SF 3399

as introduced - 81st Legislature (1999 - 2000) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to elections, eliminating certain 
  1.3             contribution limits; changing certain contribution 
  1.4             reporting requirements; requiring on-line disclosure 
  1.5             of certain reports; appropriating money; amending 
  1.6             Minnesota Statutes 1999 Supplement, sections 10A.02, 
  1.7             by adding a subdivision; 10A.20, subdivision 3; 
  1.8             10A.27, subdivisions 1 and 11; repealing Minnesota 
  1.9             Statutes 1999 Supplement, section 10A.27, subdivision 
  1.10            10. 
  1.11  BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.12     Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1999 Supplement, section 
  1.13  10A.02, is amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  1.14     Subd. 8a.  [ONLINE CAMPAIGN FINANCE REPORTS.] The board 
  1.15  must make available on the World Wide Web any campaign reports 
  1.16  required by section 10A.20 of filers who have raised over $5,000 
  1.17  in a calendar year.  The reports made available under this 
  1.18  subdivision must not include any part of the filer's address 
  1.19  except the zip code. 
  1.20     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1999 Supplement, section 
  1.21  10A.20, subdivision 3, is amended to read: 
  1.22     Subd. 3.  [CONTENTS OF REPORT.] (a) The report must 
  1.23  disclose the amount of liquid assets on hand at the beginning of 
  1.24  the reporting period.  
  1.25     (b) The report must disclose the name, address, and 
  1.26  employer, or occupation if self-employed, of each individual or 
  1.27  association that has made one or more contributions to the 
  1.28  reporting entity, including the purchase of tickets for a 
  2.1   fund-raising effort, that in aggregate within the year exceed 
  2.2   $100 $50 for legislative or statewide candidates or ballot 
  2.3   questions, together with the amount and date of each 
  2.4   contribution, and the aggregate amount of contributions within 
  2.5   the year from each source so disclosed.  A donation in kind must 
  2.6   be disclosed at its fair market value.  An approved expenditure 
  2.7   must be listed as a donation in kind.  A donation in kind is 
  2.8   considered consumed in the reporting period in which it is 
  2.9   received.  The names of contributors must be listed in 
  2.10  alphabetical order.  Contributions from the same contributor 
  2.11  must be listed under the same name.  When a contribution 
  2.12  received from a contributor in a reporting period is added to 
  2.13  previously reported unitemized contributions from the same 
  2.14  contributor and the aggregate exceeds the disclosure threshold 
  2.15  of this paragraph, the name, address, and employer, or 
  2.16  occupation if self-employed, of the contributor must then be 
  2.17  listed on the report. 
  2.18     (c) The report must disclose the sum of contributions to 
  2.19  the reporting entity during the reporting period.  
  2.20     (d) The report must disclose each loan made or received by 
  2.21  the reporting entity within the year in aggregate in excess of 
  2.22  $100 $50, continuously reported until repaid or forgiven, 
  2.23  together with the name, address, occupation, and principal place 
  2.24  of business, if any, of the lender and any endorser and the date 
  2.25  and amount of the loan.  If a loan made to the principal 
  2.26  campaign committee of a candidate is forgiven or is repaid by an 
  2.27  entity other than that principal campaign committee, it must be 
  2.28  reported as a contribution for the year in which the loan was 
  2.29  made.  
  2.30     (e) The report must disclose each receipt over $100 $50 
  2.31  during the reporting period not otherwise listed under 
  2.32  paragraphs (b) to (d).  
  2.33     (f) The report must disclose the sum of all receipts of the 
  2.34  reporting entity during the reporting period.  
  2.35     (g) The report must disclose the name and address of each 
  2.36  individual or association to whom aggregate expenditures, 
  3.1   including approved expenditures, have been made by or on behalf 
  3.2   of the reporting entity within the year in excess of $100, 
  3.3   together with the amount, date, and purpose of each expenditure 
  3.4   and the name and address of, and office sought by, each 
  3.5   candidate on whose behalf the expenditure was made, 
  3.6   identification of the ballot question that the expenditure was 
  3.7   intended to promote or defeat, and in the case of independent 
  3.8   expenditures made in opposition to a candidate, the candidate's 
  3.9   name, address, and office sought.  A reporting entity making an 
  3.10  expenditure on behalf of more than one candidate for state or 
  3.11  legislative office must allocate the expenditure among the 
  3.12  candidates on a reasonable cost basis and report the allocation 
  3.13  for each candidate. 
  3.14     (h) The report must disclose the sum of all expenditures 
  3.15  made by or on behalf of the reporting entity during the 
  3.16  reporting period.  
