Minnesota’s public contribution refund comes to end

The Campaign Finance Institute released a report about Minnesota’s unique “Public Contribution Refund.” Under the PCR, individuals got rebates of up to $50 per year for political contributions to a state or local political party or to a candidate for state office.

To be eligible, a candidate had to participate in the state’s system of partial public financing with spending limits. The refunds ended on July 1 because in the recent budget process the governor imposed a two-year suspension of the program. The refunds helped stimulate unparalleled participation by small donors. “The refund promotes greater equality by building up from the bottom. It deserves significant credit for the role of small donors in Minnesota. The PCR deserves to be imitated, not destroyed,” said CFI’s Executive Director Michael Malbin. Read the release and view the charts. Check out the news stories:

Pioneer Press: Common Cause works to save Political Contribution Refunds

Star Tribune: National group goes to bat for campaign refund program

Minnesota Independent: Report: Minnesota’s political refund program is ‘healthier’ model for country

MinnPost: Land of 10,000 small donors: Minnesota leads in modest campaign contributions  

In other Minnesota news, the University of Minnesota’s Center for the Study of Politics and Governance declared the 2008 U.S. Senate Recount was the longest in Minnesota history. The intense scrutiny both demonstrated that Minnesota’s elections process largely worked well and pinpointed weaknesses. Failure to address these weaknesses leaves Minnesota vulnerable to another exhausting recount. The state’s leading voices in elections administration recently discussed designing reforms and next steps. Check out video of the event.