The Minnesota Service Employees International Union today announced plans to “dramatically increase” its donations to the Alliance for a Better Minnesota in order to run advertisements criticizing the state’s GOP-controlled legislature over the budget impasse that led to the government shutdown.

The ads will highlight Republicans’ “choice” to “shut down our government in support of draconian cuts to education and increased property taxes, rather than asking the richest 2 percent of Minnesotans to pay their fair share,” according to an SEIU statement.

The union has also released its own video, which addresses the impact of budget cuts on the state’s educational system.

“I know every time I hear on the news they have to cut something, the government, the school district…it makes me cringe because I know my son will be affected,” Melissa Demers, a South St. Paul mother of a child with special needs, said in the video, which also features Sen. Al Franken and Roseville Rep. Mindy Greiling, among others.

SEIU will promote the video through advertisements and ask viewers to urge their legislators in order “to compromise with Governor Dayton on a balanced approach to our budget.”

SEIU’s increased contribution will support a new set of online, radio and print advertising, aimed at driving people to a new website, ShutdownShame.com, which will share stories about how the shutdown is affecting Minnesotans, an SEIU press release states.

Watch the SEIU video:

Reports filed with the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board last week indicate that independent expenditure group Minnesota’s Future has shifted its behavior after a complaint was filed with the board last month by the Minnesota chapter of Common Cause. That complaint alleged that Minnesota’s Future had failed to detail the full extent of donor information required by law in their last finance report.

Minnesota’s Future is one of the conservative state organizations that has played a central role in outside spending during this year’s gubernatorial campaign between Democrat Mark Dayton, Republican Tom Emmer and Independence Party candidate Tom Horner. The group has received the majority of its funds from the Republican Governors Association (RGA), and used it to run a number of television ads attacking Dayton.

Minnesota’s Future exists as part of a complicated web of organizations all designed to operate harmoniously with the goal of diverting the original source of funding for political ads. The process starts with the RGA, a national organization that rakes in cash from a wide number of avenues ranging from small individual donors to major corporations. The RGA has not actually donated funds to Minnesota’s Future itself; instead the RGA has contributed $2.3 million to a group called Minnesota Future LLC an organization technically separate from Minnesota’s Future. The LLC does not directly engage in political campaigning, and instead sends all of its nonoperational funds directly to Minnesota’s Future.

In their complaint, Common Cause charged that the LLC needed to file paperwork with the state board, something the group had not done by the 42-day pre-general election report. Minnesota’s Future LLC appears to have taken that criticism to heart, as the LLC received its own separate filing when this week’s report was released. But other areas of concern in Common Causes’ complaint persist in the new report.

The reports from the LLC still do not disclose the original origin of the the money for the RGA donations. The pages titled “Source of Funding for Contribution” are left completely blank in the report. Compare that to one of Minnesota Future LLC’s rival organizations — WIN Minnesota — that has received a massive cash infusion from the Democratic Governors Association. Much like the two Minnesota’s Future organizations, WIN Minnesota operates in tandem with a group known as Alliance for a Better Minnesota (ABM). WIN collects the large cash donations from the national Democrats and funnels it to ABM to run ads.

Unlike Minnesota Future LLC, WIN Minnesota details the original source of the DGA’s funding. It is through these fully completed finance reports that voters can become aware of the fact that national corporations such as AT&T are funding commercials against Emmer. Though the overall source of the RGA’s money is disclosed through IRS filings, by leaving large portions of the campaign finance report blank, Minnesota Future LLC prevents citizens from learning who specifically has invested.

Common Cause Minnesota’s Executive Director Mike Dean responded to these latest filings in a post on the group’s blog earlier this week:

“We are concerned that all the secret money flowing into Minnesota’s Future in an attempt to influence the outcome of the governor’s race,” said Mike Dean, Executive Director of Common Cause Minnesota. “Disclosure of these contributions is not only important in preventing corruption, but it also is vital to enforcing the law.”

At the September reporting deadline, the RGA was Minnesota’s Future’s sole donor outside of a small amount contributed by the group’s registered agent. The vast majority of Minnesota Future LLC’s funds continue to come through donations from the RGA, but Minnesota’s Future has expanded its donor bank slightly beyond the funds from the LLC.

This time around Minnesota’s Future gained $100,000 from a group called State Fund for Economic Growth LLC. That organization serves as a front for a local business much in the same way Minnesota Future LLC allows the RGA to distance itself from the political advertisements it funds. The State Fund for Economic Growth LLC has received all of its funds from banking company TCF Financial International. The group has not directly spent money on any Minnesota races, but contributed an even $100,000 to both Minnesota’s Future and MN Forward, the other conservative organization backing Emmer that has been the center of controversies this election cycle. Minnesota’s Future also picked up $25,000 from Hubbard Broadcasting, another major backer of MN Forward.

Patrick Caldwell is the American Independent’s Minnesota correspondent.

On Sept. 10, Minnesota-based corporation 3M contributed $100,000 to MN Forward, an independent expenditure organization that has taken in large sums of money from numerous Minnesota corporations, including Target, Best Buy, Holiday gas stations and Red Wing Shoes. A number of other corporations also donated to MN Forward in the last finance reporting period, but 3M contributed the largest sum in becoming the highest profile company to add their name to MN Forward’s roster.

