# Minnesota Department of Administration *Cabinet-level central services agency of Minnesota state government.* The Minnesota Department of Administration ("Admin") is a cabinet-level agency that runs shared services for the rest of the executive branch: buildings and grounds, fleet and mail, risk coverage for state property, and purchasing.[^1] It originates in Chapter 431 of the 1939 Session Laws, an act "relating to the organization and administration of the state government." That act established the Department of Administration and three other departments. It placed the Department under a Commissioner of Administration who was to serve as "the state budget director and state purchasing agent."[^2] The 1939 act gave the commissioner purchasing authority over every state agency and required competitive bids for most contracts and purchases. It required sealed bids to be opened in public. It also made any financial interest in a state contract by the commissioner or a department member a felony.[^3] Four years later, Governor Harold E. Stassen told the [[Minnesota Legislature]] that the reorganization had helped "to eliminate two million dollars a year in padded purchasing." The pack holds the statute and the governor's account of its results. It holds no audit of that figure.[^4] The project's catalogue of validated claim:link pairs lists the Department's Office of State Procurement page under two legal theories.[^5] The pack carries no complaint, finding or docket naming the Department. ## Who The 1939 act provided for the following:[^2] - The [[governor]] appointed the commissioner with the advice and consent of the [[Minnesota Senate]]. - The first commissioner's term ran to February 1, 1941, and later terms were two years. - The governor could remove the commissioner "for cause, after notice and hearing." The same act named the commissioner secretary of a legislative emergency committee. The committee was chaired by the governor and included the chairs of the Senate committees on taxes and on finance and the House committees on taxes and on appropriations. The commissioner kept its minutes and reported its actions to the next Legislature.[^6] According to the Wikipedia summary, the Department today contains three offices: the State Historic Preservation Office, the State Demographic Center and the Office of the State Archaeologist. It also gives administrative support to attached bodies, including the State Board of Investment and the Executive Council.[^1] ## What Article I of Chapter 431 established four departments: Administration, Public Examiner, Social Security and Taxation.[^2] Article II, Section 22 made the following changes:[^6] - It transferred to the commissioner the powers of the commission of administration and finance, the state printing commission and the state expert printer, except those powers given to the [[state auditor]] and the public examiner. - It abolished the commission of administration and finance and the state printing commission. - It abolished the offices of comptroller, commissioner of the budget, commissioner of purchases and state expert printer. Wikipedia describes the 1939 change differently. In its account, the commission was split into the Department of Administration and a Management and Finance Bureau in the Governor's Office. The Chapter 431 text in the pack does not mention such a bureau, and the session law is the higher-ranked source.[^1][^6] As summarized on Wikipedia, the current Department has two main roles:[^1] - **Facilities.** It manages state buildings, vehicles, grounds and the Capitol Mall, runs central mail, fleet and motor-pool services, and insures state assets. - **General services.** It handles workers' compensation for state employees, publishes the *Minnesota State Register*, enforces data-practices compliance, and purchases for state agencies other than the [[University of Minnesota]] system. Through the State Historic Preservation Office, the Department issued the National Register form *Chaska Brick Resources*. As summarized in the project's dossier notes, the form dates brickmaking in the [[Chaska]] area to 1857–1961, with a peak era of 1880–1920.[^7] ## When - **1925 and 1935.** According to the Legislative Reference Library, a 1925 law authorized the predecessor Commission of Administration and Finance to set classes, grades, titles and salary scales for certain state agencies. On January 2, 1935, the commission established by order the first comprehensive classification of state employees.[^8] - **April 22, 1939.** The [[Minnesota Labor Relations Act]] (Chapter 440) was approved on this date.[^9] The statewide civil-service bill (Chapter 441) became law the same day.[^8] The act creating the [[Revisor of Statutes]] (Chapter 442) was also approved that day and took effect July 1, 1939.[^11] The approval date of Chapter 431 is not shown in the pack's excerpt. - **Same session.** Chapter 431 abolished the commission of administration and finance.[^6] Yet the civil-service chapter directs that salary schedules be submitted to "the commission of administration and finance".[^10] Chapter 442 directs the revisor to deliver *Minnesota Statutes* printer's copy to the same commission.[^11] - **July 1, 1939.** Chapter 431's five per cent charge on certain receipts began on this date.[^6] ## Where The 1939 act directed the commissioner to "maintain and operate the state capitol building, state office building, historical society building, and the grounds appertaining thereto." It excluded state hospitals and institutions controlled by other agencies.[^3] Section 22 transferred the governor's powers over the care and maintenance of the State Capitol and grounds to the commissioner.[^6] Wikipedia reports that the Department oversaw the $310 million renovation of the [[Minnesota State Capitol]].[^1] ## Why The act states its object as "the organization and administration of the state government."[^2] In 1943, Stassen described the first of the administration's objectives as "To streamline government, with civil service on merit as a cornerstone." He credited that work with installing "the state business manager, the budget allotment control."[^4] The record does not establish any purpose beyond these texts. ## How The 1939 bidding rules depended on the estimated amount:[^3] - **Over $500.