MN House likely to support campaign finance law changes
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Minnesota House Speaker Paul Thissen, DFL- Minneapolis, says that the House plans to update the state's campaign finance rules.
“Without [donor] information, it’s hard for people to know exactly who is spending money to influence their vote,” Thissen said Wednesday at a Humphrey School of Public Affairs forum state campaign finance law.
After Minnesota saw a record amount of spending from political groups in the 2012 elections, the state’s Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board asked the Legislature to change the state’s campaign finance laws so political groups are required to say more about where their money is coming from and how it is being spent.
The Minnesota Senate passed a bill that would have expanded disclosure rules last year. But the legislation was derailed in the House over concerns from business groups and Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life, an anti-abortion organization, that the bill would inhibit free speech and have a chilling effect on donations.
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Some DFL lawmakers refused to vote for the bill due to MCCL’s opposition, but Thissen said he thinks he can round up enough votes this year.
Rep. Tim Sanders, R- Blaine, is the top Republican on the House Elections Committee. He said he thinks Republicans could support legislation, depending on how the final bill shapes up.
“How far do we disclose? Is it just the donor names or do we need to give the amounts of money?” Sanders said. “Those are all things we need to spend time working through.”
Right now, only groups that send political mailers, fliers and ads that encourage viewers to vote for or against a specific candidate have to tell the campaign finance board where their money is coming from and how it is being spent.
Groups can easily skirt those rules, however.
For instance, an organization can send out a flier that encourages voters to thank their lawmaker for supporting a specific issue without having to say where the money to pay for that flier came from.
Thissen pointed to a handful of fliers that have been sent this election cycle by Americans for Prosperity-Minnesota, the local arm of the conservative national group Americans for Prosperity, which was founded by Charles and David Koch.
Those fliers have been paid for by AFP-MN’s non-profit arm, which can advocate for political issues without saying where its money comes from.
“This is spending in a non-election year, in legislative races... and we know the Koch Brothers and Americans for Prosperity are behind it, but we have no idea how much they’re spending,” Thissen said.
Groups that support DFL candidates, such as the state’s unions, would be affected by the new rules as well.
Thissen said that the House will also likely vote to require lawmakers to say more about where they get their income and make changes to the state's lobbyist gift ban rules.