SF 3710 Minnesota Senate · 2025-2026 Regular Session

Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board data practices modification

This bill, SF 3710, prevents Minnesota's Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board from publishing individuals' street addresses on its website in campaign finance reports. It classifies full street addresses as private data, directly affecting candidates and officeholders who file campaign reports. Key provisions include requiring the Board and local governments to remove or modify existing reports with street addresses online and allowing candidates to use campaign funds for security-related expenses (up to $5,000 for monitoring and $25,000 for services) after elections. The bill also removes certification requirements for designating an address as private on campaign filings.

Issues: ✓ Technology

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2026

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Feb 19, 2026 Last action Mar 25, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

1st Engrossment → 2nd Engrossment · 6 edits · Mar 23, 2026

MODERATE

This bill updates the version of SF 3710 from the 1st to the 2nd engrossment, incorporating substantive amendments to Minnesota campaign finance laws. The changes primarily expand privacy protections by classifying certain street addresses as private data, update effective dates to align with the 2026 election cycle, and modify disclaimer requirements for political advertisements.

Scope change

The bill's scope was expanded to include the Secretary of State as a recipient of private data classifications and updated the statutory citations to include chapters 204B and 211A explicitly. The applicability of address redaction rules was clarified for reports filed prior to May 1, 2026.

TIMELINE

The effective date for street address privacy protections was changed to seven days after final enactment, while other sections remain effective the day following final enactment, aligning the law with the upcoming November 2026 election.

TECHNICAL

The bill text was updated to reflect the 2nd Engrossment status and revised the posting date from March 20, 2026, to March 26, 2026.

REQUIREMENT

New sections were added to explicitly classify street addresses of individual candidates on affidavits of candidacy or nominating petitions submitted before May 1, 2026, as private or nonpublic data.

Disclaimer requirements for broadcast media and independent expenditure materials were updated to replace generic placeholders with specific instructions to include the name of the entity responsible for the content.

DEFINITION

The definition of 'address' was refined to distinguish between the complete mailing address and the specific 'street address' components (building name/number, street name, and unit number) for privacy purposes.

ELIGIBILITY

A transition provision was added to ensure that affidavits of candidacy and nominating petitions printed or distributed before the effective date of new modifications are not considered deficient, even if they lack the updated privacy language.

Introduction → 1st Engrossment · 6 edits · Mar 2, 2026

MODERATE

This bill updates Minnesota's campaign finance laws to protect individual privacy by classifying street addresses as private data, prohibiting the Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board from posting them online, and requiring local governments to redact addresses from their reports. It also expands the definition of 'noncampaign disbursements' to include specific security-related expenses, such as home security hardware and services, allowing candidates to use campaign funds for these purposes without them counting as campaign contributions. Additionally, the bill removes certification requirements for candidates to have their addresses classified as private data and repeals an outdated rule regarding waivers for secondary residence addresses.

Scope change

The bill expands the scope of entities required to redact street addresses to include local governments and school districts, and broadens the scope of allowable campaign spending to explicitly cover security-related costs.

REQUIREMENT

Street addresses of individuals on campaign reports are now classified as private or nonpublic data and must be redacted before posting on the Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board's website or local government websites.

The board's ability to waive the requirement for officials to disclose secondary residence addresses was repealed.

DEFINITION

New definitions were added for 'Address', 'Street address', 'Noncampaign disbursement', and 'Security services' to clarify what constitutes private data and allowable expenses.

FISCAL

The definition of 'noncampaign disbursement' was expanded to allow campaign funds to be used for security-related expenses, including detection monitoring, structural security devices, and security services, up to specific dollar limits.

ELIGIBILITY

The requirement for candidates to certify a 'reasonable fear' for safety to have their address classified as private data was removed, making the classification automatic for all individuals.

TIMELINE

The Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board and local governments must remove and redact existing reports containing street addresses from their websites within seven days of enactment and complete all redactions within six months.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Mar 23, 2026

Upper · Passed

Comm report: To pass as amended

upper

Mar 2, 2026

Upper · Passed

Comm report: To pass as amended and re-refer to Judiciary and Public Safety

upper

Feb 19, 2026

Committee

Referred to Elections

upper

Feb 19, 2026

Introduced

Introduction and first reading

upper

1 primary · 1 co-sponsor