Tightening Campaign Finance Boards' Rulemaking Authority

A bill designed to tighten the rule making authority of the Campaign Finance Board gained the approval of the Senate Finance Committee Wednesday, May 3. Sen. Mary Kiffmeyer, R-Big Lake, explained that the intent of the measure was to eliminate the burden of noncontroversial rulemaking authority to save time and money and to ensure that the appropriate directives warranting legislative review are placed in statute.

Sen. John Marty, (DFL- Roseville), expressed concern about the bill. "A lot of people don’t want anybody to regulate anything we do about campaigns and how we run our campaigns. I think the board has had a very important purpose and I don’t see how tying their hands is a good thing," he said.

Sen. Scott Newman, R-Hutchinson, defended the proposal. “There’s nothing in this bill that I see that prevents the current practice of issuing advisory opinions, but those advisory opinions must not be binding on us and they must not go outside the scope of the question put to the board and by that particular candidate or they become an adopted rule," he said.

The bill was sent to the Senate floor.