1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to campaign finance; requiring conduit funds 
  1.3             to register with the ethical practices board, to have 
  1.4             a treasurer, and to not commingle funds; requiring 
  1.5             reports; amending Minnesota Statutes 1996, sections 
  1.6             10A.01, by adding a subdivision; 10A.14, subdivisions 
  1.7             1 and 2; and 10A.20, subdivision 3, and by adding a 
  1.8             subdivision; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota 
  1.9             Statutes, chapter 10A. 
  1.10  BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.11     Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 10A.01, is 
  1.12  amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  1.13     Subd. 30.  [CONDUIT FUND.] "Conduit fund" means any 
  1.14  accumulation of voluntary contributions by an association other 
  1.15  than a political committee that is collected and expended to 
  1.16  influence the nomination or election of a candidate and that is 
  1.17  contributed to a candidate or political committee only as 
  1.18  directed by the individual contributors to the fund. 
  1.19     Sec. 2.  [10A.125] [CONDUIT FUNDS.] 
  1.20     An association that has a conduit fund shall elect or 
  1.21  appoint a treasurer of the conduit fund.  A conduit fund may not 
  1.22  accept a contribution or make an expenditure while the office of 
  1.23  treasurer is vacant.  The contents of a conduit fund may not be 
  1.24  commingled with any other funds or with the personal funds of 
  1.25  any officer or member of the fund.  A person who knowingly 
  1.26  violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor. 
  1.27     Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 10A.14, 
  2.1   subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  2.2      Subdivision 1.  The treasurer of a political committee or, 
  2.3   political fund, or conduit fund shall register with the board by 
  2.4   filing a statement of organization no later than 14 days after 
  2.5   the date upon which the committee or fund has made a 
  2.6   contribution, received contributions or made expenditures in 
  2.7   excess of $100.  
  2.8      Sec. 4.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 10A.14, 
  2.9   subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
  2.10     Subd. 2.  The statement of organization shall include: 
  2.11     (a) the name and address of the political committee or, 
  2.12  political fund, or conduit fund; 
  2.13     (b) the name and address of any supporting association of a 
  2.14  political fund or conduit fund; 
  2.15     (c) the name and address of the chair, the treasurer, and 
  2.16  any deputy treasurers; 
  2.17     (d) a listing of all depositories or safety deposit boxes 
  2.18  used; 
  2.19     (e) a statement as to whether the committee is a principal 
  2.20  campaign committee as authorized by section 10A.19, subdivision 
  2.21  1; and 
  2.22     (f) for political parties only, a list of categories of 
  2.23  substate units as defined in section 10A.27, subdivision 4. 
  2.24     Sec. 5.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 10A.20, 
  2.25  subdivision 3, is amended to read: 
  2.26     Subd. 3.  [CONTENTS OF REPORT.] Each report under this 
  2.27  section shall disclose: 
  2.28     (a) The amount of liquid assets on hand at the beginning of 
  2.29  the reporting period; 
  2.30     (b) The name, address and employer, or occupation if 
  2.31  self-employed, of each individual, political committee or 
  2.32  political fund who within the year has made one or more 
  2.33  transfers or donations in kind to the political committee or 
  2.34  political fund, including the purchase of tickets for all fund 
  2.35  raising efforts, which in aggregate exceed $100 for legislative 
  2.36  or statewide candidates or ballot questions, together with the 
  3.1   amount and date of each transfer or donation in kind, and the 
  3.2   aggregate amount of transfers and donations in kind within the 
  3.3   year from each source so disclosed.  A donation in kind shall be 
  3.4   disclosed at its fair market value.  An approved expenditure is 
  3.5   listed as a donation in kind.  A donation in kind is considered 
  3.6   consumed in the reporting period in which it is received.  The 
  3.7   names of contributors shall be listed in alphabetical order; 
  3.8      (c) The report of a principal campaign committee must 
  3.9   disclose the aggregate amount of contributions received from 
  3.10  each conduit fund and the name and registration number of the 
  3.11  conduit fund; 
  3.12     (d) The sum of contributions to the political committee or 
  3.13  political fund during the reporting period; 
  3.14     (d) (e) Each loan made or received by the political 
  3.15  committee or political fund within the year in aggregate in 
  3.16  excess of $100, continuously reported until repaid or forgiven, 
  3.17  together with the name, address, occupation and the principal 
  3.18  place of business, if any, of the lender and any endorser and 
  3.19  the date and amount of the loan.  If any loan made to the 
  3.20  principal campaign committee of a candidate is forgiven at any 
