Bought and Paid For… Minnesota Legislature

These are some of the democrats that control powerful committees in the State House and Senate in Minnesota. Their committees are voting on whether or not force small business owners to pay dues to public employee unions, raise the state minimum wage, and more. This is not a comprehensive list of all democrats in the Minnesota legislature. Campaign finance figures are through 2010, as 2012 campaign finance reports are not readily available at the time of this posting. According to campaign finance documents and press releases, unions spent over $100 million nationwide and more than $11 million in the state of Minnesota.

Senator Sandy Pappas: Author of Senate File 778 which would make private business owners employees of the state and allow in-home caregivers, such as those who care for their aging parents, to become MN State employees and join a public union.

Endorsed by AFSCME, SEIU, MAPE, MNA, IBEW, IFO, Education Minnesota, MN Farmers Union, AFL-CIO
Received over $10,000 in donations from public employee unions through 2010. Received approximately $10,000 more in donations from trade unions, individual government employees and other miscellaneous unions.

Senator Tony Lourey: Vice Chair of committee that voted to unionize private business owners.

Endorsed by AFL-CIO, SEIU, Educatiom MN, MN Farmers Union, MN Nurses Association, MAPE, Teamsters, IBEW, UAW, United Transportation Union.

Senator Patricia Torres Ray: Voted in favor of SF 778 in State and Local Government Committee.

Endorsed by SEIU, AFL-CIO, Education MN, Minneapolis Federation of Teachers, MNA, Minneapolis Central Labor Union Council.

Representative Joe Mullery: Chair of the MN House Early Childhood and Youth Development Policy

Endorsed by AFSCME, SEIU, Education MN*, IBEW*, United Transportation Union, MN Federation of Teachers, various trade, police, building unions*.
* Received campaign contributions from these unions

Representative Carolyn Laine: Vice Chair of MN House Early Childhood and Youth Development Policy Committee

Endorsed by AFSCME, SEIU, IBEW, AFL-CIO, Teamsters, MAPE, United Transportation Union, various police, firefighters, nurses and farmers unions

Received 42% of campaign donations from out-of-state sources.
Received more than $8,000 in campaign contributions from unions.

Representative Kathy Brynaert:

Endorsed by AFSCME, SEIU, AFL-CIO, MAPE, Education MN, various carpenters, farmers, transportation and nurses unions.

Received well over half of campaign contributions from unions and union employees.
60% of campaign contributions were from PACs or non-individuals.

Representative Carly Melin:

Raised approximately $32,000 for special election in 2011.
AFSCME donated at least $1,000 in 2011.

Representative Ryan Winkler:

Endorsed by AFSCME, SEIU, MAPE, Education MN, Star Tribune

Received approximately $8,000 in campaign contributions from lawyers and law firms, with Dorsey & Whitney contributing more than $4,000.
Received nearly $6,000 from public unions and public employees.

Senator Chris Eaton: Vice Chair of MN Senate State and Local Government Committee, voted in favor of SF 778

Endorsed by AFSCME, AFL-CIO, Education MN, Teamsters

Received over $6,000 from unions.
Among Eaton’s top campaign contributors are AFSCME, IBEW, American Federation of Teachers, American Nurses Association.

Senator Kevin Dahle: Voted in favor of SF 778

Endorsed by AFSCME, SEIU, MAPE, MNA, Education MN, IBEW, AFL-CIO, MN Farmers Union, various police, firefighters, care providers and transportation unions.
Among Dahle’s top campaign contributors are AFSCME, SEIU, Pipefitters Union, Carpenters and Joiners Union.

Senator Jeff Hayden: Voted in favor of SF 778

Endorsed by SEIU, Education MN, MNA, MAPE, Teamsters, Minneapolis Federation of Teachers, various firefighters, police, labor, and trades unions.

Hayden has received over $16,000 in campaign contributions from unions. Some of the top contributors are AFSCME, IBEW, Education MN and American Federation of Teachers.

Senator Bev Salze: Voted in favor of SF 778

Endorsed by AFSCME, AFL-CIO, Education MN, MAPE, MN Farmers Union, MNA, various police and trades unions.

Salze has received campaign contributions from AFSCME, Education MN, AFL-CIO, IBEW.

Senator Alice Johnson: Voted in favor of SF 778

Endorsed by AFSCME, SEIU, AFL-CIO, Education MN, IBEW, Teamsters, United Transportation Union.

Top 3 industries contributing to Johnson’s campaigns are public sector unions, Lobbyists, and civil servants/public officials. 85% of Johnson’s donations have been from PAC’s, 8% from individuals and 7% unknown.

Sources: Candidate campaign websites, MN Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board website, Influence Explorer, Project Vote Smart and OpenSecrets.org.

Bought & Paid For, Part II examines the democrats from the MN House Labor, Workplace and Regulated Industries Committee and their ties to powerful employee unions.

For more, READ: It’s Payback Time
__________________________________
Follow me on Twitter!