Leaders In Action

Solid Research and Effective Framing Leads to Model Fiscal Accountability Law

Minnesota Representative Karen Clark is the prime sponsor of a recently amended model fiscal accountability law. First enacted in 1995, the law requires businesses that receive public subsidies and whose purpose is job creation to disclose what jobs they plan on producing and what they will accomplish with the subsidy.

Through amendments to the law, Clark and Senator John Hottinger made substantial improvements by requiring living wage standards, public hearings, and approval of corporate subsidy agreements by elected bodies; disclosure of subsidized corporate relocations; five-year bans on companies that fail to deliver and don’t pay their subsidies back; and monetary penalties for companies that fail to disclose.

Clark credits this successful policy change to building a strong bipartisan support base with the Governor’s department heads, legislators, small business owners, local elected officials, and representatives from the public sector, and by using research from local grassroots organizations. “It was pretty amazing to find an issue that brought together such a wide range of groups and advocates,” stated Clark.

“Holding corporations accountable became a statewide priority as a result of how we shaped public awareness. We detailed where the abuses were and had many stories to tell. As a result, citizens could understand why it’s important to have a good return on their investments.”

First elected in 1980 on a platform of economic and social justice, Clark is known among her colleagues for coalition-building skills and her persistent community-based advocacy on behalf of inner-city constituents and low-income and minority residents throughout Minnesota. Her legislative successes range from authoring the Minnesota Worker’s Right-to-Know and Community Right-to-Know Exposure to Toxic Substances in 1983 and adding ‘sexual orientation’ to Minnesota’s Human Rights Act.

Clark serves on the Jobs and Economic Development Policy, Finance, and Commerce Committees, and sits on the Legislative Commission on the Economic Status of Women and the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council.