaged in Oklahoma advocacy.

Here is a sampling of some of these state laws.

Arkansas’s HB1800, signed April 22, 2025, amends campaign finance disclosure laws, strengthens the Arkansas Ethics Commission’s authority, and creates new disclosure obligations for individuals and organizations connected to “hostile foreign principals.” The law focuses on transparency around political and propaganda activities influenced or funded by countries deemed hostile to the United States and Arkansas, including China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran. Representatives of hostile foreign principals must register with the Arkansas Secretary of State within 10 days of becoming representatives, and foreign-supported political organizations must register annually beginning January 31, 2026. Arkansas also authorizes civil penalties of up to $500 per violation and up to $2,000 per violation for willful or repeated violations.

Louisiana’s H.B. 686, effective December 1, 2025, expands lobbying statutes to require additional disclosure when lobbying on behalf of a “foreign adversary” or designated foreign corporation. Lobbyists must file disclosures with the Louisiana Board of Ethics before engaging in covered lobbying, including the lobbyist’s identity, the foreign adversary represented, the adversary’s business activities, and the matters on which lobbying is expected. The law also requires disclosures to be posted in a searchable online portal, authorizes the Board to identify non-filers and late filers publicly, and permits interstate data-sharing to support multi-state enforcement.

Nebraska’s LB644, operative October 1, 2025, is one of the most expansive state measures in this area. The law creates the Foreign Adversary and Terrorist Agent Registration Act, requiring agents of foreign principals to register with the Nebraska Attorney General within 10 days of acting and to make semiannual supplemental filings. It also requires certain informational materials distributed on behalf of a foreign principal to be labeled and filed within 48 hours, requires record preservation for three years, and directs the Attorney General to maintain public access to filings and post monthly online reports. Nebraska further adds measures addressing transnational repression, foreign-adversary-linked contracting, state incentive eligibility, and genetic sequencing technology tied to foreign adversaries. Penalties are significant, including up to $50,000 annually for certain registration violations and up to $1 million per violation for repeat lobbyist or consultant violations involving Chinese military companies.

Texas’s H.B. 119, signed June 20, 2025, expands lobbyist registration to cover direct communications with Texas legislative or executive officials made on behalf of a foreign adversary, foreign adversary client, or foreign adversary political party. The law also prohibits covered lobbyists from receiving or agreeing to receive compensation, including in-kind or intangible compensation, from the foreign adversary, client, or political party they represent. Texas authorizes the Attorney General to seek injunctive relief, civil penalties of up to $10,000 per violation, recovery of unlawfully received compensation, and enforcement costs. The Texas law takes effect September 1, 2025, and applies only to lobbying conduct or compensation occurring on or after that date.

Georgia’s Senate Bill 368, enacted during the 2023–2024 legislative session, strengthens foreign influence controls by prohibiting foreign nationals from contributing to candidates, campaign committees, independent committees, or political action committees. The Georgia law also bars those entities from knowingly accepting such contributions and creates state-level registration and disclosure requirements for agents of foreign principals. Covered agents must register with the State Ethics Commission, file detailed reports, and affirmatively disclose their status when advocating before state agencies or the General Assembly.

Utah’s HB 90, enacted in 2022, overhauls the state’s lobbying and ethics framework with particular attention to lobbying by foreign governments. The law defines a “foreign agent” as a lobbyist under contract with a foreign government, excluding accredited diplomats, and requires such individuals to separately register with the lieutenant governor before lobbying. Registered foreign lobbyists must disclose the foreign governments they represent, update their registration as necessary, and wear badges identifying them as foreign lobbyists when lobbying at the capitol.

Taken together, these laws show that foreign influence compliance is no longer limited to federal registration or national security programs. State legislatures are building their own disclosure frameworks, borrowing from federal concepts such as foreign adversary designations, foreign principal agency, public registration, searchable databases, and enhanced penalties. These frameworks are varied and do not lend themselves to a ‘least common denominator’ advocacy compliance policy. For companies, trade associations, lobbyists, consultants, political organizations, and government contractors, the practical takeaway is clear: compliance planning increasingly requires a state-by-state process to screen foreign ownership, control, funding, to identify when registration, disclosure, or contracting reviews may be triggered. Don’t “sleep like a baby on Baby FARA, or related state level measures.

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Fred Dombo serves as chair of Nossaman's Government Relations & Regulation Group. He combines experience as an aide to Members of the U.S. House of Representatives Committees on Appropriations and

Energy & Commerce with 25 years of private practice to provide clients with cost-effective advice on the legal and political implications of their government relations activities. Fred advises clients on local, state and federal pay-to-play, campaign and lobby laws, gift rules, ethics compliance and investigations. His practice includes counsel to nonprofit advocacy organizations with respect to their general operations, as well as their compliance requirements with Internal Revenue Service regulations and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Fred also serves as a lobbyist for private and public sector clients on authorization and appropriations issues. He speaks widely on ethics and election law reform issues