Secretary of State presents budget case: business filings drive growth, Safe at Home enrollment rises

Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon on March 25 gave the State Government Finance and Policy Committee an overview of the office's work, telling members that business services — not elections — are the largest and fastest‑growing part of the office and that overall activity has raised the office's net contribution to the general fund.

"We are a constitutional office. We're not a department, we're not an agency, we don't report to the governor," Simon said. He described four divisions in the office — business services, elections, administration and Safe at Home — and emphasized that business services files and maintains corporate and UCC records that are a major revenue driver.

Why it matters: the Secretary of State's office is a net contributor to the general fund and administers several programs with growing workloads, including business filings and Safe at Home, an address‑confidentiality program that serves survivors and others with safety concerns.

Key points from the presentation

- Business services growth: Simon told the committee business services processed about 970,000 filings in calendar year 2024, up from about 770,000 in 2018. The division handled roughly 68,000 new entity filings in 2024 and large volumes of UCC and authentication work. Simon said most fees were set decades ago (he cited a corporation filing fee last changed in 1992) yet the office still contributes a growing net amount to the general fund — about $29 million per biennium above operating costs in the current presentation.

- Elections work and grants: Simon outlined the Elections Division's duties — support for county election administrators, maintenance of the statewide voter registration system (SVRS), post‑election audits and run‑up to certification. He noted the office also administers large grants and reimbursements to local governments and manages a small election security navigation team funded by HAVA. Simon said the office administers federal grant funds on a pass‑through basis and has processed tens of millions in grants and reimbursements to counties and cities in recent years.

- Safe at Home: Simon reported nearly 5,000 active Safe at Home participants at the end of 2024 and highlighted a 41 percent increase in mailing costs for the program between 2022 and 2024. He said the program is purposely run from the Secretary of State's office because many address records (such as voting rolls and business filings) are public and that centralizing the program within the Secretary of State reduces exposure for program participants.

- Corporate Transparency Act and filing guidance: Simon summarized the federal Corporate Transparency Act (CTA), saying it requires certain entities to report beneficial ownership information to the U.S. Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. He emphasized that CTA filings are not submitted to the Secretary of State and are not public; the office's role is to notify filers of the federal requirement. He noted the CTA has active litigation and that at present there is no state filing obligation.

Budget request and rationale

Simon asked the committee for an operating increase "to keep our current levels of service" in the face of rising workloads and cost pressures including benefits, salaries and postage. He said the requested operating increase is smaller than the growth in the office's net contribution to the general fund. The office also requested a one‑time $200,000 state match to unlock approximately $1 million in federal HAVA election security funding that requires a state match.

Direct quotes from the hearing

- "We are a constitutional office. We're not a department, we're not an agency, we don't report to the governor," — Steve Simon, Secretary of State. - "We throw 29,000,000 over the fence every 2 years. So we throw 29,000,000 over the fence, we don't keep 1 penny of that, it goes to you, it goes to the general fund," — Steve Simon, describing the office's net contribution.

Questions raised by members

Members asked about the Corporate Transparency Act timeline and advice for private‑sector filers — Simon told members the federal filing requirement is in litigation and that currently there is "no legal obligation to file" at the state level while the litigation plays out, though that position could change with further court decisions. Members also asked about administrative dissolution and whether businesses fall off the rolls; Simon explained businesses can be administratively dissolved after periods of inactivity and that reinstatement generally requires a small fee and retroactive filing, not a nullification of prior contracts.

What happens next

The committee did not take final appropriations action in the meeting; Simon's presentation framed the office's operating request and the one‑time HAVA match. Committee members suggested follow‑up conversations about detailed workload pressures and the Safe at Home program's mailing costs.

Proper names and authorities referenced

[{"name":"Office of the Secretary of State of Minnesota","type":"agency"},{"name":"Safe at Home","type":"program"},{"name":"Corporate Transparency Act","type":"other"},{"name":"Help America Vote Act (HAVA)","type":"other"}]

Speakers (attribution whitelist)

[{"name":"Steve Simon","role_title":"Secretary of State","affiliation_type":"government","affiliation_name":"Office of the Secretary of State"},{"name":"Nicole Freeman","role_title":"Director of Government Relations","affiliation_type":"government","affiliation_name":"Office of the Secretary of State"},{"name":"Bill Ekblad","role_title":"Election Security Navigator","affiliation_type":"government","affiliation_name":"Office of the Secretary of State"}]

Authorities

[{"type":"other","name":"Corporate Transparency Act","citation":"31 U.S.C. § 5336 et seq. (federal) referenced in testimony","referenced_by":["sgfp-secretary-state-budget-2025-03-25"]},{"type":"other","name":"Help America Vote Act (HAVA)","citation":"federal HAVA grants","referenced_by":["sgfp-secretary-state-budget-2025-03-25"]}]

Provenance

{"transcript_segments":[{"block_id":"3478","local_start":0,"local_end":68,"evidence_excerpt":"Mr. Secretary, welcome to committee. Please introduce yourself for the record and proceed.","tc_start":"00:57:58.315","tc_end":"00:58:02.655","reason_code":"topicintro"},{"block_id":"5326","local_start":0,"local_end":72,"evidence_excerpt":"No, just thanks for your time and attention members. I know you have tough decisions to make. Thank you for giving me some time.","tc_start":"01:28:46.37","tc_end":"01:28:51.91","reason_code":"topicfinish"}]}

Searchable tags

["Secretary of State","business filings","Safe at Home","HAVA","Corporate Transparency Act"]

salience

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