Dan McGrath and Mary Kiffmeyer | LeftMN photo
by Steve Timmer
Nov 26, 2012, 2:00 PM

Twisting arms at the piece rate of $19/hour

Comment has been made here before about Minnesota Majority’s Dan McGrath’s musings on losing the photo voter ID amendment fight. McGrath penned his thoughts in a letter posted on True North. Among McGrath’s comments were these:

As the chairman of ProtectMyVote.com, I can tell you that none felt the loss on Voter ID more keenly than myself on November 6th. After working on Minnesota’s election integrity issues nearly to the exclusion of all else for the last 5 years [emphasis added], seeing the culmination of that effort burn up on Election Day was a devastating blow which led me to question whether I was competent to carry on the fight.

Dan put some effort into it, all right. Every time there was hearing on photo voter ID, McGrath was there all right, and he was seen often in the halls of the Capitol. It was also clear that he spent time in communication with Republican legislators on the issue: Mary Kiffmeyer, Scott Newman, Warren Limmer, et al.

According to what McGrath told the Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board, however, it wasn’t much work at all. Based on information supplied by McGrath to the Board, it concluded last month that:

There is no probable cause to believe that Dan McGrath received compensation of over  $3,000 in any year for his lobbying activities. Therefore, there is no probable cause to  believe that Dan McGrath was required to register as a lobbyist for Minnesota Majority under the provisions of Minnesota Statutes section 10A.03.

According the findings, McGrath — the chief spokesman for Protect My Vote; its only one, really — calculated that on a piece-rate basis of between eighteen and twenty dollars an hour, he was only paid maybe $1,500 per year to lobby in 2010, 2011, or 2012. It was on this basis that the Board determined that McGrath did not have to register as a lobbyist.

You figure it out.

Update: Dan McGrath and Minnesota Majority are certainly not alone in using the method of computation outlined in the findings.

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