Promote the Financial Transparency of Legislators in Minnesota

 

The purpose of this bill is to promote the trust between Minnesotan constituents and their representatives, and ensure

members of the Minnesota House of Representatives and Minnesota Senate are acting in the best interest of their

constituents. This will be done by mandating all members of the Minnesota House of Representatives and Minnesota Senate,

and their spouses, to either own a blind trust, or to not manage or own stocks at all during their term.

 

We live in a time when the trust between constituents and their representatives is rapidly declining. According to the

American Public Media Research Lab, only 48% of Minnesotans trust the state government. Ensuring our representatives are

keeping the best interest of their constituents in mind is crucial, as legislators in Minnesota affect the everyday

lives of their constituents. Among the many things Minnesotan legislators do, they set tax rates, set minimum wage,

regulate land use, and fund welfare programs. Many of these tasks that our legislators do affect how businesses run.

Mandating that all members of the Minnesota Senate and Minnesota House of Representatives, along with their spouses,

either own a blind trust, or do not own stocks at all, will greatly reduce conflicts with legislators being persuaded to

pass legislation for their own financial gain. Not only will this bill build on the legacy of political transparency in

Minnesota, but it will also set an example of legislation that can be used nationwide.

 

1. “Legislators in Minnesota” shall be defined as people elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives or Minnesota

Senate.

2. “Minnesotan Constituents” shall be defined as any person permanently residing in Minnesota that legislators are

elected to represent.

3. “Blind Trust” shall be defined as a trust in which its assets are unknown to its beneficiaries, and where its trustor

gives full discretion over the management of the trust’s assets to the trustee.

4. “Trust” shall be defined as a legal arrangement where one party, called a trustor, grants a trustee the right to

manage assets for the benefit of the beneficiary.

5. “Beneficiary” shall be defined as the person or people who benefit from and receive the assets of a trust.

6. “Trustor” shall be defined as the person who creates a trust with the help of an attorney, and then transfers their

assets to the trustee. In a blind trust, once the trust is established, a trustor cannot know about or intervene with

the management of the assets.

7. “Trustee” shall be defined as the person who manages the assets of a trust.

8. “Assets” shall be defined as the things that belong to the trust.

9. “Stocks” shall be defined as a partial ownership of the company or corporation that issued the stock.

 

 

N/A

 

Representatives will be fined $1,000 for every one share of stock they own. The Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public

Disclosure Board will enforce this.

 

June 1, 2027