Minnesota takes step towards campaign finance reform

According to the League of Women Voters of Minnesota, both the House and the Senate unanimously approved a campaign finance disclosure bill. The legislation, which is currently awaiting action by Gov. Pawlenty, would add additional reporting periods, reinstate disclaimer requirements, and other provisions to make it easier to track the flow of money that is expected to be spent in our upcoming elections as a result of the United States Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision. Although the bill was watered-down from the initially introduced language, it is an improvement over the current statute in helping voters determine who really is behind those ads we will all be seeing in a few months.

LWV Minnesota, along with Common Cause MN, spoke in favor of broader campaign finance reform back in April. The extent to which the legislation that passed will help improve transparency in campaign spending remains to be seen; campaign finance reform advocates called the bill an initial step and hope to build on the reform in upcoming legislative sessions.

Another bill that passed and has been signed into law by the governor will add to the transparency of election funding. SF80,  known as the campaign finance housekeeping bill, does a couple of critical things that will help advocates concerned about the flow of money into political campaigns.

First, it includes judges on the list of candidates who are subject to campaign spending limits and reporting requirements. Previously, judicial canons oversaw judicial campaign activities, but they were struck down by a 2005 Minnesota Supreme Court decision, leaving money in judicial elections unregulated.  Given what we have seen in other states with large sums of money being spent to elect judges, including our neighboring state of Wisconsin,  this is an important safeguard in protecting judicial integrity in Minnesota.

The second important item is that Minnesota will require online reporting of campaign expenditures by 2012. Under the current system, a person would have to have a high degree of savvy and tenacity, not to mention lots and lots of extra time on their hands, in order to effectively track the spending reports filed with the Campaign Finance Board.  Hopefully, the new system will make it easier to find who is spending how much money to tell you how they would like you to vote.

Articles
Gov to decide if businesses dabbling in Minn. politics will face spending,  donation scrutiny - CB Online
Campaign finance bill faced last-minute obstacles - Finance and Commerce