Minnesota House Bill HF600

Minnesota 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 2/13/25
• Refer: 2/13/25

Caption

Major political parties prohibited from accepting contributions during the legislative session.

Summary

HF600 amends Minnesota campaign finance law to prohibit major political parties, as well as certain legislative party units and candidate committees, from accepting contributions during a regular legislative session from registered lobbyists, political committees, political funds, and unregistered associations. The bill also keeps in place the existing ban on soliciting or accepting such contributions during session, and it expands the rule by making certain session-related contributions violations even if the money was given earlier. Specifically, the bill treats as violations contributions used to pay for attendance at session-time events held by a candidate’s principal campaign committee or a legislative party organization, and contributions used for membership or access to a facility operated during session by those entities. The bill applies to candidates for the legislature and constitutional office, their principal campaign committees, political parties, and legislative party units, and it would take effect the day after final enactment.

Impact

The bill would amend Minnesota Statutes section 10A.273, subdivision 1, broadening restrictions on campaign and party fundraising during the legislative session. It would affect candidates for legislative and constitutional office, principal campaign committees, political parties, and legislative party units by limiting when they may receive contributions from lobbyists, political committees, political funds, and unregistered associations. It also creates additional compliance risk for session-related event access and facility membership arrangements tied to those entities.

Sentiment

Based on the available record, there is no committee transcript or vote history showing debate, support, or opposition. The bill’s caption and text suggest a reform-oriented approach aimed at tightening ethics and campaign finance restrictions during the legislative session, but the public sentiment in the provided materials is not documented.

Contention

The main policy issue raised by the bill is whether session-time fundraising restrictions should be expanded beyond direct contributions to cover indirect benefits such as event attendance and facility access. Potential points of contention would likely involve political parties and campaign committees that rely on fundraising during session, versus reform advocates who favor stricter limits to reduce perceived influence from lobbyists and regulated entities. No specific objections or supporters are identified in the provided materials.