1997 Minnesota Statutes

     10A.324 Return of public subsidy. 

    Subdivision 1.    When return required.  A candidate 
 shall return all or a portion of the public subsidy received 
 from the state elections campaign fund or the public matching 
 subsidy received under section 10A.315, under the circumstances 
 in this section or section 10A.25, subdivision 11. 

    (a) To the extent that the amount of public subsidy 
 received by the candidate exceeds the expenditure limits for the 
 office held or sought, as provided in section 10A.25 and as 
 adjusted by section 10A.255, the treasurer of the candidate's 
 principal campaign committee shall return the excess to the 
 board. 

    (b) To the extent that the amount of public subsidy 
 received exceeds the aggregate of:  (1) actual expenditures made 
 by the principal campaign committee of the candidate; and (2) 
 approved expenditures made on behalf of the candidate, the 
 treasurer of the candidate's principal campaign committee shall 
 return an amount equal to the difference to the board. 

    Subd. 2.    Calculation.  Money in the account of the 
 principal campaign committee of a candidate on January 1 of the 
 election year for the office held or sought must be considered 
 contributions accepted by that candidate in that year for the 
 purposes of this subdivision.  The portion of contributions 
 accepted by a candidate in an election year that equals the 
 amount of noncampaign disbursements and contributions and 
 expenditures to promote or defeat a ballot question that are 
 made by that candidate in that year does not count toward the 
 aggregate contributions and approved expenditure limit imposed 
 by this section.  

    Subd. 3.    How return determined.  Whether or not a 
 candidate is required under subdivision 1 to return all or a 
 portion of the public subsidy must be determined from the report 
 required to be filed with the board by that candidate by January 
 31 of the year following an election.  For purposes of this 
 section, a transfer from a principal campaign committee to a 
 political party is considered to be a noncampaign disbursement.  
 The cost of postage that was not used during an election cycle 
 and payments that created credit balances at vendors at the 
 close of an election cycle are not considered expenditures for 
 purposes of determining the amount to be returned.  Any amount 
 required to be returned must be submitted in the form of a check 
 or money order and must accompany the report filed with the 
 board.  The board shall forward the check or money order to the 
 state treasurer for deposit in the general fund.  The amount 
 returned must not exceed the amount of public subsidy received 
 by the candidate. 

    Subd. 4.    Return not required.  A candidate whose 
 campaign spending is unlimited under conditions imposed by 
 section 10A.25, subdivision 10, and who certifies that the 
 candidate made campaign expenditures equal to the full amount of 
 the public financing received is not required to return any 
 portion of the money received from the state elections campaign 
 fund under the aggregate contribution limit provisions of this 
 section. 

    Subd. 5. Repealed, 1996 c 459 s 5 

    HIST: 1990 c 608 art 3 s 26; 1991 c 349 s 21; 1993 c 318 art 2 
 s 42-44