Law & Principles

Group accused of funneling foreign money involved in Oklahoma minimum-wage campaign

February 10, 2026

Ray Carter

A group accused of funneling foreign money into political campaigns in Nebraska is among the donors to an initiative petition that would effectively outsource control of Oklahoma’s minimum wage policy to officials in states like California, New York, and Illinois.

State Question 832 would mandate annual increases in Oklahoma’s minimum wage based on increases in the cost of living in the nation’s urban centers, as measured by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers.

That would effectively mandate rapid wage increases far above market rates in Oklahoma, based on the cost of living in places like San Francisco and New York City, which are governed by far-left Democratic officials.

An analysis by The State Chamber of Oklahoma and Oklahoma Farm Bureau found SQ 832 could inflate Oklahoma’s minimum wage to $35.61 per hour within 15 years.

In a filing with the Oklahoma Ethics Commission, the Yes On 832 campaign reported that the Hopewell Fund contributed $50,000 to Yes on 832 in the first quarter of 2024.

In November 2025, Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers sued Swiss national Hansjörg Wyss and six Wyss-backed entities, alleging they illegally contributed foreign funds to six Nebraska ballot question committees. Nebraska law makes it “unlawful for a foreign national, directly or indirectly, to make a contribution to a ballot question committee.”

Hilgers said the entities, which included the Hopewell Fund, contributed at least $10 million to Nebraska groups that campaign for ballot initiatives.

“Nebraskans are under an unprecedented assault of foreign money, flowing unlawfully into our state’s elections, which seeks to radically remake Nebraska’s laws and constitution,” Hilgers said in a press release. “This billionaire and his dark-money allies have flaunted the law in Nebraska, and we filed suit to put a stop to these groups who seek to violate Nebraska law while pushing their radical agenda on the people.”

Hilgers accused Wyss of contributing money to two organizations that then passed the money on to groups like the Hopewell Fund, which in turn gave the money to ballot-question campaigns in Nebraska.

The lawsuit alleges that the donations from the nonprofits are an unlawful “indirect” contribution from a foreign national to Nebraska ballot question committees.

Hilgers’s complaint stated, “Hopewell Fund is a dark money group that is a downstream recipient of Wyss-sourced funds. Between 2017 and 2023, Hopewell Fund received $10,478,689 in grants from New Venture Fund for the purpose of ‘civil rights,’ ‘social action,’ and ‘advocacy.’” 

The Nebraska complaint also stated that the Hopewell Fund “in turn has contributed directly to multiple Nebraska ballot question committees. Hopewell Fund has also given grants to Nebraska-based organizations which, in turn, spend that money on contributions to ballot question committees.”

Officials with the Hopewell Fund denied wrongdoing.

According to the Capital Research Center’s Influence Watch, the Hopewell Fund is one of several entities managed by Arabella Advisors, a Washington, D.C.-based consulting firm “that caters to left-leaning clients.”

Influence Watch reported that the Hopewell Fund has previously sponsored “a number of ‘fake’ groups” that operated only during an advocacy campaign with those entities promoting issues such as “expanding abortion access and criticizing President Donald Trump’s healthcare policies.”

Citing the Hopewell Fund’s 2023 Internal Revenue Service Form 990, Influence Watch reported that the Hopewell Fund’s board of directors and officers included Lee Bodner (board chair and president), who is a former managing director for Arabella Advisors, and Andrew Schulz (general counsel), who was also general counsel for Arabella Advisors.

Influence Watch reported that the Hopewell Fund has also funded States Newsroom (formerly the Newsroom Network). Influence Watch noted, “A past job posting by States Newsroom referred to the organization as a ‘progressive political journalism startup.’” States Newsroom operates Oklahoma Voice as a state affiliate.

If SQ 832 becomes law, experts have warned that it will have a significant negative impact on the state economy and job opportunities, as the cost of employing many entry-level workers will quickly exceed the benefits for employers.

During an October study conducted by members of the Oklahoma House of Representatives, Peter Hansen, director of research and policy analysis at the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), warned that the impact of an artificially high wage law would reduce Oklahoma’s GDP by roughly $700 million by 2035 compared to what would happen if no change were made to the state’s minimum-wage law.

He also warned that net job losses were likely in Oklahoma by 2031 and that 16,000 jobs could be lost by 2035 if the state’s minimum-wage law is increased dramatically.

[Swiss billionaire Hansjörg Wyss is pictured above. Photo credit: The Wyss Foundation and Oceana]