Reading Open season: MN legislator targets handgun permit class for fundraiser, the new Watchdog article about Cindy Pugh's upcoming permit-to-carry fundraiser yesterday, Bluestem thought that Tom Steward might just be doing a wee bit of trolling by mixing up 2012's "Stand Your Ground" veto by Governor Dayton in his copy.
After all, Minnesota pretty much settled the "shall carry" debate when former Governor Pawlenty signed the bill in 2005 that made carry permits available to law-abiding sane Minnesotans of a certain age who'd passed a training course. Bluestem doesn't have a problem with it; indeed, we'd be safer place if all gunowners received the training.
Today, liberal bloggers took the bait, with TPM and Raw Story framing this as a gun story, but as Bluestem looked over the Watchdog.org copy, we thought that the dark money-funded guardian was asleep on the job when we read this:
Pugh’s supporters will contribute to her campaign by paying a $125 fee ($100 for permit renewals) to take a one-day training class alongside the freshman legislator Saturday. The session in the Twin Cities suburb of Chanhassen covers the state-required training needed to apply for a permit to carry a handgun in Minnesota. . . .
One of Pugh’s constituents will be the instructor, certified trainer Andrew Rothman, who also offers classes through Minnesota Gun Training. A well-known leader in opposing gun restrictions at the State Capitol, Rothman will limit the number of participants to 20 and donate his time as a way of bolstering Pugh’s Second Amendment credentials.
“She’s getting all the profits. I’m getting 5 bucks to cover my photocopying costs,” said Rothman. “I think the campaign is buying them lunch, too. It’s all gravy from there…I’m just showing up and volunteering, exactly the same as if I drove her car in a parade.”
A dozen RSVP’s were registered on the fundraiser’s Facebook page, six women and six men, some of whom offered thumbs-up comments.
If there's an issue with Pugh's fundraiser, it's not the class, which in and of itself is a totally legal activity.
It's not a gun issue, it's a campaign finance issue.
Bluestem wondered if Rothman's offer was "exactly the same as if I drove her car in a parade” or more like offering a gift certificate for services at a silent auction, and thus would be an in-kind contribution from Andrew Rothman and his business, Minnesota Gun Training.
In the last session, the Minnesota legislature upped the individual campaign contribution to $1000 across the 2013-2014 election cycle, so if the fundraiser filled up, and this service provided to those who gave money to Pugh's campaign committee exceeded a certain number, Rothman's in-kind contribution would exceed the new limits.
However, another change in campaign finance law that occurred during the session concerned volunteer time. Whereas once upon time, if a lawyer or a designer or other professional donated her time to help a committee solve a legal problem it was having had to be reported as both an in-kind contribution and as an expense, this rule has changed. Volunteer time to the committee--like a professional trucker driving a parade unit big-rig--no longer would need to be reported.
Is Rothman's time that sort of volunteering--or is it an in-kind contribution? (Since Rothman operates Minnesota Gun Training as a sole proprietorship, there didn't seem to be any question about nonprofit association or corporate contributions, a different barrel of fish).
Our question seemed like a matter for the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board to answer, since the change in the law is new, and so Bluestem left a message for MCFPDB's Executive Director Gary Goldsmith and emailed him relevant material from the Watchdog article, the Facebook event page for the fundraiser, and the fundraiser registration page on Rothman's business's website, along with a link to the schedule of costs for the classes he ordinarily offers.
When Goldsmith returned the call, he noted that this was a good question, and the staff had reviewed the law before he got back to me.
The change in the law was done to exempt volunteer time given to the committee, not services given to contributors in exchange for money donated to the committee, Goldsmith explained. Thus the class was little different from a gift certificate for legal services that might be given to a fundraising gala's silent auction, Goldsmith said. If the lawyer filed paperwork for a committee, that would be considered volunteer time.
Thus it's possible, he speculated that the class-in-exchange for a contribution could exceed statutory limits if enough people sign up for the class and give Cindy Pugh's committee $125. However, he noted that the event is still within a time frame in which the Pugh committee can work to bring the event into compliance so that Rothman's in-kind gift doesn't exceed the limits.
Goldsmith also noted that the in-kind gift would count as both contribution and an expense--and that other issues might emerge as far as the use of a nearby range goes when the Pugh committee goes to file its 2013 year-end report.
Bluestem hopes that the Pugh campaign and the board can work this out. We presume as law-abiding citizens, Rothman, Pugh and her treasurer all want to follow statutes governing campaign finance.
They shouldn't be too embarrassed at the mulligan. After all, the "shall issue" carry permit law itself was first passed in 2003 as part of an omnibus bill, thrown out by the state supreme court, then repassed in 2005 as a stand-alone bill. It's hard to get these things right--just think of Governor Dayton's proposal to ditch the new tax on farm equipment repairs.
But more importantly, we think that Watchdog should stop barking at passing liberals in order to stir up trouble, and actually fulfill its guard dog mission, scrutinizing fundraisers on both sides of the aisle. That is the job of a watchdog. The other? Mere trolling on Stand Your Ground laws.
Screenshot: Registration page for a gun permit class as part of Cindy Pugh's fundraiser.
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