The Capitol Note: Campaign finance board closes case against Senate DFL caucus

CFPD’s Gary Goldsmith gave few details about the discussion. (Staff photo: Peter Bartz-Gallagher)

1.)  The Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board met in a closed-door session Tuesday to go over the recent decision to hit the Senate DFL caucus with a $100,000 fine, the Associated Press reports. Following that discussion, the board announced that it would leave the original decision as is, bringing an end to its investigation of illegal coordination between the Democratic party unit and third-party spending groups. The offenses at hand involve more than a dozen DFLers running for the upper chamber in 2012, and have been the subject of numerous public statements from Republican office-holders and communications staffers. Though usually transparent, executive director Gary Goldsmith was tight-lipped about yesterday’s proceedings, saying confidentiality rules prevented him from giving details about the executive session board meeting.

2.) The MNsure board will meet at 1:00 p.m. today to go over a number of topics, including a general review from interim CEO Scott Leitz. Though the health insurance exchange has become accustomed to a high level of scrutiny in recent months, attention and criticism of the new state agency have ramped up with this week’s announcement from the Office of the Legislative Auditor, which intends to look into MNsure’s contracts with multiple technology vendors. Also likely to be discusses: MNSure announced a bit of relatively good news late last week, issuing a statement that spelled out total enrollment from Oct. 1 through Dec. 31. Nearly 69,000 Minnesotans registered for insurance coverage through the exchange by the New Year’s Day deadline, including more than 25,000 consumers who purchased insurance on the private market.

3.) The Republican Party of Minnesota announced on Tuesday that it will hold its statewide convention on May 30-31 in Rochester. If those dates sound familiar, there’s a reason: The DFL Party’s convention runs over the same weekend, with a convention scheduled for Duluth from May 30-June 1. The GOP event will be held at the Mayo Civic Center, and the Democrats will hold theirs at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center. RPM chair Keith Downey told the Star Tribune the double-booking was “out of necessity,” saying that weekend grants the best opportunity between the end of the legislative session and the June 3 deadline for candidate filings.

COMINGS & GOINGS

• The Office of the Legislative Auditor (OLA) is hiring for an intermediate program evaluator position. Qualified applicants should have a graduate degree in a related field, and a background in reviewing professional research is preferred. Resume and cover letter can be submitted to Shelly Watterud at [email protected]
• The Legislative Energy Commission will meet at 3:00 p.m. today for a Capitol hearing.
• The DFL Party has produced a tool that is aimed at helping activists find the location of their precinct caucus meetings, which are set to take place on Feb. 4. After typing in one’s zip code and address, party members are referred to the appropriate site for the caucus events; details available here.
• The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced on Tuesday that it would posthumously grant an honor to former GOP U.S. Sen. Rod Grams. The “Director’s Community Leadership Award” recognizes Gram’s contribution to the creation of the Minnesota AMBER alert system for missing children, among other public safety projects.