1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to campaign finance; requiring the Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure 
1.3 	Board to conduct a study and administer a pilot project related to use of the 
1.4 	campaign finance reporting software by local candidates; requiring a report.
1.5 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.6 	Section 1. LOCAL CAMPAIGN FINANCE REPORTING STUDY AND PILOT 
1.7 	PROJECT; REPORT.
 1.8 		Subdivision 1.Feasibility study. The Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board 
1.9 	must study the feasibility of permitting candidates for local office to use the board's reporting 
1.10 	software to organize and track contributions, expenditures, and other data necessary to file 
1.11 	reports required by Minnesota Statutes, chapter 211A. The study may assume that a 
1.12 	candidate's obligation to file reports with the appropriate local filing officer will remain 
1.13 	unchanged and that the board will have no jurisdiction over the candidate's activities or 
1.14 	compliance with the reporting requirements.
1.15 		Subd. 2.Pilot project. As part of the study required by this section, the board must 
1.16 	conduct a pilot project that permits candidates in at least four local jurisdictions conducting 
1.17 	a general election in 2028 to use the software. The jurisdictions selected must include at 
1.18 	least one county election, one city election, and one school district election, and at least half 
1.19 	of the jurisdictions must be located outside of the seven-county metropolitan area.
1.20 		Subd. 3.Required report. The board must submit a report to the chairs and ranking 
1.21 	minority members of the legislative committees with jurisdiction over elections describing 
1.22 	the results of the study, and any associated recommendations, no later than March 15, 2029.

1.23 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective the day following final enactment.