MN Forward has run an expensive advertising campaign supporting Republican Tom Emmer and opposing Democrat Mark Dayton in Minnesota’s gubernatorial campaign. When Target’s contribution to the group became public knowledge, liberal organizations quickly organized a boycott of the big-box store. Progressives criticized Target for providing support for Emmer — a candidate who opposes LGBT equality and has been tied to You Can Run But You Cannot Hide, a Christian rock band with vehemently homophobic views. Liberal groups’ efforts against Target proved largely successful, discouraging many new corporations from making political contributions after the August primary. But these same groups have been slow to organize a response to 3M’s donation, sending a message to Minnesota’s businesses that they are once again free to engage in such political expenditures with little fear of public backlash as the campaign season heads into the final stretch.

3M describes itself as “fundamentally a science-based company. We produce thousands of imaginative products, and we’re a leader in scores of markets — from health care and highway safety to office products and abrasives and adhesives.” Most consumers would recognize the brand for Post-it Notes and Scotch Tape, though the company earns significant funds from industrial products such as abrasives and adhesives.

In their business practices, 3M has a strong record of supporting LGBT rights. The company receives 100-percent ratings on the Human Rights Campaign’s (HRC) Corporate Equality Index and a perfect rating on the HRC’s Buying for Equality guide. Target and Best Buy both received similarly high marks prior to their donation to MN Forward, which was part of the reason LGBT-rights groups were so shocked by the political contribution. As part of the fallout from those donations, the HRC plans to drop both Best Buy and Target from their buying guide.

“[Target's donation] was significant because they have been such a leader, both in their workplace and how they treat their employees and also supporting so many different events,” said Monica Meyer, executive director of OutFront Minnesota, a LGBT-rights group that played an early role in the protests against Target’s contributions. “3M also has been out there as well, being supportive of their employees, offering domestic partner benefits. They also have a presence at the HRC dinner, and they have a presence at [Twin Cities] Pride. Obviously we really support good corporate values that really stand up for fairness and equality for all people, and by contributing to the campaigns in this way… it’s basically letting consumers know that their dollars are going for something that they may or may not agree with.”

3M’s donation only became public through campaign finance disclosures last Wednesday, but so far, response from progressive organizations has been muted compared to the reaction against Target’s donation. Some have called for boycotts, and a petition was started on Change.org, though it has only garnered around 200 signatures at the time this article was posted. The two organizations at the forefront of the Target boycott — MoveOn.org and the HRC — have remained largely mute on the further corporate donations to MN Forward. A spokesperson for the HRC said the organization reached out to 3M to inquire about the donation; HRC declined to comment until 3M responds. MoveOn did not respond to the Minnesota Independent’s request for comment.

Like Target before it, 3M claims that the decision to become engaged in politics was about supporting sound business policy in general, rather than a specific candidate’s platform, let alone social issues.

“That donation is about advancing public policy that will foster a more competitive business environment,” a 3M spokesperson told the Minnesota Independent. The company declined to elaborate further on the motivation for the contribution, and would not say if they were directly supporting Republican gubernatorial candidate Emmer. But a quick glance at MN Forward’s expenditure records reveals that any contribution to MN Forward essentially serves as a donation to Emmer rather than support for general “business policy.” Over 95 percent of MN Forward’s campaign spending has been devoted to Minnesota’s gubernatorial campaign, with only minimal amounts directed at lower ballot races.

“They say they’re supporting candidates that have a strong business interest, but really what is that? I think that many would argue that all three candidates can be considered strong on business issues. What it appears to be is that they are concerned about one particular issue, and that is lower taxes for themselves,” said Mike Dean of Common Cause Minnesota. “My larger concern is that that is not what they’re trying to do, to create a strong business climate. They’re trying to buy influence. When corporations give this type of money, they’re trying to get something in return, and many of them called it an ‘investment.’ When you make an investment, you expect to make a return on that investment.”

Dean noted that 3M, like many local businesses, has interests that will likely come before the next governor and legislature.

“Some of their [3M's] practices have been scrutinized in terms of how they handle, basically how they manufacture products and chemicals that they’re putting into the environment, and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency has a role in overseeing that process,” Dean said. “My concern is that by giving this, are they hoping that the next governor will look the other way when it comes to these type of political contributions?”

Though 3M’s donation represents a significant sum in the gubernatorial campaign, the protests against Target appear to have made corporations at least hesitate before donating.

“We did not see that many new corporations get into the fold,” Dean said. “At least big corporations [did not give] at all. And a lot of the new money was a lot smaller. One of the key things is that after the controversy regarding Target’s donation, I really think that corporations are thinking twice about whether they want to get involved in this arena because of the backlash they can experience from both customers and shareholders. They’re realizing it is not in their best interest as good corporate citizens to get involved in this arena at all and get into the business of trying to buy or influence elections.”

