Expenditure limit modification

Campaign committees for candidates not seeking re-election may be exempted from the current $50 annual limit on charitable contributions.

HF75/SF248*, sponsored by Rep. Gene Pelowski Jr. (DFL-Winona) and Sen. Don Betzold (DFL-Fridley), was approved by the House Governmental Operations, Reform, Technology and Elections Committee on March 18 and sent to the House floor. It was approved 56-3 by the Senate on April 13, 2007.

The bill would allow principal campaign committees that dissolve within one year of the date of the contribution to a charity to be exempted from the annual limit. This would allow campaign committees of candidates not seeking reelection to donate a larger amount of unused funds to charities and other community groups.

When former Rep. and Sen. Wes Skoglund (DFL-Mpls) chose not to run for reelection, his volunteer committee wanted to give unused campaign money to the local community, but was told it would be a crime to do that.

“Specifically they wanted to give my campaign money to South High School, Roosevelt High School, and the Minneapolis libraries in the district,” Skoglund said.

Skoglund said his committee felt that it was “about time we gave something back to the community,” and that this bill would simply allow them to do that.