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Minnesota disclosure bill clears committee
A Minnesota House committee advanced a bill on March 8 that would require nonprofits to disclose donor information for certain independent expenditures. Rep. Jamie Long (D) introduced HF3190 on Feb. 7 with 12 other Democratic co-sponsors. Sen. Lindsey Port (D) introduced a companion bill, SF3281, on Feb. 21.
What the bill would do
Minnesota law requires groups making independent expenditures to include a disclaimer disclosing the group’s name and either its mailing or web site address. Section 10A.01, subdivision 18 defines independent expenditures as “expenditure[s] expressly advocating the election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate or local candidate.” Under section 211B.04, subdivision 3, “online banner ads and similar electronic communications that link directly to an online page that includes the disclaimer” are excluded from the disclaimer requirement.
HF3190 would require organizations making independent expenditures to name their three largest contributors during the year prior to the expenditure being published or becoming public. The bill would remove the exemption for online ads and other electronic communications, subjecting them to the same disclosure requirements as other independent expenditures.
The bill also redefines express advocacy. Section 10A.01 of the state code currently defines express advocacy as “a communication clearly identifies a candidate or a local candidate and uses words or phrases of express advocacy.” This bill would amend the definition to include a communication which, “when taken as a whole and with limited reference to external events, such as the proximity to the election, is susceptible of no reasonable interpretation other than as an appeal advocating the election or defeat of one or more clearly identified candidates.”
The bill was referred to the House State Government Finance and Elections Committee, which held three hearings on it. The committee voted 8-4 to send the bill to the House Ways and Means Committee on March 8. Seven of the committee’s eight Democratic members voted to advance the bill (Rep. Gene Pelowski (D) was absent) along with Republican committee member Rep. Steve Drazkowski (R). The four other Republican members voted no. The House Ways and Means Committee must advance the bill for it to be considered by the full House.
Minnesota is one of two states with a divided legislature where neither party controls both the upper and lower chambers. The Democratic Party controls the Minnesota House of Representatives and the office of governor, while the Republican Party controls the upper chamber of the Minnesota State Senate.
Legislators in Nebraska, Virginia and West Virginia have also introduced bills that would require groups making independent expenditures to report their top contributors. Like HF3190, Virginia HB489 and SB318 would require organizations to disclose their top three contributors, while Nebraska LB8 and West Virginia SB107 would require groups to identify any person who contributed more than $250.
Reactions
Long said the bill “does not stop any speech, does not curtail any speech,” and it would “help voters make better informed choices” by allowing them to see who is funding an ad. “If the ad you see is from Minnesotans for Sunshine and Puppies, but it’s backed by somebody with a clear political point of view you would want to know that. Could there be an appearance of corruption? Could there be a financial interest involved? Voters want to know,” Long said. Rep. Ginny Klevorn (D) said, “Free speech is important to all of us, and we want to make sure that we keep free speech front and center. Good healthy campaign finance laws and good healthy election laws make that happen.”
Rep. Jim Nash (R) said the bill would put people at risk of “being doxxed by the people who oppose the exercise of free speech.” Nash, who voted against the bill, asked the committee to consider “the implications of what happens. An ordinary, everyday business owner who wants to donate to a candidate of their choice and they may happen to be the top donor.” Rep. Jon Koznick (R) said the legislature should be doing more to protect free speech. “You should be working in the opposite direction to instill people’s free speech rights more strongly in how they support different candidates,” said Koznick .
What we’ve been reading
- Associated Press, “General Assembly OKs bill creating candidate finance audits,” March 10, 2022
- WFLA, “Florida campaign finance reform allows unlimited spending to fight constitutional amendments,” March 7, 2022
- Philanthropy Roundtable, “Chilling Support to the Canadian Trucker Freedom Convoy,” March 9, 2022
The big picture
We’re currently tracking 128 pieces of legislation dealing with donor disclosure and privacy. Of these bills, 103 are primarily focused on disclosure, and 25 are primarily focused on privacy. To reflect this distinction, the charts in this section and the recent legislative actions below are divided between disclosure legislation and privacy legislation. On the maps below, a darker shade of green indicates a greater number of relevant bills. Click here for a complete list of all the bills we’re tracking.
