SF 840

2nd Engrossment - 79th Legislature (1995 - 1996) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to elections; campaign finance; changing the 
  1.3             treatment of spending limits and public subsidy in 
  1.4             certain cases; changing certain exemptions and 
  1.5             reporting requirements; amending Minnesota Statutes 
  1.6             1994, section 10A.20, subdivision 3; 10A.25, 
  1.7             subdivision 10; and 211B.15, subdivision 15, and by 
  1.8             adding a subdivision; repealing Minnesota Statutes 
  1.9             1994, section 10A.324, subdivision 5. 
  1.10  BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.11     Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 10A.20, 
  1.12  subdivision 3, is amended to read: 
  1.13     Subd. 3.  [CONTENTS OF REPORT.] Each report under this 
  1.14  section shall disclose: 
  1.15     (a) The amount of liquid assets on hand at the beginning of 
  1.16  the reporting period; 
  1.17     (b) The name, address and employer, or occupation if 
  1.18  self-employed, of each individual, political committee or 
  1.19  political fund who within the year has made one or more 
  1.20  transfers or donations in kind to the political committee or 
  1.21  political fund, including the purchase of tickets for all fund 
  1.22  raising efforts, which in aggregate exceed $100 for legislative 
  1.23  or statewide candidates or ballot questions, together with the 
  1.24  amount and date of each transfer or donation in kind, and the 
  1.25  aggregate amount of transfers and donations in kind within the 
  1.26  year from each source so disclosed.  A donation in kind shall be 
  1.27  disclosed at its fair market value.  An approved expenditure is 
  2.1   listed as a donation in kind.  A donation in kind is considered 
  2.2   consumed in the reporting period in which it is received.  The 
  2.3   names of contributors shall be listed in alphabetical order; 
  2.4      (c) The sum of contributions to the political committee or 
  2.5   political fund during the reporting period; 
  2.6      (d) Each loan made or received by the political committee 
  2.7   or political fund within the year in aggregate in excess of 
  2.8   $100, continuously reported until repaid or forgiven, together 
  2.9   with the name, address, occupation and the principal place of 
  2.10  business, if any, of the lender and any endorser and the date 
  2.11  and amount of the loan.  If any loan made to the principal 
  2.12  campaign committee of a candidate is forgiven at any time or 
  2.13  repaid by any entity other than that principal campaign 
  2.14  committee, it shall be reported as a contribution for the year 
  2.15  in which the loan was made; 
  2.16     (e) Each receipt in excess of $100 not otherwise listed 
  2.17  under clauses (b) to (d); 
  2.18     (f) The sum of all receipts of the political committee or 
  2.19  political fund during the reporting period; 
  2.20     (g) The name and address of each individual or association 
  2.21  to whom aggregate expenditures, including approved expenditures, 
  2.22  have been made by or on behalf of the political committee or 
  2.23  political fund within the year in excess of $100, together with 
  2.24  the amount, date and purpose of each expenditure and the name 
  2.25  and address of, and office sought by, each candidate on whose 
  2.26  behalf the expenditure was made, identification of the ballot 
  2.27  question which the expenditure is intended to promote or defeat, 
  2.28  and in the case of independent expenditures made in opposition 
  2.29  to a candidate, the name, address and office sought for each 
  2.30  such candidate; 
  2.31     (h) The sum of all expenditures made by or on behalf of the 
  2.32  political committee or political fund during the reporting 
  2.33  period; 
  2.34     (i) The amount and nature of any advance of credit incurred 
  2.35  by the political committee or political fund, continuously 
  2.36  reported until paid or forgiven.  If any advance of credit 
  3.1   incurred by the principal campaign committee of a candidate is 
  3.2   forgiven at any time by the creditor or paid by any entity other 
  3.3   than that principal campaign committee, it shall be reported as 
  3.4   a donation in kind for the year in which the advance of credit 
  3.5   was incurred; 
  3.6      (j) The name and address of each political committee, 
  3.7   political fund, or principal campaign committee to which 
  3.8   aggregate transfers in excess of $100 have been made within the 
  3.9   year, together with the amount and date of each transfer; 
  3.10     (k) The sum of all transfers made by the political 
  3.11  committee, political fund, or principal campaign committee 
  3.12  during the reporting period; 
  3.13     (l) Except for contributions to a candidate or committee 
  3.14  for a candidate for office in a municipality as defined in 
  3.15  section 471.345, subdivision 1, the name and address of each 
  3.16  individual or association to whom aggregate noncampaign 
  3.17  disbursements in excess of $100 have been made within the year 
  3.18  by or on behalf of a principal campaign committee, political 
  3.19  committee, or political fund, together with the amount, date, 
  3.20  and purpose of each noncampaign disbursement; 
  3.21     (m) The sum of all noncampaign disbursements made within 
  3.22  the year by or on behalf of a principal campaign committee, 
  3.23  political committee, or political fund; and 
  3.24     (n) The name and address of a nonprofit corporation that 
  3.25  provides administrative assistance to a political committee or 
  3.26  political fund as authorized by section 211B.15, subdivision 17, 
  3.27  together with the type of administrative assistance provided and 
  3.28  the aggregate fair market value of each type of assistance 
  3.29  provided to the political committee or political fund during the 
  3.30  reporting period; and 
  3.31     (o) A report filed under subdivision 2, clause (b), by a 
  3.32  political committee or political fund that is subject to 
  3.33  subdivision 14, must contain the information required by 
  3.34  subdivision 14, if the political committee or political fund has 
  3.35  solicited and caused others to make aggregate contributions 
  3.36  greater than $5,000 between January 1 of the general election 
  4.1   year and the end of the reporting period.  This disclosure 
  4.2   requirement is in addition to the report required by subdivision 
  4.3   14. 
