HF 72 Minnesota House · 2025-2026 Regular Session

Entities or organizations that receive state funding prohibited from making campaign expenditures or otherwise expending money for any political purpose.

HF 72 prohibits entities or organizations receiving state funding from making campaign expenditures or spending money on political activities. It directly affects nonprofits and other groups that receive state funds through direct appropriations, competitive grants, or other legislatively named funding programs. The law bans using any state-funded money for political purposes, including supporting candidates or ballot measures, effective July 1, 2025. This policy change aims to separate public funds from political campaign activities.

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2025

Committee Review

Mar 2025

House Passage

Feb 2025

Senate Passage

Governor

Introduced Feb 10, 2025 Last action Mar 3, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduction → 1st Engrossment · 4 edits · Feb 28, 2025

MODERATE

The bill was formally reclassified from its initial introduction to its first engrossment, indicating it has passed initial legislative review. The most significant change is the addition of a critical exception to the ban on political spending by state-funded entities; organizations are now permitted to spend money on political activities if they maintain separate accounts for those funds and do not replace existing funding with state grants to pay for them. The bill also added new sections to the statute, expanding the legal framework for these campaign expenditure rules.

Scope change

The bill's scope expanded by adding new statutory sections (1.14 through 1.18) and clarifying the conditions under which state-funded entities can engage in political spending.

REQUIREMENT

Added a specific exception allowing state-funded entities to make political expenditures if they use separate accounts for political activities and do not supplant existing funding with state grants.

Introduced a mandatory pre-funding attestation requirement where entities must confirm they will comply with the new spending rules before receiving state funds.

TECHNICAL

Updated the bill title and posting date to reflect its progression from introduction to first engrossment.

SCOPE

Inserted new sections into the statute to codify the updated rules regarding campaign expenditures and state funding restrictions.

Floor votes · House Feb 27, 2025

How they voted

129–3

Passed

Total votes 132

Feb 27, 2025

D Democratic65

62 Yea 3 Nay

95% Yea

R Republican67

67 Yea

100% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Mar 3, 2025

Committee

Referred to Elections

upper

Mar 3, 2025

Introduced

Introduction and first reading

upper

Mar 3, 2025

Introduced

Received from House

upper

Feb 27, 2025

Lower · Passed

Bill was passed as amended

lower

Feb 27, 2025

Lower · Passed

Amended

lower

Feb 19, 2025

Lower · Passed

Committee report, to adopt

lower

Feb 10, 2025

Introduced

Introduction and first reading, referred to Elections Finance and Government Operations

lower

1 primary · 11 co-sponsors