Senate rules panel backs working group to centralize local campaign finance reporting
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Summary
The Minnesota Senate Committee on Rules and Administration adopted an amendment and recommended passage of Senate File 828, directing formation of a working group to study centralizing local campaign finance reports and technical support from the state Campaign Finance Board; the bill is re-referred to the Elections Committee.
The Minnesota Senate Committee on Rules and Administration on March 24 recommended passage of Senate File 828 as amended, directing a working group to explore centralizing local campaign finance reporting.
Senator Marty, presenting the bill, said the proposal would create “a library where you can see the reports that are out there” to make local campaign finance reports easier for the public to find. He said local governments currently use many different systems and smaller jurisdictions often make access difficult.
The committee adopted an A7 amendment, moved by Marty, that specifies the chair of the working group be chosen from legislative members and directs the state Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board to provide technical support. Ms. Stangel, committee counsel, said the Legislative Coordinating Commission requested that legislative members chair such groups so they better align with legislative expectations.
Committee members discussed the statute-based requirement that proposals creating new working groups with legislative membership come to the Rules Committee for review. Senator Rest explained those proposals must be reviewed here to ensure workable convening and reporting structures.
Senator Marty moved that Senate File 828, as amended, be recommended to pass and be re-referred to the committee on elections; the motion was adopted by voice vote. The committee chair noted a slight fiscal cost associated with centralizing reporting that, if implemented, would be carried in the elections bill.
The working group established under SF 828 will study how to centralize or otherwise make local campaign finance reports accessible, how to avoid imposing an undue burden on the state Campaign Finance Board, and whether a common public repository is practical. The committee did not adopt a final policy on a repository; the bill sends the question to the working group and to the Elections Committee for further action.
Senate File 828 will go next to the Senate Elections Committee for consideration and any fiscal impacts would be addressed in the elections omnibus bill.
