Overview
During its 2023 legislative session, the Minnesota legislature enacted significant changes to its laws regarding lobbyists and lobbying disclosure. Effective January 1, 2024, Minnesota’s amended lobbying law expands the scope of local government lobbying, enacts new and expanded definitions, and implements changes to lobbyist reports.
Expands Scope of Local Government Lobbying
Previously, Minnesota’s lobbying disclosure requirements applied only to individuals attempting to influence state legislative or administrative action, or an official action of a metropolitan governmental unit, which included:
- The seven counties in the metropolitan area (Anoka, Carver, Dakota, Hennepin, Ramsey, Scott, and Washington);
- A regional railroad authority established by one or more of those counties;
- Cities within the aforementioned seven counties with a population of more than 50,000;
- The Metropolitan Council;
- The Metropolitan Parks and Open Space Commission;
- The Metropolitan Airports Commission; and
- The Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission.
The new amendments significantly expand the scope of local government lobbying. Beginning January 1, 2024, registration as a lobbyist will be required for any individual attempting to influence state legislative or administrative action, or an official action of any Minnesota political subdivision. For the purposes of lobbying, political subdivision means any county, town, city, school district or other municipal corporation or political subdivision of the state authorized by law to enter into contracts, the Metropolitan Council, the Metropolitan Parks and Open Space Commission, the Metropolitan Airports Commission, and the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission. This expands the scope of local lobbying significantly to include an additional 80 counties, 839 cities, 330 school districts, and 1,764 townships in the State of Minnesota.
Revises Definition of “Lobbyist”
Before these amendments, individuals who spent more than $250 were required to register as lobbyists, and only attempts to influence legislative action, state administrative action, or the
official action of a metropolitan governmental unit qualified as lobbying.
The definition of lobbyist now includes an individual who spends more than $3,000 of the individual’s personal funds, not including the individual’s own traveling expenses and membership dues, in any year for the purpose of attempting to influence legislative or administrative action, or the official action of a political subdivision, by communicating or urging others to communicate with public or local officials.
Defines “Legislative Action”
The statute defines “legislative action” to include:
- The development of prospective legislation, including the development of amendment language to prospective legislation;
- The review, modification, adoption, or rejection by a member of the legislature or an employee of the legislature, if applicable, of any (i) bill, (ii) amendment, (iii) resolution, (iv) confirmation considered by the legislature, or (v) report;
- The development of, in conjunction with a constitutional officer, prospective legislation or a request for support or opposition to introduced legislation; and
- The action of the governor in approving or vetoing any act of the legislature or portion of an act of the legislature.
“Legislative action” had not been defined by the statute previously and has important implications for filing lobbyist reports, discussed below.
Implements Significant Changes to Lobbyist Reports
Lobbyist Principal Reports
Starting in March 2025, which covers calendar year 2024, principals must report the total amount, rounded to the nearest $9,000 (previously $20,000), spent by the principal on each type of lobbying listed below:
- Legislative Action
- Administrative Action
- Rate Setting, Power Plant and Powerline Siting, and Granting of Certificates (Public Utilities Commission)
- Official Action of a Political Subdivision
For each type of lobbying listed, the principal must report a total amount that includes:
- Direct payments for compensation and benefits paid by the principal to lobbyists;
- Expenditures for advertising, mailing, research, consulting, surveys, expert testimony, studies, reports, analysis, compilation and dissemination of information, social media and public relations campaigns, and legal counsel; and
- Salaries and administrative overhead expenses.
Additionally, a principal that paid more than $2,000 for advertising that urges members of the public to contact public or local officials to influence official actions must itemize the advertising costs. The principal report must disclose the date the advertising was purchased, the name and address of the vendor, a description of the advertising purchased, and identify any specific subjects of interest addressed in the advertisement.
Lobbyist Disbursement Reports
Previously, lobbying disbursement reports required lobbyists to report the lobbyist’s total disbursements on lobbying, the amount and nature of each gift, item or benefit given to any official, each original source of money in excess of $500 used for the purpose of lobbying, as well as a general description of the subjects lobbied in the previous twelve months.
Minnesota’s new reporting requirements are focused on the specific subjects of interest lobbied on for the principal along with the public entity that was the focus of the lobbying. The information required on the report differs depending on whether the issue lobbied on falls within the Legislative Action, Administrative Action, Public Utilities Commission, or Political Subdivision categories.
- Legislative Action: The lobbyist must report general lobbying categories and up to four specific subjects of interest related to each general lobbying category on which the lobbyist attempted to influence legislative action. If the lobbyist attempted to influence legislative action on more than four specific subjects of interest for a general lobbying category, the lobbyist, in consultation with the principal, must determine which four specific subjects of interest were the principal’s highest priorities during the reporting period and report only those four subjects.
- Administrative Action: The lobbyist must report each state agency that the principal sought to influence during the reporting period, the revisor number assigned to the agency’s administrative rulemaking, and the principal’s specific subjects of interest within the rulemaking.
- Public Utilities Commission: The lobbyist must report the Public Utilities Commission project name for each rate setting, power plant/powerline siting, or certificate of need that the principal sought to influence.
- Political Subdivision: The lobbyist must report each political subdivision that the principal sought to influence, the official action of the political subdivision that was the subject of lobbying, and the specific subjects of interest for the principal within the official action.
Conclusion
On January 5th, 2024, the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board published its draft rule language regarding lobbying. The Board also issued several Advisory Opinions in January which provide further clarity on the changes to Minnesota’s lobbying laws. Steptoe’s Political Law group continues to monitor these and other developments to Minnesota’s lobbying and campaign finance laws.
