Bryan Steil

Steil Introduces Comprehensive Campaign Finance Reforms

Position: Chairman Steil introduces two bills to strengthen campaign finance transparency and security by requiring donor identity verification, removing reporting thresholds, and prohibiting foreign nationals from funding election-related activities.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Committee on House Administration Chairman Bryan Steil (WI-01) introduced the Campaign Finance Transparency Act and the Preventing Foreign Interference in American Elections Act. Together, these comprehensive campaign finance reforms will increase transparency and ensure fraudulent and foreign donations cannot influence political campaigns, individual candidates, or electoral outcomes. Both bills will be marked up by the Committee on House Administration later this week. “My investigation into ActBlue has demonstrated that the current campaign finance laws weren’t drafted for the modern era we live in. The major gaps we’ve uncovered are being exploited by fraudsters and foreign nationals to make illegal political donations. For example, right now an individual could make a fraudulent donation online in someone else’s name and avoid getting caught. That’s an unacceptable vulnerability that bad actors are taking advantage of,” said Chairman Steil. “We must increase transparency and update the rules to reflect the technological advances of the 21st century.” The Campaign Finance Transparency Act will: Require the name on a credit or debit card to match the name of the donor Remove the de minimis reporting threshold for donors Require political contributions via credit or debit card to include CVV/CVC number and billing ZIP code Require document verification for donors without U.S. mailing addresses Prohibit contributions via gift cards Prohibit knowingly directing, helping, or assisting any person in making a contribution in the name of another person Require suspected straw donations schemes to be reported to the Federal Election Commission The Preventing Foreign Interference in American Elections Act will: Prohibit foreign nationals from donating for specified election-related activities, including: Voter registration drives; Ballot harvesting; Voter research and polling; Get Out the Vote initiatives; Administration of elections by state or local officials (i.e. Zuckerbucks); Prohibit aiding or facilitating assistance to foreign nationals in making campaign contributions; Prevent federal agencies from collecting or disclosing tax-exempt donor information, subject to specified exceptions (e.g. IRS, House/Senate lobbying disclosures, in certain situations). To read the Campaign Finance Transparency Act click here. To read the Preventing Foreign Interference in American Elections Act click here.

Steil and Wisconsin Congressmen Introduce Fair Air Standards Act, Addressing Ozone Nonattainment, Vehicle Emissions Testing

Position: The congressmen introduced legislation to address ozone nonattainment in Southeastern Wisconsin through revised air quality standards and vehicle emissions testing procedures.

HALES CORNERS, WI – Today, Congressman Bryan Steil (WI-01), Scott Fitzgerald (WI-05), Glenn Grothman (WI-06), and Tom Tiffany (WI-07), introduced the Fair Air Standards Act addressing Southeastern Wisconsin’s classification as an Ozone Nonattainment Area. Image

Steil Introduces Legislation to Rein in the Proxy Advisor Duopoly

Position: Congressman Steil introduces legislation to impose transparency requirements and conflict-of-interest restrictions on proxy advisory firms, arguing that current practices prioritize political agendas over retirees' economic interests.

Washington D.C. - Today, Congressman Bryan Steil (WI-01), introduced the Protecting Americans’ Retirement Savings from Politics Act. This legislation will impose new rules on the proxy advisor duopoly that require strong transparency disclosures and prevent conflicts of interest that have tarnished proxy advice and corrupted corporate governance. Congresswoman Ann Wagner (MO-02) is an original cosponsor of this bill. “Too often, proxy advisors have encouraged votes that run counter to the economic interests of retirees and seniors. Investment advisors and pension funds should be focused on securing your retirement, not advancing their political agenda,” said Steil. “My bill will bring accountability and transparency to the proxy advisor duopoly and help end the politicization of Americans’ retirement funds. I’d like to thank Congresswoman Wagner in joining me on this important legislation." The Protecting Americans’ Retirement Savings from Politics Act will: Provide transparency and accountability to the proxy advisory industry, prohibit robo-voting, prohibit the inherent conflict of interest associated with consulting services, and require proxy advisory firm clients to issue annual public reports on their proxy voting. Require large asset managers to explain how they use proxy advisor recommendations and put their customers’ economic interests first. CLICK HERE for a section by section of the bill. CLICK HERE to read the full bill text. CLICK HERE to watch Steil discuss conflict-of-interest issues in existing securities laws. Background: Roughly 70% of the outstanding shares in publicly traded U.S. companies are held by institutional investors such as mutual funds and pension funds. American families depend on these institutional investors to manage their retirement savings, including voting their shares. However, to save costs, many institutional investors rely on proxy advisory firms for recommendations on how to vote the shares under their control. The market for proxy advice is dominated by two firms, Glass Lewis and Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), which jointly have 97% market share. ISS is a German-owned company and Glass Lewis is owned by Peloton Capital, a private equity fund. Often, these two proxy advisory firms successfully pressure institutional investors to vote contrary to shareholder economic interests and in support of woke political initiatives. Steil previously introduced similar legislation in the 118th Congress, where it passed by a vote of 215-203.