Donor disclosure legislation
Number of relevant bills by state:
Number of relevant bills by current legislative status:
Number of relevant bills by partisan status of sponsor(s):
Donor privacy legislation
Number of relevant bills by current legislative status:
Number of relevant bills by partisan status of sponsor(s):
Recent legislative actions
For complete information on all of the bills we are tracking, click here.
Donor disclosure legislation
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California SB1352: This bill would require elected officials and campaign committees to report online contributions in excess of $1,000 to the secretary of state within 72 hours of receiving the contribution.
- Democratic sponsorship
- This bill was referred to committee on March 9.
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California SB1360: This bill would require certain political advertisements to identify the top contributors to the campaign committee paying for the advertisement without regard to any minimum contribution threshold.
- Democratic sponsorship
- This bill was referred to committee on March 9.
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California SB1439: This bill would change the prohibition on contributions from 3 to 12 months following a decision in a license, permit, or other entitlement for use proceeding and remove the exception for local government agencies.
- Democratic sponsorship
- This bill was referred to committee on March 9.
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Colorado HB1060:This bill would set limits on contributions to candidates for school district director and require candidates to disclose campaign contribution information to the secretary of state.
- Democratic sponsorship
- This bill was referred to committee on March 8.
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Florida H0921: This bill would prohibit a foreign national from making or offering to make contributions or expenditures in connection with any election held in the state.
- Republican sponsorship
- This bill passed both chambers on March 10.
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Georgia SB580: This bill would prohibit political action committees affiliated with General Assembly members from accepting contributions during a legislative session.
- Republican sponsorship
- This bill passed both chambers on March 9.
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Idaho S1337: This bill would require any candidate who receives contributions or makes expenditures that total $500 or more to begin filing a monthly report by the 10th day of the month following the month being reported. This requirement would apply to both election years and non-election years.
- Republican sponsorship
- This bill was referred to committee on March 8.
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Kentucky HB301: This bill would require all costs and expenses related to election administration be paid for with public funds and prohibit a state governmental body employee from accepting contributions to assist with election administration unless entered into as a lawful contract.
- Republican sponsorship
- This bill passed both chambers on March 11.
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Kentucky HB740: This bill would require a candidate exempt from filing a campaign finance report to file a 30 day post-election report of receipts and disbursements. It would also require a candidate who is exempt from filing for the primary who advances to the regular election to refile for the filing exemption.
- Republican sponsorship
- This bill was referred to committee on March 9.
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Minnesota HF3190: This bill would require entities making independent expenditures to name the three individuals or entities making the largest contribution required to be reported under chapter 10A.
- Democratic sponsorship
- This bill was referred to committee on March 10.
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Pennsylvania HB852: This bill would require a nonprofit that expects to make contributions or expenditures of $25,000 or more in a calendar year to a political committee or campaign to file a statement of organization with the Department of State. The nonprofit would also be required to file a report of the source of the 10 largest cumulative payments of $10,000 or more the nonprofit received in the current calendar year from a single person.
- Bipartisan sponsorship
- This bill was referred to committee on March 10.
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Virginia HB492: This bill would require campaign committee treasurers to keep accounts of campaign contributions and expenditures and authorizes the Department of Elections to conduct reviews of a percentage of campaign committees. The Department of Elections would report the results of the reviews to the State Board of Elections, the Governor, and the General Assembly and make them available on the Department’s website.
- Democratic sponsorship
- This bill passed both chambers on March 10.
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Wyoming HB0049: This bill would increase the penalty for failing to file disclosure reports.
- Unknown sponsorship
- This bill passed both chambers on March 7.
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Wyoming HB0080: This bill would require all campaigns and political action committees to file an itemized statement of contributions and expenditures.
- Unknown sponsorship
- This bill was enacted on March 9.
Donor privacy legislation
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Colorado HB1156: This bill would exempt candidates who file their personal disclosure statement within 180 days before Jan. 10 from having to file an annual personal disclosure statement for that year.
- Bipartisan sponsorship
- This bill was referred to committee on March 10.
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Idaho H0746: This bill would exempt corporations organized under the laws of the United States in a parent-subsidiary relationship with a foreign national corporation from prohibitions on foreign contributions.
- Unknown sponsorship
- This bill was referred to committee on March 8.
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West Virginia HB4419: This bill would remove restrictions on candidate and campaign caucus committees’ donations to their affiliated state party executive committees or a caucus campaign committee.
- Republican sponsorship
- This bill passed both chambers on March 12.
