1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to elections; campaign finance; imposing a
1.3 	certain payment on a candidate who does not agree to
1.4 	be bound by spending limits; providing for disposition
1.5 	of the payment; amending Minnesota Statutes 2004,
1.6 	section 10A.25, subdivision 10.
1.7 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.8 	Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 10A.25,
1.9 	subdivision 10, is amended to read:
1.10 		Subd. 10.Effect of opponent's conduct.  (a) After the
1.11 	deadline for filing a spending limit agreement under section
1.12 	10A.322, a candidate who has agreed to be bound by the
1.13 	expenditure limits imposed by this section as a condition of
1.14 	receiving a public subsidy for the candidate's campaign may
1.15 	choose to be released from the expenditure limits but remain
1.16 	eligible to receive a public subsidy if the candidate has an
1.17 	opponent who has not agreed to be bound by the limits and has
1.18 	received contributions or made or become obligated to make
1.19 	expenditures during that election cycle in excess of the
1.20 	following limits:
1.21 	(1) up to the close of the reporting period before the
1.22 	primary election, receipts or expenditures equal to 20 percent
1.23 	of the expenditure limit for that office as set forth in
1.24 	subdivision 2; or
1.25 	(2) after the close of the reporting period before the
1.26 	primary election, cumulative receipts or expenditures during
2.1 	that election cycle equal to 50 percent of the expenditure limit
2.2 	for that office as set forth in subdivision 2.
2.3 	Before the primary election, a candidate's "opponents" are
2.4 	only those who will appear on the ballot of the same party in
2.5 	the primary election.
2.6 	(b) A candidate who has not agreed to be bound by
2.7 	expenditure limits, or the candidate's principal campaign
2.8 	committee, must file written notice with the board and provide
2.9 	written notice to any opponent of the candidate for the same
2.10 	office within 24 hours of exceeding the limits in paragraph
2.11 	(a).  The notice must state only that the candidate or
2.12 	candidate's principal campaign committee has received
2.13 	contributions or made or become obligated to make campaign
2.14 	expenditures in excess of the limits in paragraph (a).the
2.15 	amount by which the candidate's principal campaign committee has
2.16 	become obligated to make campaign expenditures in excess of the
2.17 	limits in paragraph (a).  The candidate must (1) report to the
2.18 	board biweekly thereafter until the general election day,
2.19 	additional amounts by which the candidate's principal campaign
2.20 	committee has become obligated to make campaign expenditures,
2.21 	and (2) forward to the board with each report a payment in an
2.22 	amount equal to one-half the amount reported under this
2.23 	paragraph.  The board must then promptly make a payment equal to
2.24 	the amount received under this paragraph to any opponent of the
2.25 	candidate who has agreed to be bound by the expenditure limits
2.26 	imposed by this section.  If more than one candidate has so
2.27 	agreed, the payment must be divided equally among such
2.28 	candidates.  A candidate who receives a payment under this
2.29 	paragraph may expend the payment received, notwithstanding that
2.30 	the payment may cause the candidate's total public subsidy to
2.31 	exceed the 50 percent limit in section 10A.31, subdivision 7;
2.32 	and notwithstanding that expending the payment may cause the
2.33 	candidate to exceed the expenditure limits that otherwise would
2.34 	apply to the candidate.
2.35 	(c) Upon receipt of the notice, a candidate who had agreed
2.36 	to be bound by the limits may file with the board a notice that
3.1 	the candidate chooses to be no longer bound by the expenditure
3.2 	limits.  A notice of a candidate's choice not to be bound by the
3.3 	expenditure limits that is based on the conduct of an opponent
3.4 	in the state primary election may not be filed more than one day
3.5 	after the State Canvassing Board has declared the results of the
3.6 	state primary.
3.7 	(d) A candidate who has agreed to be bound by the
3.8 	expenditure limits imposed by this section and whose opponent in
3.9 	the general election has chosen, as provided in paragraph (c),
3.10 	not to be bound by the expenditure limits because of the conduct
3.11 	of an opponent in the primary election is no longer bound by the
3.12 	limits but remains eligible to receive a public subsidy.