Steil Announces Loan Funding for Janesville-Based SHINE

Janesville, WI - Today, Congressman Bryan Steil (WI-01), announced that the Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Energy Dominance Financing will award SHINE Chrysalis, LLC in Janesville, WI a $263 million loan to support the construction of a new medical manufacturing facility in Janesville. The facility will use fusion and fission technology to provide a secure domestic supply of Molybdenum-99 (Mo-99), a medical isotope used in life-saving diagnostic imaging. Once completed, this will be the largest such facility in the world. In May and September of 2025, Steil wrote to DOE Secretary Chris Wright regarding SHINE’s innovative work on Mo-99 and the importance of the Chrysalis project. He emphasized the need for strong public-private partnerships in building domestic manufacturing. Following the announcement, Steil released the following statement: “American supply chains ensure healthcare workers and patients have access to the lifesaving tools they need to identify and fight diseases like cancer and heart disease. This critical work to save lives will now be done right here in Janesville," said Steil. "Thank you, Secretary Wright and the Department of Energy for investing in Wisconsin and congratulations to SHINE on receiving this loan." Learn more about DOE's work on Mo-99 supply chains here.

Steil-Led Housing Affordability Legislation Passes the House

Washington, DC – This week, the House of Representatives voted to pass the Housing for the 21st Century Act (H.R. 6644), which includes the Accelerating Home Building Act (H.R. 5907), a bill co-led by Congressman Bryan Steil (WI-01) and Congresswoman Janelle Bynum (OR-05), on a vote of 390-9. “Housing costs have doubled over the last eight years in Wisconsin, making homeownership out of reach for many families," said Steil. "By cutting through red tape and empowering local decision makers to increase supply, we can reduce costs and make it easier for families to purchase a home." Housing costs continue to rise due to a lack of supply, workforce shortages, and costly government regulations. These costs have put homeownership out of reach for many families. The Accelerating Home Building Act creates a grant program within the Department of Housing and Urban Development to help towns and cities implement pattern zoning, a process for architects and local governments to develop "pattern books" full of pre-approved, standardized plans and designs for use in their communities. This process tackles housing affordability by reducing red tape, lowering design costs, streamlining zoning approvals, and accelerating construction timelines. CLICK HERE to read the Housing for the 21st Century Act. CLICK HERE for a one pager on the bill.

Steil Introduces Election Reform Package

Position: Congressman Steil advocates for a comprehensive election reform package that establishes federal baseline requirements for state election administration, including photo voter ID, citizenship verification, voter roll maintenance, paper ballot auditing, and restrictions on mail-in voting and ranked-choice voting.

Washington, DC - Today, Congressman Bryan Steil (WI-01), Chairman of the House Administration Committee, unveiled a comprehensive package of election reforms. His bill, the Make Elections Great Again (MEGA) Act, puts baseline requirements in place for state election administration. "Americans should be confident their elections are being run with integrity - including commonsense voter ID requirements, clean voter rolls, and citizenship verification," said Steil. "These reforms will improve voter confidence, bolster election integrity, and make it easy to vote, but hard to cheat." Here's what others are saying about the MEGA Act: "Fair and verifiable elections are the bedrock of our democracy and the MEGA Act would restore confidence in our elections and make them safer," said MacIver CEO Annette Olson. "MacIver has led the charge to bring election reform to Wisconsin and we are pleased to see Congressman Steil put forward such strong legislation in Congress." "I’ve spent the last decade registering voters across the country and empowering Americans to vote. Without fair elections, we aren’t a free nation," said Scott Presler, founder of Early Vote Action. "Thank you to Chairman Steil for his leadership on comprehensive election reform. Let’s make elections great again!" “The bill gives clear guidance where the original law in 1993 failed – states have an obligation to have clean voter rolls. 25,000 dead registrants in Michigan or voters supposedly living in Vegas casinos will no longer be acceptable. This bill will bring clarity to voter roll maintenance obligations under the NVRA,” said J. Christian Adams, President of the Public Interest Legal Foundation and Commissioner on the Unites States Commission of Civil Rights. "I applaud Chairman Steil for leading efforts to reform and modernize our elections system. For too long, federal laws — especially those governing voter list maintenance — have hampered states that are serious about improving election security and enabled those that are not. Reform is long overdue," said Justin Riemer, President & CEO, Restoring Integrity and Trust in Elections (RITE).* The legislation, which will be introduced during the House's Friday pro-forma session, will: Require photo identification to vote Require states to verify citizenship of individuals when registering to vote Implement stronger routine voter list maintenance requirements in states Require mail-in ballots to be received by the close of polls on election day Require states to use auditable paper ballots Ban ballot harvesting Ban ranked choice voting Ban universal vote by mail *Title for ID purposes only Read the full bill text here. Background: The Committee on House Administration has oversight authority of federal elections. Chairman Steil previously introduced the American Confidence in Elections (ACE) Act during the 118th Congress.