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Senate advances bill to study centralizing local candidate reporting to Campaign Finance Board
Summary
Senate File 828 was amended to require a working group to study moving local candidate campaign-reporting responsibilities to the Campaign Finance Board; committee refined membership to include a representative from a city of the fourth class and referred the bill to State and Local Government.
A bill to form a short-term working group that would study whether local candidate campaign reporting should be centralized under the Campaign Finance Board was recommended to pass by the Senate Elections Committee on Feb. 11, 2025, and sent to the State and Local Government Committee.
Senator Bolden, sponsor of Senate File 828, described the proposal as a limited, fact-finding group to examine whether transferring local reporting duties from city clerks to the Campaign Finance Board would increase transparency, reduce workload for local clerks and provide a single public portal for reports. “It would allow for more transparency. It would be a one-stop shop for the public,” Senator Bolden said.
The bill’s A2 author’s amendment was adopted. Committee members then discussed the bill’s membership language, which used the phrase “small city.” Senator Barr proposed an oral amendment to replace “small city” with the statutory designation “city of the fourth class” to give a clearer definition of the intended small municipalities. Senator Bolden accepted the oral amendment and Senate counsel read the change into the record; the committee adopted the oral amendment.
Senator Matthews asked to expand representation for counties, townships and school boards by increasing their appointed members from one to two and by specifying geographic balance (one member outside the metropolitan area). Counsel drafted language for that proposal, but a roll-call vote on the Matthews amendment failed 5–6. Senators who spoke during the debate emphasized the need to consult the named stakeholder organizations before enlarging the working group.
After additional discussion, Senator Bolden’s motion that Senate File 828, as amended, be recommended to pass and referred to the State and Local Government Committee carried on a voice vote.
The working group specified in the bill would include appointees from the League of Minnesota Cities, the Association of Minnesota Counties, the Minnesota Association of Townships, and the Minnesota School Board Association, among others. The committee discussed but did not resolve additional representational adjustments for those organizations; sponsors said they would continue outreach to stakeholders as the bill moves forward.
