Political Council vs. Political Action Committee (PAC) vs. Political Fund  

Political Council

Funded by member dues 

  • The Political Council’s (PC) purpose is to help define legislative priorities, educate members and encourage members to engage in the legislative and political process.   

  • While MAPE’s work is political, it is not partisan. Our work is focused on supporting labor-friendly legislation and decision makers who champion our working people’s agenda. 

  • The goals of the PC are to:  

    • Create and maintain a statewide political infrastructure. 

    • Defeat toxic narratives around politics and state service.  

    • Build MAPE’s political power and competence.  

  • The PC plans MAPE’s annual Lobby Day and coordinates activities throughout the legislative session, including member visits with legislators, which educate lawmakers about MAPE’s legislative priorities, including fully funded state agencies.  

  • The members MAPE represents are primarily state employees who are funded by taxpayer money. Legislators choose how to allocate those funds, making it imperative for MAPE members, as constituents, to lobby their legislators to ensure funding for their agencies. This work is directly tied to our campaign for a fair contract, and, tied in with the electoral work that the MAPE PAC performs, is an important step in building the conditions for a strong negotiations cycle. 

  • Members must use personal devices and emails to contact their legislators on their personal time. 

  • Please reference our Best Practices when contacting your elected officials document for more information.  

MAPE PAC

Funded by individual contributions 

  • MAPE PAC directs electoral action by providing campaign support.  

  • The MAPE PAC is funded by an additional contribution members can elect to pay on top of their dues. 

  • PAC members are any individuals who choose to contribute to the MAPE PAC.   

  • No dues money is allocated directly to the MAPE PAC. 

  • The MAPE PAC Board screens and endorses candidates who support our MAPE workers. The MAPE PAC board follows an endorsement policy, which includes referencing legislative vote scores for incumbents and framing the endorsement questionnaires on issues found in the MAPE Legislative Platform.   

  • Selecting candidates who support MAPE’s working people’s agenda is one step in the campaign for a fair contract. Having labor champions run for elected office and obtain the support they need to win will help guide legislative bodies to invest in worker friendly legislation and support public services.  

  • When candidates are endorsed, the MAPE PAC can choose to support them in two ways:  

    • Through financial contributions, in accordance with campaign finance regulations.

    • Through candidate-specific campaign volunteer time (door-knocking, phone banking, etc.) 

  • Click here for the current list of MAPE PAC Endorsements 

  • Members must use personal emails for any campaign work and cannot use work time to volunteer. 

MAPE Political Fund

Educational, Labor Partnership and State Government Policy Impact Expenditures Fund (Formerly the Independent Expenditure and Political Education Funds) – General Budget line item approved by DA 

  • This fund is managed by a subgroup of the MAPE Board of Directors - the Political Fund Oversight Workgroup - that contributes to various causes or general political efforts.  

  • No candidate-specific donations are made with member dues; however, the political fund does contribute to political organizations, caucuses, committees and related work.  

  • The goal of these funds is to support the Legislative Agenda that is passed by MAPE Delegates each year. Contributions to party caucuses support the electing pro-labor majorities in the House and Senate and allow us to enact legislation like Paid Family and Medical Leave or eliminate the need for legislative approval for our contract.  

  • In response to the Governor’s Return to Office mandate, the political fund oversight workgroup also left the coordinated campaign table and has not contributed money from the political fund to the DFL Party.  

  • Examples of this work include:  

    • Joining labor-to-labor electoral efforts where union members talk to union members about what is at stake and the importance of voting.

    • Contributions to the Immigrant Law Center of MN, Minnesota Public Radio, the Minnesota ACLU, We Make Minnesota, Working America, etc.  

    • Contributions to organizations producing issue-based advertisements.

  • These activities are reported to the Board of Directors and, when required, to the Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board — note that contributions to other organizations for non-political expenditures do not show up on those reports.  

Political Council vs. Political Action Committee (PAC) vs. Political Fund  
Political Council vs. Political Action Committee (PAC) vs. Political Fund