LINCOLN — Nebraska is suing six national nonprofits and a key funder of the organizations, alleging he and the groups illegally spent more than $10 million boosting progressive state ballot initiatives with “foreign money.”

It is the first time the state has sued under a 2022 law the Legislature passed banning foreign nationals from funding ballot question campaigns in Nebraska.

State Attorney General Mike Hilgers, a Republican, announced Wednesday that his civil attorneys had traced money from Swiss billionaire Hansjörg Wyss given to American nonprofit organizations and found that they had helped seven ballot initiatives by passing the donated money through local nonprofit groups that advocate for related issues in the state.

The national nonprofits named in the lawsuit are the Wyss Fo

See Full Page