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A suburban Minnesota teachers’ union violated state campaign finance disclosure rules by failing to submit timely reports on spending ahead of November’s school board election, a panel of administrative law judges finds. did.
According to a campaign violation report issued by the Minnesota Office of Administrative Hearings, the Dakota County Unified Educators (DCUE) spent nearly $29,000 on postcards, flyers, lawn signs and other items at the time of billing rather than at the time of order. Because I reported it.
Union president Kate Schmidt did not respond to a request for comment.
The union representing teachers and school nurses in the Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan district submitted a spending list in late October that included thousands of dollars the union had agreed to pay for election documents. Yen was not included. This district is her third largest district in Minnesota.
According to campaign finance records, the union reported $1,800 in expenses in its Oct. 26 report, including $450 in contributions to each of the campaigns of the four school board candidates it supported. It becomes. But that report did not include more than $36,000 in other expenses, including printing costs.
State law requires individuals and organizations to report expenses within 10 days if they exceed $750. The justices interpreted this to mean that disclosure laws are triggered when a person or organization promises to pay for a service, not when they are charged for the service.
“This promise falls within the definition of an expenditure and is therefore reportable,” the judges said.
Union officials filed two revised reports the following week detailing tens of thousands of dollars in costs for everything from lawn signs to postcards and newspaper ads. The Minnesota State Board of Education, a statewide teachers’ union, had recommended that the Dakota County chapter report these expenses on claims, according to the campaign violation report.
“That instruction was consistent with past practice and our understanding of the law,” Minnesota Education Commissioner Carrie Lucking said in a statement.
Judges Kimberly Middendorf, Jessica Palmer Dennig and Joseph Meyer said the guidance violates the state’s campaign finance disclosure law. Union officials say they will adjust the report’s recommendations.
“As a result, guidance from the Minnesota Department of Education will require local unions to report their anticipated costs before receiving an invoice for the cost of election postcards,” Lucking said. “We anticipate that this may impact the accuracy of the initial disclosure of printing and postage costs.”
The judges determined that the case stemmed from a union official’s misunderstanding of the term “expenditures,” a technical and careless violation of state law. The union was fined $100, one of the most severe and least damaging consequences of the judge’s decision, as the judge found it could be easily rebutted and would not affect voters. They became one.
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