Litigation

MN Disclosure Lawsuit Draws Heat

By Peter Hardin

A lawsuit challenging Minnesota?s new campaign-spending disclosure law is drawing sharp criticism from some Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) Party members and watchdog groups.

The lawsuit also seeks a ruling to let corporations contribute directly to political candidates. It was filed recently by James Bopp, a nationally known champion of eliminating campaign finance regulation (see Gavel Grab).

The critics contend the lawsuit tries to skirt the new disclosure law and harms a transparent election process, according to a Minnesota Independent article. One of the most outspoken critics of the lawsuit was state Rep. Ryan Winkler, a DFL member:

?Voters ? not corporations ? should hold the power in Minnesota elections and these groups are suing to wrestle that power away from Minnesotans. They want to spend millions in corporate cash to elect ultra conservative candidates and they don?t want the public to know where the money is coming from.?

Echoed state Sen. Ann Rest, ?These are simple rules for clean politics and public information . We need this law to keep Minnesota elections accountable, fair and open to the public. The fact that these groups are pushing so hard to keep their actions out of the public eye should make voters uncomfortable.”

Mike Dean of Minnesota Common Cause warned that if a court overturned the law,  ?It would allow special interests to operate in the shadows with virtually no oversight.?

According to the article, the three organizations that brought the lawsuit would like to contribute to gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer and the state Republican Party without registering as political organizations. They are Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life, the Taxpayers League of Minnesota and Coastal Travel Enterprises.

Minnesota legislators passed the disclosure law this year, and you can learn more about it from Gavel Grab.

Full post as published by The Gavel on July 15, 2010 (boomark / email).