With less corporate money affecting the election, national organizations will play an increasingly important role in campaign funding. The Republican Governors Association (RGA) has funneled money through a group called Minnesota’s Future in order to run ads attacking Mark Dayton. The national organization has poured almost half a million dollars into the independent expenditure group, allowing the RGA to essentially spend money freely without the ads identifying the true source of the funding.

That type of spending is not solely contained on the Republican side. The Democratic Governors Association (DGA) contributed $250,000 to WIN Minnesota, an organization which has in turn sent significant sums to the independent expenditure committee Alliance for a Better Minnesota (ABM). That group that has then poured money into ads attacking Emmer. But both WIN Minnesota and ABM have drawn their funds from a wide number of sources beyond just the DGA, while Minnesota’s Future has the appearance of a front organization, with almost every dollar of their expenditures funded by the RGA.

Socially conservative institutions are also heavily investing in Emmer’s election. The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) — a conservative group that runs numerous state campaigns opposing same-sex marriage — has already produced two television ads and one radio spot for the gubernatorial campaign. The group has skirted through loopholes in Minnesota’s campaign finance laws, so unlike the groups discussed previously, NOM’s campaign spending and fundraising remains largely a mystery. However, a recent investigation by sister publication The Washington Independent revealed that the Catholic organization The Knights of Columbus contributed $1.4 million to NOM in 2009, and many have long speculated that Mormon groups provided a substantial portion of NOM’s funding for their campaign against California’s Proposition 8, a referendum on same-sex marriage.

In spite of the fact that corporations appeared more hesitant to make political donations during the last reporting period, Dean predicts that there may be an influx of corporate spending as Election Day approaches. “As we get closer to the election, I think there is going to be even more pressure placed on corporations to get involved, because they’ve already sort of put their chips in on one candidate,” Dean said. “If we see this race continue to stay tight, or get tighter, than I think you’re going to see them [corporations] say, ‘Hey, we’ve already invested this much, in order to get the true return on our investment we need to put even more money down on the table here.’”

Whether Dean’s vision comes true will largely depend on the level of public pressure placed on the new corporate contributors. If LGBT and other progressive organizations rally against 3M, it will likely discourage further donations from companies who must directly sell their products to consumers. But unlike Target, 3M is a difficult institution to organize a boycott against. Whereas Target’s retail locations provided easy photo opportunities for groups to protest around or make viral videos inside stores, it is significantly more difficult to host a rally just inside the Post-it aisle of a Wal-Mart. Even then, 3M is far less reliant on their consumer divisions, so progressive organizations would have to get businesses that use 3M products to buy into a boycott.

With any large protest against 3M looking unlikely, other corporations may very well notice a landscape where they are free to contribute funds to political campaigns without experiencing the backlash faced by Target.

Patrick Caldwell is the American Independent’s Minnesota correspondent.

—U.S. Rep. James Oberstar, D-Minn.

—U.S. Rep. Erik Paulsen, R-Minn., Congressional District 3

—Jim Meffert, Democratic candidate for U.S. House, Congressional District 3

—Stephanie Schriock, president, EMILY’s List

—Tom Horner, Independence Party candidate for governor

—Sheldon Anderson, GOP candidate for state House, District District 15B, Wyoming

—Spoof Twitter account critical of the Alliance for a Better Minnesota

—Peggy Flanagan, director of Wellstone Action’s Native American Leadership Program, former Minneapolis School Board member

—Mark Ritchie, Secretary of State

Still from the Alliance for a Better Minnesota's new ad

As one of his former challengers for the Republican gubernatorial nomination predicted in April, Tom Emmer’s DWI record is now being used against the presumed GOP nominee. A new TV ad attacking Emmer for his DWI arrests was released Tuesday by Alliance for a Better Minnesota.

The commercial features Margaret Everson, a woman whose son was killed by a drunk driver. Everson discusses the pain of losing her child, and then turns to Emmer’s DWI record and votes in favor of reducing penalties against drunk drivers.

Though general election season won’t begin until after the primary in two weeks, there has been a recent influx of outside advertisements in the governor’s race. MN Forward cut an ad for Emmer that has drawn fire from progressive organizations, less for the content of the ad itself but for Target Corp.’s financial support for an ad backing the anti-LGBT rights candidate.

Watch the ad:

Tom Emmer. Photo: Emmer for Governor, Facebook

Alliance for a Better Minnesota released an ad on Tuesday that targets GOP-endorsed candidate for governor Tom Emmer on statements he made suggesting tip-earners’ wages should be below minimum wage in Minnesota. Emmer backtracked a bit last week saying he would approve a tax cut on the first $20,000 of tips earned and would simply freeze the current minimum wage for servers.

Here’s the ad:

http://www.startribune.com/politics/blogs/98853579.html

“We need a leader who will fight for us,” said Denise Cardinal, Executive Director of Alliance for a Better Minnesota Action Fund. “Voters need to know that Tom Emmer is just like Tim Pawlenty, who sides with the big corporate special interests over working families. Emmer’s record shows he’s not on our side.”

The ad is the largest by an outside group so far this cycle. The National Organization for Marriage spent $200,000 earlier this summer for ads targeting the DFL and Independence Party candidates for their stance on marriage equality for same-sex couples.

Here’s the new ad: