St. Paul, Minnesota — Today the Minnesota House of Representatives passed HF 1961, a bill chief authored by state Representative Laurie Halverson (DFL – Eagan) that would require greater financial disclosure from public officials and improve public integrity. The bill passed on a bipartisan vote of 76-48.
Rep. Halverson said that while Minnesota is known as a state with strong public integrity, our laws don’t support that integrity.
“Minnesota’s public officials serve with great integrity and our laws need to ensure that integrity continues into the future,” said Rep. Halverson. “While we have strong integrity, our laws were ranked just 25th in the nation in a State Integrity Investigation from the Center for Public Integrity. This bill is a step toward greater transparency and will give the public more confidence in our public officials.”
Currently, audits by the Board are permissive rather than mandatory. Under this bill, the Board is required to audit and investigate compliance with campaign finance and disclosure laws, as available resources permit. The bill is intended to strengthen the Board’s current authority to compel campaigns to comply with audits and investigations, and gives the Board the authority to take testimony and written statements under oath.
Under current law, a public official who takes action on an issue that would substantially affect the official’s financial interests or those of an associated business must disclose the potential conflict.
The bill adds the financial interest of the public official’s spouse to the situations that may require disclosure. Under the bill, in addition to existing requirements, a public official who takes official action on an issue that would substantially affect the financial interest of the official’s spouse must disclose the potential conflict of interest. The public official would use the existing process to report this conflict.
The bill also adds disclosure requirements to the statement of economic interest. Individuals who file a statement of economic interest must list the applicable business or professional activity codes if:
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The individual owns more than a 25% interest in the business and receives more than $50 in any month as an employee.
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The individual received more than $2500 in compensation in the past year as an independent contractor.
These disclosure requirements apply only to public officials, not to their spouses.
The bill provides 30 principal business or professional activity categories, which reveal the type of industry, but not the names of any businesses or clients for whom the official does consulting work. This section is effective immediately for new public officials, and would apply to current public officials for their statements due on April 15, 2015.
Finally, the bill provides that in conducting an audit, the Board may require that the individual disclose the underlying data on which a statement is based. All data relating to the audit, including the existence of the audit, are classified as confidential. The final audit report, including a description of any audit findings, is public.
Rep. Halverson encourages constituents to contact her with any comments, questions, concerns, or ideas on any legislative topic. Rep. Halverson can be reached by phone at 651-296-4128 or by email at rep.laurie.halverson@house.mn.