Mary Franson is a bit piqued about a news report today; on a website produced and paid for by her state legislative campaign committee, this message is up right now:
According to Minnesota Law I can't run a "petition" website so by signing this you are not signing a "petition" that would lobby the Governor to keep his hands of your family. You will simply say I want "updates" about your bill that would stop the Governor from forcefully unionizing moms and also unionize families. To satisfy Minnesota Public Radio and the bureaucracy in St. Paul the sign to the right will be removed this evening. [bold in original]
We're not surprised she was asked to clean up her committee's act.
When Bluestem first saw the website for Mary Franson's anti-union organizing legislation--symbolic language at best, given her caucus's incredibly shrunken size after November's election--we asked a labor friend well-versed in campaign finance law whether or not a legislator's campaign committee could push a petition or particular issue.
The friend didn't think that it violated state campaign finance law but suggested the effort might be a particularly lame way to spend money, especially after the close call Franson experienced in her squeaker of a relection.
As readers recall, she initially won the seat by one vote, then climbed to a margin of a dozen votes.
Turns out Bluestem's suspicions were accurate. Minnesota Public Radio's Catherine Richert reports in Franson's union bill site may violate campaign finance law:
A new website set up by Rep. Mary Franson, R-Alexandria, to promote her bill to block unionization and paid for by her campaign committee may violate state campaign finance laws. . . .
"Under chapter 10A, it's my opinion that there's nothing that would permit that kind of use of campaign money," Goldsmith said, citing state law that outlines what campaign funds can and cannot be used for.
In response to MPR's inquiry, Franson said it was a "simple oversight." And though she's not convinced that her site violates campaign finance law, she's having her web developer change the website's language.
"It's going to say something to the effect of 'If you support my legislation, sign the petition,'" she said.
Go check out the screenshots in Richert's post. The site has morphed into a sign-up for updates thingamabob, as Bluestem's own screenshot indicates.
Photo: Screenshot of the website as it stands.
Blog begathon: Bluestem is supported by reader contributions. If you liked this post, consider throwing some coin to the tip jar. If you don't like using PayPal, email at the address on this page for a snail mail address. We'll be running our twice-yearly "bleg" though Christmas.
If he wins, what a back bench for the Republicans...Twist; Franson; Corn..ish.
Posted by: T Pa or Coffee | Dec 21, 2012 at 01:52 PM
It's alright for DFL Representative Joe Atkins to use campaign funds to pay for his hotel room and rent a car in Florida but Mary Franson can't do a website informing voters of important information?
Editor's note: Under Minnesota campaign finance law, legislators are allowed to use campaign committee funds for the expenses of being in office. This includes travel and lodging while attending conferences such as ALEC, NCSL and other organizations. These are reported as non-campaign expenses, and similar expenses are found on the campaign finance reports of legislators from both parties.
Minnesota Statutes, Section10A.01, subd. 26 (10) specifically provides for a noncampaign disbursement for “payment by a principal campaign committee of the candidate's expenses for serving in public office, other than for personal uses."
Mr. Jungbauer appears to have complained about Mr. Atkins' expenses across the web, but not to the state board which has authority to determine the propriety of Representative Atkins' actions.
Since Representative Franson has changed her website's purpose from its original role as advocacy of policy change to one of informing citizens, she has conformed to the law.
Posted by: Bill Jungbauer | Dec 21, 2012 at 04:34 PM