Minnesota Chamber of Commerce v. Choi

A provision to prohibit corporate political spending by foreign-influenced corporations in Minnesota elections is included in The Democracy for the People Act (HF3 and SF3), an omnibus democracy bill designed to strengthen voting rights, protect voters and the elections system, and modernize the campaign finance system. Drawing from earlier standalone bills (HF117 and SF288), this provision is meant to close a loophole created by the Supreme Court’s 2010 decision in Citizens United v. FEC.

The House version of the bill, HF 3, passed the legislature on April 13, 2023.  The Senate version of the bill, SF 3, passed the legislature on April 26, 2023. The Minnesota Governor signed the bill into law on May 5, 2023.

These bills build on Free Speech For People’s work developing similar legislation in Seattle, WA (along with partner Fix Democracy First), which passed on January 13, 2020.

In June 2023, the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce challenged the law in federal court, naming as defendants Ramsey County Attorney John Choi and the members of the state Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board. The Chamber claims the law infringes upon its members’ constitutionally protected free speech rights, as well as those of the Chamber itself.

Free Speech For People, on behalf of Clean Elections Minnesota, on August 25, 2023, filed court papers to intervene in a corporate lobby’s lawsuit seeking to block enforcement of Minnesota’s recently enacted ban on political spending by foreign-influenced corporations.

“Foreign investors don’t have a constitutional right to spend in U.S. elections, and neither do the corporations where they hold influential stakes,” says Ron Fein, Legal Director of Free Speech For People.

Learn more about the legislation