Campaign Finance Reform: The role of money

Current News

League of Women Voters Minnesota and Common Cause speak in support of Campaign Finance Legislation

Common Cause Minnesota and the League of Women Voters Minnesota urge legislators to quickly adopt legislation to prevent the chaos that could erupt this election season because of the U.S. Supreme Court’s campaign finance decision, Citizen’s United v. FEC. That is why Common Cause Minnesota and the League of Women Voters Minnesota urge the legislature to support Rep. Ryan Winkler’s disclosure bill. This legislation will:

Require disclosure of all contributions and expenditures within 48 hours for all independent expenditure groups: Any entity, including a corporation or a union, would be required to disclose all contributions and expenditures over $5,000 within 48 hours of making it.

Regulate issue ads the same way as express advocacy: The state should require disclosure of issue ads if they (1) cost more than $25,000, (2) are made in the year of an election, and (3) identify a candidate running in the election.

Require the use of a disclaimer on most campaign material in Minnesota. Any campaign material must have a disclaimer statement on it that outlines what candidate or committee paid for the material. There will be an exemption for individuals engaging in campaigning that costs less than $5,000.

Require that shareholders be notified of corporate political expenditures: The corporation would have to file a report with shareholders and the state campaign finance disclosure board if the aggregate contributions exceed $10,000. These reports must be filed electronically and within 5 business days of incurring the expense.

Minnesota Campaign Finance Board consider changes to disclosure requirements for corporations.

The Minnesota Campaign Finance Board is considering rules changes that would require corporations making independent expenditures to say whether the money came from business operations or donations. Any donation over $100 would require the source. Read the entire article here.

Proposed Federal legislation responds to Citizens United ruling

Two lawmakers, Representative Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) are introducing legislation requiring disclosures for money that funds ads in support or opposed to a candidate. The legislation is intended to increase transparency when it comes to expenditures by corporations. Currently, many corporations will contribute to associations and non-profits that will create the ad, making it difficult to find out who is exactly funding the ad. Introduction of legislation is expected over the next several weeks. To read the entire Business Week article, click here.

Coverage of the Citizens United Decision

Read a PDF copy of the opinion here.

Read the LWVUS statement here.

Summary:

"The Supreme Court may have changed the landscape of campaign spending today: in issuing its decision on Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, it announced that corporations and unions can now spend money directly in support of candidates.

This basically eliminates a middleman: before today, corporations and unions had to set up PACs (political action committees), filed separately with the IRS, that would receive donations. And they did. Corporations and unions spend millions of dollars on elections. Now, however, the accounting firewall is gone, and Wal-Mart or the Service Employees International Union, for instance, can spend their corporate money directly on candidates." Edited by Marc Ambinder
The Atlantic

A summary of implications from the case can be viewed here.

Campaign Finance- An Overview

The funding of elections, at all levels, is an instrumental aspect of the analysis of the state of democracy in our country. Major issues include disclosure laws, electronic access to campaign financial forms, and the bundling of campaign contributions.

Midwest Democracy Network recently released an analysis of campaign finance laws and their status in Minnesota. In the report, they recommend:

"Disclosure of contribution which are over 100 dollars to candidates, PAC’s, political parties and legislative caucuses
Voluntary electronic disclosure laws
Corporations are limited from giving funds directly to candidates, PAC’s or political parties
Limits on the amount that can be contributed by PAC’s, individuals, political parties and legislative caucuses to candidates
Partial public financing system for candidates who qualify
Political contribution refunds (PCR)’s are provided by the state to an individual for qualifying contributions to state legislative and constitutional office candidates"

See a full copy of the report here.

Campaign Finance Resources

Center for Responsive Politics
Federal Elections Commission
Campaign Finance Institute
Center for Governmental Studies
Common Cause Minnesota
Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board
Minnesota Secretary of State
Follow the Money: Investigate Money in State Politics