SF 931

1st Engrossment - 83rd Legislature (2003 - 2004) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to campaign finance; clarifying certain 
  1.3             terms; requiring assumption of certain obligations; 
  1.4             changing certain expenditure, contribution, and 
  1.5             reporting requirements; providing additional civil 
  1.6             penalties; repealing obsolete and duplicative rules; 
  1.7             amending Minnesota Statutes 2002, sections 10A.01, 
  1.8             subdivision 18; 10A.08; 10A.20, subdivision 5; 10A.24, 
  1.9             subdivision 2; 10A.25, subdivision 2; 10A.27, 
  1.10            subdivision 1; 10A.28, subdivision 2; 10A.31, 
  1.11            subdivisions 6, 7; 10A.323; repealing Minnesota Rules, 
  1.12            parts 4501.0300, subpart 4; 4501.0600; 4503.0200, 
  1.13            subpart 4; 4503.0300, subpart 2; 4503.0400, subpart 2; 
  1.14            4503.0500, subpart 9; 4503.0800, subpart 1. 
  1.15  BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.16     Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 10A.01, 
  1.17  subdivision 18, is amended to read: 
  1.18     Subd. 18.  [INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURE.] "Independent 
  1.19  expenditure" means an expenditure expressly advocating the 
  1.20  election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate, if the 
  1.21  expenditure is made without the express or implied consent, 
  1.22  authorization, or cooperation of, and not in concert with or at 
  1.23  the request or suggestion of, any candidate or any candidate's 
  1.24  principal campaign committee or agent.  An independent 
  1.25  expenditure is not a contribution to that candidate.  
  1.26     The following are not independent expenditures: 
  1.27     (1) an expenditure by a political party or political party 
  1.28  unit in a race where the political party has a candidate on the 
  1.29  ballot is not an independent expenditure; and 
  1.30     (2) an expenditure for a communication or material created 
  2.1   wholly or partially from material that was originally designed, 
  2.2   produced, distributed, or paid for by the candidate or the 
  2.3   candidate's principal campaign committee and that was sold or 
  2.4   provided to the person making the expenditure by the candidate, 
  2.5   the candidate's principal campaign committee, or an agent of the 
  2.6   candidate or committee. 
  2.7      Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 10A.08, is 
  2.8   amended to read: 
  2.9      10A.08 [REPRESENTATION DISCLOSURE.] 
  2.10     A public official who represents a client for a fee before 
  2.11  an individual, board, commission, or agency that has rulemaking 
  2.12  authority in a hearing conducted under chapter 14, must disclose 
  2.13  the official's participation in the action to the board within 
  2.14  14 days after the appearance.  The board must send a notice by 
  2.15  certified mail to any public official who fails to disclose the 
  2.16  participation within 14 days after the appearance.  If the 
  2.17  public official fails to disclose the participation within ten 
  2.18  business days after the notice was sent, the board may impose a 
  2.19  late filing fee of $5 per day, not to exceed $100, starting on 
  2.20  the 11th day after the notice was sent.  The board must send an 
  2.21  additional notice by certified mail to any public official who 
  2.22  fails to disclose the participation within 14 days after the 
  2.23  first notice was sent by the board that the public official may 
  2.24  be subject to a civil penalty for failure to disclose the 
  2.25  participation.  A public official who fails to disclose the 
  2.26  participation within seven days after the second notice was sent 
  2.27  by the board is subject to a civil penalty imposed by the board 
  2.28  of up to $1,000. 
  2.29     Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 10A.20, 
  2.30  subdivision 5, is amended to read: 
  2.31     Subd. 5.  [PREELECTION REPORTS.] In a statewide election 
  2.32  Any loan, contribution, or contributions from any one source 
  2.33  totaling $2,000 or more $1,500 or more to a candidate for 
  2.34  governor or supreme court justice, $750 or more to a candidate 
  2.35  for attorney general or appeals court judge, or $400 or more for 
  2.36  a candidate for secretary of state, state auditor, or in any 
  3.1   judicial district judge, or legislative election totaling more 
  3.2   than $400 state legislator, received between the last day 
  3.3   covered in the last report before an election and the election 
  3.4   must be reported to the board in one of the following ways: 
  3.5      (1) in person within 48 hours after its receipt; 
  3.6      (2) by telegram or mailgram within 48 hours after its 
  3.7   receipt; or 
  3.8      (3) by certified mail sent within 48 hours after its 
  3.9   receipt. 
  3.10     These loans and contributions must also be reported in the 
  3.11  next required report. 
  3.12     The 48-hour notice requirement does not apply with respect 
  3.13  to a primary in which the statewide or legislative candidate is 
  3.14  unopposed. 
  3.15     Sec. 4.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 10A.24, 
  3.16  subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
  3.17     Subd. 2.  [TERMINATION ALLOWED.] Notwithstanding 
  3.18  subdivision 1, a committee, fund, or party unit that has debts 
  3.19  incurred more than six years previously, has disposed of all its 
  3.20  assets, and has met the requirements of section 10A.20, 
  3.21  subdivision 7, may notify any remaining creditors by certified 
  3.22  mail and then file a termination report. 
  3.23     A candidate who terminates a committee and within four 
  3.24  years registers a new committee for the same office must assume 
  3.25  any unpaid liabilities of the previous committee and 
  3.26  continuously report the obligations until they are paid or 
  3.27  forgiven. 
  3.28     Sec. 5.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 10A.25, 
  3.29  subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
  3.30     Subd. 2.  [AMOUNTS.] (a) In a year in which an election is 
  3.31  held for an office sought by a candidate, the principal campaign 
  3.32  committee of the candidate must not make campaign 
  3.33  expenditures nor or permit approved expenditures to be made on 
  3.34  behalf of the candidate that result in aggregate expenditures in 
  3.35  excess of the following: 
  3.36     (1) for governor and lieutenant governor, running together, 
  4.1   $2,188,090; 
  4.2      (2) for attorney general, $364,690; 
  4.3      (3) for secretary of state and state auditor, separately, 
  4.4   $182,350; 
  4.5      (4) for state senator, $54,740; or 
  4.6      (5) for state representative, $27,380. 
  4.7      (b) In addition to the amount in paragraph (a), clause (1), 
  4.8   a candidate for endorsement for the office of lieutenant 
  4.9   governor at the convention of a political party may make 
  4.10  campaign expenditures and approved expenditures of five percent 
  4.11  of that amount to seek endorsement.  
  4.12     (c) If a special election cycle occurs during a general 
  4.13  election cycle, expenditures by or on behalf of a candidate in 
  4.14  the special election do not count as expenditures by or on 
  4.15  behalf of the candidate in the general election. 
  4.16     (d) The expenditure limits in this subdivision for an 
  4.17  office are increased by ten percent for a candidate who is 
  4.18  running for that office for the first time and who has not run 
  4.19  previously for any other office whose territory now includes a 
  4.20  population that is more than one-third of the population in the 
  4.21  territory of the new office. 
  4.22     Sec. 6.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 10A.27, 
  4.23  subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  4.24     Subdivision 1.  [CONTRIBUTION LIMITS.] (a) Except as 
  4.25  provided in subdivision 2, a candidate must not permit the 
  4.26  candidate's principal campaign committee to accept aggregate 
  4.27  contributions made or delivered by any individual, political 
  4.28  committee, or political fund in excess of the following: 
  4.29     (1) to candidates for governor and lieutenant governor 
  4.30  running together, $2,000 in an election year for the office 
  4.31  sought and $500 in other years; 
  4.32     (2) to a candidate for attorney general, $1,000 in an 
  4.33  election year for the office sought and $200 in other years; 
  4.34     (3) to a candidate for the office of secretary of state or 
  4.35  state auditor, $500 in an election year for the office sought 
  4.36  and $100 in other years; 
  5.1      (4) to a candidate for state senator, $500 in an election 
  5.2   year for the office sought and $100 in other years; and 
  5.3      (5) to a candidate for state representative, $500 in an 
  5.4   election year for the office sought and $100 in the other year. 
  5.5      (b) The following deliveries are not subject to the 
  5.6   bundling limitation in this subdivision: 
  5.7      (1) delivery of contributions collected by a member of the 
  5.8   candidate's principal campaign committee, such as a block worker 
  5.9   or a volunteer who hosts a fund-raising event, to the 
  5.10  committee's treasurer; and 
  5.11     (2) a delivery made by an individual on behalf of the 
  5.12  individual's spouse.  
  5.13     (c) A lobbyist, political committee, political party unit, 
  5.14  or political fund must not make a contribution a candidate is 
  5.15  prohibited from accepting. 
  5.16     Sec. 7.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 10A.28, 
  5.17  subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
  5.18     Subd. 2.  [EXCEEDING CONTRIBUTION LIMITS.] A lobbyist, 
  5.19  political committee, political fund, political party unit, or 
  5.20  principal campaign committee that makes a contribution, or a 
  5.21  candidate who permits the candidate's principal campaign 
  5.22  committee to accept contributions, in excess of the limits 
  5.23  imposed by section 10A.27 is subject to a civil penalty of up to 
  5.24  four times the amount by which the contribution exceeded the 
  5.25  limits. 
  5.26     Sec. 8.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 10A.31, 
  5.27  subdivision 6, is amended to read: 
  5.28     Subd. 6.  [DISTRIBUTION OF PARTY ACCOUNTS.] As soon as the 
  5.29  board has obtained from the secretary of state the results of 
  5.30  the primary election, but no later than one week after 
  5.31  certification by the state canvassing board of the results of 
  5.32  the primary, the board must distribute the available money in 
  5.33  each party account, as certified by the commissioner of revenue 
  5.34  on September 1, to the candidates of that party who have signed 
  5.35  a spending limit agreement under section 10A.322, filed the 
  5.36  preprimary report of receipts and expenditures required by 
  6.1   section 10A.20, and filed the affidavit of contributions 
  6.2   required by section 10A.323, who were opposed in either the 
  6.3   primary election or the general election, and whose names are to 
  6.4   appear on the ballot in the general election, according to the 
  6.5   allocations set forth in subdivisions 5 and 5a.  The public 
  6.6   subsidy from the party account may not be paid in an amount 
  6.7   greater than the expenditure limit of the candidate or the 
  6.8   expenditure limit that would have applied to the candidate if 
  6.9   the candidate had not been freed from expenditure limits under 
  6.10  section 10A.25, subdivision 10.  If a candidate files the 
  6.11  affidavit required by section 10A.323 after September 1 of the 
  6.12  general election year, the board must pay the candidate's 
  6.13  allocation to the candidate at the next regular payment date for 
  6.14  public subsidies for that election cycle that occurs at least 15 
  6.15  days after the candidate files the affidavit. the preprimary 
  6.16  report does not show enough contributions to support an 
  6.17  affidavit of contributions, the candidate must include, when the 
  6.18  affidavit is filed, a list with the name and address of each 
  6.19  individual who made any contribution toward the affidavit 
  6.20  amount.  The list of contributors is private data on individuals 
  6.21  as that term is defined in section 13.02. 
  6.22     Sec. 9.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 10A.31, 
  6.23  subdivision 7, is amended to read: 
  6.24     Subd. 7.  [DISTRIBUTION OF GENERAL ACCOUNT.] (a) As soon as 
  6.25  the board has obtained the results of the primary election from 
  6.26  the secretary of state, but no later than one week after 
  6.27  certification of the primary results by the state canvassing 
  6.28  board, the board must distribute the available money in the 
  6.29  general account, as certified by the commissioner of revenue on 
  6.30  September 1 and according to allocations set forth in 
  6.31  subdivision 5, in equal amounts to all candidates of a major 
  6.32  political party whose names are to appear on the ballot in the 
  6.33  general election and who: 
  6.34     (1) have signed a spending limit agreement under section 
  6.35  10A.322; 
  6.36     (2) have filed the preprimary report of receipts and 
  7.1   expenditures required by section 10A.20; 
  7.2      (3) have filed the affidavit of contributions required by 
  7.3   section 10A.323; and 
  7.4      (3) (4) were opposed in either the primary election or the 
  7.5   general election.  