  4.4      Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 10A.25, 
  4.5   subdivision 10, is amended to read: 
  4.6      Subd. 10.  [EFFECT OF OPPONENT'S AGREEMENT CONDUCT.] (a) 
  4.7   The expenditure limits imposed by this section apply only to 
  4.8   candidates whose major political party opponents agree to be 
  4.9   bound by the limits and who themselves agree to be bound by the 
  4.10  limits as a condition of receiving a public subsidy for their 
  4.11  campaigns.  
  4.12     (b) A candidate who agrees to be bound by the limits and 
  4.13  receives a public subsidy, who has an opponent who:  
  4.14     (1) is a candidate of a major political party; and (2) does 
  4.15  not agree to be bound by the limits but is otherwise eligible to 
  4.16  receive a public subsidy: 
  4.17     (i) is no longer bound by the limits, including those in 
  4.18  section 10A.324, subdivision 1, paragraph (c); 
  4.19     (ii) is eligible to receive a public subsidy; and 
  4.20     (iii) also receives, or shares equally with any other 
  4.21  candidate who agrees to be bound by limits, the opponent's share 
  4.22  of the general account public subsidy under section 10A.31. 
  4.23     For purposes of this subdivision, "otherwise eligible to 
  4.24  receive a public subsidy" means that a candidate meets the 
  4.25  requirements of sections 10A.31, 10A.315, 10A.321, and 10A.322, 
  4.26  but does not mean that the candidate has filed an affidavit of 
  4.27  matching funds under section 10A.323.  A candidate who has 
  4.28  agreed to be bound by the expenditure limits imposed by this 
  4.29  section as a condition of receiving a public subsidy for the 
  4.30  candidate's campaign is released from the expenditure limits but 
  4.31  remains eligible to receive a public subsidy if the candidate 
  4.32  has an opponent who does not agree to be bound by the limits and 
  4.33  receives contributions or makes or becomes obligated to make 
  4.34  expenditures during that election cycle in excess of the 
  4.35  following limits: 
  4.36     (1) up to ten days before the primary election, receipts or 
  5.1   expenditures equal to 20 percent of the expenditure limit for 
  5.2   that office as set forth in subdivision 2; or 
  5.3      (2) after ten days before the primary election, cumulative 
  5.4   receipts or expenditures during that election cycle equal to 50 
  5.5   percent of the expenditure limit for that office as set forth in 
  5.6   subdivision 2. 
  5.7      (b) A candidate who has not agreed to be bound by 
  5.8   expenditure limits, or the candidate's principal campaign 
  5.9   committee, shall file written notice with the board and provide 
  5.10  written notice to any opponent of the candidate for the same 
  5.11  office within 24 hours of exceeding the limits in paragraph (a), 
  5.12  clause (2).  The notice must state only that the candidate or 
  5.13  candidate's principal campaign committee has received 
  5.14  contributions or made or become obligated to make campaign 
  5.15  expenditures in excess of the limits in paragraph (a), clause 
  5.16  (2).  Upon receipt of the notice the candidate who has agreed to 
  5.17  be bound by the limits is no longer bound by the expenditure 
  5.18  limits. 
  5.19     Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 211B.15, 
  5.20  subdivision 15, is amended to read: 
  5.21     Subd. 15.  [NONPROFIT CORPORATION EXEMPTION.] The 
  5.22  prohibitions in this section do not apply to a nonprofit 
  5.23  corporation that: 
  5.24     (1) cannot engage in is not organized or operating for the 
  5.25  principal purpose of conducting a business activities; 
  5.26     (2) has no shareholders or other persons affiliated so as 
  5.27  to have a claim on its assets or earnings; and 
  5.28     (3) was not established by a business corporation or a 
  5.29  labor union and has a policy not to accept significant 
  5.30  contributions from those entities. 
  5.31     Sec. 4.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 211B.15, is 
  5.32  amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  5.33     Subd. 17.  [NONPROFIT CORPORATION POLITICAL ACTIVITY.] It 
  5.34  is not a violation of this section for a nonprofit corporation 
  5.35  to provide administrative assistance to one political committee 
  5.36  or political fund that is associated with the nonprofit 
  6.1   corporation and registered with the ethical practices board 
  6.2   under section 10A.14.  Such assistance must be limited to 
  6.3   accounting, clerical or legal services, bank charges, utilities, 
  6.4   office space, and supplies.  The records of the political 
  6.5   committee or political fund may be kept on the premises of the 
  6.6   nonprofit corporation. 
  6.7      The administrative assistance provided by the nonprofit 
  6.8   corporation to the political committee or political fund is 
  6.9   limited annually to the lesser of $5,000 or 7-1/2 percent of the 
  6.10  expenditures of the political committee or political fund. 
  6.11     Sec. 5.  [REPEALER.] 
  6.12     Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 10A.324, subdivision 5, is 
  6.13  repealed. 
  6.14     Sec. 6.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
  6.15     This act is effective the day following final enactment.