After Hortman Assassination, Bill Would Remove Lawmaker Addresses from Campaign Docs
After the assassination of Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband last summer, a bill could pull lawmakers’ addresses from campaign documents.
Rep. Mike Freiberg, DFL-Golden Valley, is sponsoring the bill in the House of Representatives.
“I don’t really want to revisit [the assassination] in committee — honestly, I’m not sure how well I’d keep it together if I did,” Freiberg said. “I certainly don’t want to platform a murderer, but suffice it to say that the public availability of the home addresses of many legislators put our safety at risk in the heightened political environment we find ourselves in.”
The same man that killed the Hortmans allegedly shot Sen. John Hoffman and wife in their Champlin home.
At the time of the shootings, the addresses of lawmakers were available in campaign documents, among other public sources.
Now, if approved, Freiberg’s bill would prohibit the Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board from posting street addresses of candidates or legislators on its website.
Likewise, the board could not post addresses for anyone on a lobbyist report, economic interest statement or electioneering statement.
Printed campaign materials would also see changes. Disclaimers on written materials could include the entity’s mailing address, an actively monitored email address, or the entity’s website.
Freiberg’s bill was approved in the House Elections Finance and Government Operations Committee, and will be heading to the House Judiciary Finance Committee.
The Senate version of the bill is sponsored by Sen. Bonnie Westlin, DFL-Plymouth.