  7.6      (b) The public subsidy under this subdivision may not be 
  7.7   paid in an amount that would cause the sum of the public subsidy 
  7.8   paid from the party account plus the public subsidy paid from 
  7.9   the general account to exceed 50 percent of the expenditure 
  7.10  limit for the candidate or 50 percent of the expenditure limit 
  7.11  that would have applied to the candidate if the candidate had 
  7.12  not been freed from expenditure limits under section 10A.25, 
  7.13  subdivision 10.  Money from the general account not paid to a 
  7.14  candidate because of the 50 percent limit must be distributed 
  7.15  equally among all other qualifying candidates for the same 
  7.16  office until all have reached the 50 percent limit or the 
  7.17  balance in the general account is exhausted. 
  7.18     (c) A candidate must expend or become obligated to expend 
  7.19  at least an amount equal to 50 percent of the money distributed 
  7.20  by the board under this subdivision no later than the end of the 
  7.21  final reporting period preceding the general election.  
  7.22  Otherwise, the candidate must repay to the board the difference 
  7.23  between the amount the candidate spent or became obligated to 
  7.24  spend by the deadline and the amount distributed to the 
  7.25  candidate under this subdivision.  The candidate must make the 
  7.26  repayment no later than six months following the general 
  7.27  election.  The candidate must reimburse the board for all 
  7.28  reasonable costs, including litigation costs, incurred in 
  7.29  collecting any amount due. 
  7.30     If the board determines that a candidate has failed to 
  7.31  repay money as required by this paragraph, the board may not 
  7.32  distribute any additional money to the candidate until the 
  7.33  entirety of the repayment has been made. 
  7.34     Sec. 10.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 10A.323, is 
  7.35  amended to read: 
  7.36     10A.323 [AFFIDAVIT OF CONTRIBUTIONS.] 
  8.1      In addition to the requirements of section 10A.322, to be 
  8.2   eligible to receive a public subsidy under section 10A.31 a 
  8.3   candidate or the candidate's treasurer must file an affidavit 
  8.4   with the board stating that during that calendar year the 
  8.5   candidate has accumulated contributions from persons eligible to 
  8.6   vote in this state in at least the amount indicated for the 
  8.7   office sought, counting only the first $50 received from each 
  8.8   contributor: 
  8.9      (1) candidates for governor and lieutenant governor running 
  8.10  together, $35,000; 
  8.11     (2) candidates for attorney general, $15,000; 
  8.12     (3) candidates for secretary of state and state auditor, 
  8.13  separately, $6,000; 
  8.14     (4) candidates for the senate, $3,000; and 
  8.15     (5) candidates for the house of representatives, $1,500. 
  8.16     The affidavit must state the total amount of contributions 
  8.17  that have been received from persons eligible to vote in this 
  8.18  state, disregarding the portion of any contribution in excess of 
  8.19  $50.  
  8.20     The candidate or the candidate's treasurer must submit the 
  8.21  affidavit required by this section to the board in writing by 
  8.22  September 1 of the general election year.  
  8.23     A candidate for a vacancy to be filled at a special 
  8.24  election for which the filing period does not coincide with the 
  8.25  filing period for the general election must submit the affidavit 
  8.26  required by this section to the board within five days after 
  8.27  filing the affidavit of candidacy.  For purposes of this 
  8.28  section, a candidate in a special election for the house of 
  8.29  representatives must raise at least $500 and a candidate in a 
  8.30  special election for the senate must raise at least $1,000. 
  8.31     Sec. 11.  [REPEAL OF OBSOLETE OR DUPLICATIVE RULES.] 
  8.32     Minnesota Rules, parts 4501.0300, subpart 4; 4501.0600; 
  8.33  4503.0200, subpart 4; 4503.0300, subpart 2; 4503.0400, subpart 
  8.34  2; 4503.0500, subpart 9; and 4503.0800, subpart 1, are repealed.