  3.21  time or repaid by any entity other than that principal campaign 
  3.22  committee, it shall be reported as a contribution for the year 
  3.23  in which the loan was made; 
  3.24     (e) (f) Each receipt in excess of $100 not otherwise listed 
  3.25  under clauses (b) to (d) (e); 
  3.26     (f) (g) The sum of all receipts of the political committee 
  3.27  or political fund during the reporting period; 
  3.28     (g) (h) The name and address of each individual or 
  3.29  association to whom aggregate expenditures, including approved 
  3.30  expenditures, have been made by or on behalf of the political 
  3.31  committee or political fund within the year in excess of $100, 
  3.32  together with the amount, date and purpose of each expenditure 
  3.33  and the name and address of, and office sought by, each 
  3.34  candidate on whose behalf the expenditure was made, 
  3.35  identification of the ballot question which the expenditure is 
  3.36  intended to promote or defeat, and in the case of independent 
  4.1   expenditures made in opposition to a candidate, the name, 
  4.2   address and office sought for each such candidate; 
  4.3      (h) (i) The sum of all expenditures made by or on behalf of 
  4.4   the political committee or political fund during the reporting 
  4.5   period; 
  4.6      (i) (j) The amount and nature of any advance of credit 
  4.7   incurred by the political committee or political fund, 
  4.8   continuously reported until paid or forgiven.  If any advance of 
  4.9   credit incurred by the principal campaign committee of a 
  4.10  candidate is forgiven at any time by the creditor or paid by any 
  4.11  entity other than that principal campaign committee, it shall be 
  4.12  reported as a donation in kind for the year in which the advance 
  4.13  of credit was incurred; 
  4.14     (j) (k) The name and address of each political committee, 
  4.15  political fund, or principal campaign committee to which 
  4.16  aggregate transfers in excess of $100 have been made within the 
  4.17  year, together with the amount and date of each transfer; 
  4.18     (k) (l) The sum of all transfers made by the political 
  4.19  committee, political fund, or principal campaign committee 
  4.20  during the reporting period; 
  4.21     (l) (m) Except for contributions to a candidate or 
  4.22  committee for a candidate for office in a municipality as 
  4.23  defined in section 471.345, subdivision 1, the name and address 
  4.24  of each individual or association to whom aggregate noncampaign 
  4.25  disbursements in excess of $100 have been made within the year 
  4.26  by or on behalf of a principal campaign committee, political 
  4.27  committee, or political fund, together with the amount, date, 
  4.28  and purpose of each noncampaign disbursement; 
  4.29     (m) (n) The sum of all noncampaign disbursements made 
  4.30  within the year by or on behalf of a principal campaign 
  4.31  committee, political committee, or political fund; 
  4.32     (n) (o) The name and address of a nonprofit corporation 
  4.33  that provides administrative assistance to a political committee 
  4.34  or political fund as authorized by section 211B.15, subdivision 
  4.35  17, together with the type of administrative assistance provided 
  4.36  and the aggregate fair market value of each type of assistance 
  5.1   provided to the political committee or political fund during the 
  5.2   reporting period; and 
  5.3      (o) (p) A report filed under subdivision 2, clause (b), by 
  5.4   a political committee or political fund that is subject to 
  5.5   subdivision 14, must contain the information required by 
  5.6   subdivision 14, if the political committee or political fund has 
  5.7   solicited and caused others to make aggregate contributions 
  5.8   greater than $5,000 between January 1 of the general election 
  5.9   year and the end of the reporting period.  This disclosure 
  5.10  requirement is in addition to the report required by subdivision 
  5.11  14. 
  5.12     Sec. 6.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 10A.20, is 
  5.13  amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  5.14     Subd. 15.  [REPORTS BY CONDUIT FUNDS.] The treasurer of a 
  5.15  conduit fund shall begin to file the reports required by this 
  5.16  subdivision in the first year it receives contributions or makes 
  5.17  contributions in excess of $100 and shall continue to file until 
  5.18  the conduit fund is terminated.  The treasurer must file the 
  5.19  reports with the board by January 31 of each year and ten days 
  5.20  before the primary and general election in a general election 
  5.21  year.  The report must disclose the name of each candidate to 
  5.22  whom contributions have been made from the conduit fund and the 
  5.23  amount contributed to each.  The report must cover the period 
  5.24  from the last day covered by the previous report to seven days 
  5.25  before the filing date, except that the report due on January 31 
  5.26  must cover the period from the last day covered by the previous 
  5.27  report to December 31. 
  5.28     Sec. 7.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
  5.29     This act is effective July 1, 1997.