  3.17     (i) The report must disclose the amount and nature of an 
  3.18  advance of credit incurred by the reporting entity, continuously 
  3.19  reported until paid or forgiven.  If an advance of credit 
  3.20  incurred by the principal campaign committee of a candidate is 
  3.21  forgiven by the creditor or paid by an entity other than that 
  3.22  principal campaign committee, it must be reported as a donation 
  3.23  in kind for the year in which the advance of credit was made. 
  3.24     (j) The report must disclose the name and address of each 
  3.25  political committee, political fund, principal campaign 
  3.26  committee, or party unit to which contributions have been made 
  3.27  that aggregate in excess of $100 within the year and the amount 
  3.28  and date of each contribution. 
  3.29     (k) The report must disclose the sum of all contributions 
  3.30  made by the reporting entity during the reporting period.  
  3.31     (l) The report must disclose the name and address of each 
  3.32  individual or association to whom noncampaign disbursements have 
  3.33  been made that aggregate in excess of $100 within the year by or 
  3.34  on behalf of the reporting entity and the amount, date, and 
  3.35  purpose of each noncampaign disbursement.  
  3.36     (m) The report must disclose the sum of all noncampaign 
  4.1   disbursements made within the year by or on behalf of the 
  4.2   reporting entity.  
  4.3      (n) The report must disclose the name and address of a 
  4.4   nonprofit corporation that provides administrative assistance to 
  4.5   a political committee or political fund as authorized by section 
  4.6   211B.15, subdivision 17, the type of administrative assistance 
  4.7   provided, and the aggregate fair market value of each type of 
  4.8   assistance provided to the political committee or political fund 
  4.9   during the reporting period.  
  4.10     Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 1999 Supplement, section 
  4.11  10A.27, subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  4.12     Subdivision 1.  [CONTRIBUTION LIMITS.] (a) Except as 
  4.13  provided in subdivision 2, a candidate must not permit the 
  4.14  candidate's principal campaign committee to accept aggregate 
  4.15  contributions made or delivered by any individual, political 
  4.16  committee, or political fund in excess of the following: 
  4.17     (1) to candidates for governor and lieutenant governor 
  4.18  running together, $2,000 in an election year for the office 
  4.19  sought and $500 in other years; 
  4.20     (2) to a candidate for attorney general, $1,000 in an 
  4.21  election year for the office sought and $200 in other years; 
  4.22     (3) to a candidate for the office of secretary of state or 
  4.23  state auditor, $500 in an election year for the office sought 
  4.24  and $100 in other years; 
  4.25     (4) to a candidate for state senator, $500 in an election 
  4.26  year for the office sought and $100 in other years; and 
  4.27     (5) to a candidate for state representative, $500 in an 
  4.28  election year for the office sought and $100 in the other year. 
  4.29     (b) The following deliveries are not subject to the 
  4.30  bundling limitation in this subdivision: 
  4.31     (1) Delivery of contributions collected by a member of the 
  4.32  candidate's principal campaign committee, such as a block worker 
  4.33  or a volunteer who hosts a fund raising event, to the 
  4.34  committee's treasurer; and 
  4.35     (2) a delivery made by an individual on behalf of the 
  4.36  individual's spouse is not subject to the bundling limitation in 
  5.1   this subdivision.  
  5.2      (c) Contributions by individuals are not subject to the 
  5.3   contribution limits in this section. 
  5.4      Sec. 4.  Minnesota Statutes 1999 Supplement, section 
  5.5   10A.27, subdivision 11, is amended to read: 
  5.6      Subd. 11.  [CONTRIBUTIONS FROM CERTAIN TYPES OF 
  5.7   CONTRIBUTORS.] A candidate must not permit the candidate's 
  5.8   principal campaign committee to accept a contribution from a 
  5.9   political committee, political fund, or lobbyist, or large 
  5.10  contributor, if the contribution will cause the aggregate 
  5.11  contributions from those types of contributors to exceed an 
  5.12  amount equal to 20 percent of the expenditure limits for the 
  5.13  office sought by the candidate.  For purposes of this 
  5.14  subdivision, "large contributor" means an individual, other than 
  5.15  the candidate, who contributes an amount that is more than $100 
  5.16  and more than one-half the amount an individual may contribute. 
  5.17     Sec. 5.  [APPROPRIATION.] 
  5.18     $2,000,000 is appropriated from the general fund to the 
  5.19  board of campaign finance and public disclosure for the design 
  5.20  and implementation of a system of reporting on the World Wide 
  5.21  Web as required by section 1.  This appropriation is available 
  5.22  until June 30, 2001. 
  5.23     Sec. 6.  [REPEALER.] 
  5.24     Minnesota Statutes 1999 Supplement, section 10A.27, 
  5.25  subdivision 10, is repealed.