1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to elections; campaign finance; requiring 
  1.3             certain political party units to create oversight 
  1.4             committees; specifying the membership and purpose of 
  1.5             the committees; imposing a civil penalty; amending 
  1.6             Minnesota Statutes 2000, sections 10A.31, subdivision 
  1.7             3a; and 10A.322, subdivision 4; proposing coding for 
  1.8             new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 10A. 
  1.9   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.10     Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 10A.31, 
  1.11  subdivision 3a, is amended to read: 
  1.12     Subd. 3a.  [QUALIFICATION OF POLITICAL PARTIES.] (a) A 
  1.13  major political party qualifies for inclusion on the income tax 
  1.14  form and property tax refund return as provided in subdivision 3 
  1.15  if it qualifies as a major political party by July 1 of the 
  1.16  taxable year and if it complies with section 10A.3225. 
  1.17     (b) A minor political party qualifies for inclusion on the 
  1.18  income tax form and property tax refund return as provided in 
  1.19  subdivision 3 if it complies with section 10A.3225 and if the 
  1.20  secretary of state certifies to the commissioner of revenue by 
  1.21  July 1 of the taxable year that the party satisfies the 
  1.22  following conditions:  
  1.23     (1) in the last general election, the party ran a candidate 
  1.24  for the office of governor and lieutenant governor, secretary of 
  1.25  state, state auditor, or attorney general, who received votes in 
  1.26  each county that in the aggregate total at least one percent of 
  1.27  the total number of individuals who voted in the election; 
  2.1      (2) it is a political party, not a principal campaign 
  2.2   committee; and 
  2.3      (3) it has held a state convention in the last two years 
  2.4   and an officer of the party has filed with the secretary of 
  2.5   state a certification to that effect. 
  2.6      The secretary of state shall notify each minor political 
  2.7   party by the first Monday in January of each odd-numbered year 
  2.8   of the conditions necessary for the party to participate in 
  2.9   income tax form and property tax refund return programs. 
  2.10     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 10A.322, 
  2.11  subdivision 4, is amended to read: 
  2.12     Subd. 4.  [REFUND RECEIPT FORMS; PENALTY.] The board must 
  2.13  make available to a political party on request that signs an 
  2.14  agreement under section 10A.3225 and to any candidate for whom 
  2.15  an agreement under this section is effective, a supply of 
  2.16  official refund receipt forms that state in boldface type that 
  2.17  (1) a contributor who is given a receipt form is eligible to 
  2.18  claim a refund as provided in section 290.06, subdivision 23, 
  2.19  and (2) if the contribution is to a candidate, that the 
  2.20  candidate has signed an agreement to limit campaign expenditures 
  2.21  as provided in this section or if the contribution is to a party 
  2.22  unit, that the party unit has complied with section 10A.3225.  
  2.23  The forms must provide duplicate copies of the receipt to be 
  2.24  attached to the contributor's claim.  A candidate who does not 
  2.25  sign an agreement under this section or an officer of a party 
  2.26  unit that does not comply with section 10A.3225 and who 
  2.27  willfully issues an official refund receipt form or a facsimile 
  2.28  of one to any of the candidate's contributors is guilty of a 
  2.29  misdemeanor. 
  2.30     Sec. 3.  [10A.3225] [PARTY UNITS; INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURE 
  2.31  OVERSIGHT COMMITTEES.] 
  2.32     (a) As a condition of receiving a public subsidy, a 
  2.33  political party unit must create an oversight committee to 
  2.34  review independent expenditures for campaign materials by the 
  2.35  party unit.  A political party unit that is the party 
  2.36  organization within a house of the legislature must appoint 
  3.1   three legislators to serve on its oversight committee.  Any 
  3.2   other political party unit must appoint three party officers to 
  3.3   serve on its oversight committee.  A political party unit that 
  3.4   seeks a public subsidy under section 10A.31 or that intends to 
  3.5   issue official refund receipt forms under section 10A.322 must 
  3.6   certify the membership of its oversight committee to the board 
  3.7   by July 1 of each calendar year. 
  3.8      (b) A political party unit oversight committee must review 
  3.9   independent expenditures for campaign materials before the 
  3.10  material is broadcast, published, or otherwise disseminated.  
  3.11  The committee must determine that the material does not: 
  3.12     (1) contain a statement of fact designed or tending to 
  3.13  elect, injure, promote, or defeat a candidate that the party 
  3.14  unit oversight committee members know is false or that the 
  3.15  members allow to be disseminated with reckless disregard of 
  3.16  whether the statement is false; 
  3.17     (2) misrepresent a vote on an amendment as being a vote on 
  3.18  a bill, in the case of material about an incumbent legislator; 
  3.19  or 
  3.20     (3) contain a photograph or other image of a candidate that 
  3.21  distorts the candidate's appearance in a negative manner or that 
  3.22  holds the candidate up to ridicule and could be reasonably 
  3.23  interpreted as an accurate depiction of the candidate. 
  3.24     (c) The board may impose a civil fine of up to $25,000 on a 
  3.25  political party unit that: 
  3.26     (1) fails to review its independent expenditures for 
  3.27  campaign materials in the manner required by this section during 
  3.28  any period that the political party unit has certified to the 
  3.29  board that it intends to comply with this section; or 
  3.30     (2) approves an independent expenditure for campaign 
  3.31  materials in violation of paragraph (b).