** Sealed bids were solicited by public notice "inserted once each week for two successive weeks" in a newspaper or trade journal, by mail to known bidders, and by posting at least five days before the deadline. - **$200 to $500.** Sealed bids followed at least three days' posted notice. - **Under $200.** Purchases could be made in the open market, but where practicable were to rest on at least three recorded bids. Award went to the lowest responsible bidder. Contracts and leases "shall be approved as to form and execution by the attorney general." No purchase order or contract was valid "without the approval and signature of the commissioner and the counter-signature of the auditor."[^3] The act also set up a quarterly allotment system. No appropriation became available to an agency until the commissioner approved, increased or reduced its advance estimate for the period.[^6] ## How much - **Commissioner's salary.** The 1939 act set it at $6,000 a year, paid semi-monthly.[^2] - **Five per cent charge.** Chapter 431 imposed a five per cent charge on gross receipts from four sources: fishing licenses, hunting licenses, and the motor vehicle registration taxes and gasoline taxes credited to the trunk highway fund. Proceeds went to a general administration fund that paid salaries and maintenance for listed offices, including the Department of Administration.[^6] - **Contingent transfers.** The commissioner alone could authorize transfers up to $2,000. Transfers from $2,000 to $5,000 needed the governor's approval as well. Transfers above $5,000 required a four-fifths vote of the legislative emergency committee.[^6] - **Current budget.** As of the Wikipedia revision retrieved October 27, 2026, the Department has $176.5 million in annual operating costs. The pack has no primary source for this figure.[^1] - **Governor's 1943 claims.** Stassen stated that the administration had cut "more than two million dollars a year from our overhead expenses" and eliminated two million dollars a year in purchasing he called padded.[^4] ## How many Chapter 431 created four departments.[^2] Wikipedia reports 475 employees as of its October 2026 revision.[^1] In 1943, Stassen stated: "we have reduced the number of employees 25% in the last four years." He added that his administration was cutting manpower by another 20%. These are the governor's figures; the pack carries no audit of them.[^4] ## In the Minnesota record ### What The project's validated claim:link catalogue lists the Office of State Procurement page under two theories:[^5] - Theory 5: 42 U.S.C. §1981 (Equal Right to Contract Regardless of Race). - Theory 11: Privileges or Immunities Clause / Slaughter-House Inversion. The catalogue rows identify the page only. The pack does not carry the page's text or any finding about it. ### Who Stassen gave his third inaugural address to a joint session on January 6, 1943. In it he attributed the reorganization to joint work, "actions in which the Minnesota Legislature has taken an important and leading part." The pack does not show the party affiliation of the governor or legislative majorities that enacted Chapter 431.[^4] ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia, *Minnesota Department of Administration* (revision 1368463908, retrieved 2026-10-27) — current functions, attached agencies, $176.5 million operating costs, 475 employees, $310 million Capitol renovation, 1939 predecessor account. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minnesota_Department_of_Administration [^2]: Minnesota Legislature, *Laws 1939, Chapter 431, title, Article I §1 and Article II §1* (1939) — act's stated object; creation of four departments; commissioner as budget director and purchasing agent, appointment, term, removal, $6,000 salary. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/1939/0/Session+Law/Chapter/431/ [^3]: Minnesota Legislature, *Laws 1939, Chapter 431, Article II §§3–11* (1939) — commissioner's purchasing and building powers; competitive bidding thresholds; attorney general approval; auditor countersignature; conflict-of-interest felony. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/1939/0/Session+Law/Chapter/431/ [^4]: Office of the Governor, *Inaugural Message of Governor Harold E. Stassen to the Legislature of Minnesota* (January 6, 1943), Minnesota Legislative Reference Library — governor's account of the reorganization, savings and staffing reductions. https://www.lrl.mn.gov/docs/2007/other/070499.pdf [^5]: Minnesota Department of Administration, *Office of State Procurement* (current page) — listed in the project's validated claim:link rows under Theories 5 and 11; the pack does not carry the page text. https://mn.gov/admin/government/contracts-procurement/ [^6]: Minnesota Legislature, *Laws 1939, Chapter 431, Article II §§14–22* (1939) — budget and quarterly allotment system; five per cent charge from July 1, 1939; contingent transfers and legislative emergency committee; transfer of powers and abolition of the commission of administration and finance. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/1939/0/Session+Law/Chapter/431/ [^7]: Minnesota Department of Administration / State Historic Preservation Office, *Chaska Brick Resources* (National Register Multiple Property Documentation Form) — brickmaking operating period 1857–1961, peak 1880–1920 (per dossier summary). https://mn.gov/admin/assets/Chaska%20Brick%20Resources%20MPDF_tcm36-445033.pdf [^8]: Minnesota Legislative Reference Library, *Minnesota Agencies: Civil Service Department* (record updated 09/20/2024) — 1925 law and January 2, 1935 classification by the Commission of Administration and Finance; civil-service bill became law April 22, 1939. https://www.lrl.mn.gov/agencies/detail?AgencyID=241 [^9]: Minnesota Legislature, *Laws 1939, Chapter 440 (Minnesota Labor Relations Act)* (approved April 22, 1939) — approval date. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/1939/0/Session+Law/Chapter/440/ [^10]: Minnesota Legislature, *Laws 1939, Chapter 441* (1939) — civil-service act; §12 directs salary schedules to the commission of administration and finance. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/1939/0/Session+Law/Chapter/441/ [^11]: Minnesota Legislature, *Laws 1939, Chapter 442* (approved April 22, 1939) — creates the Revisor of Statutes, effective July 1, 1939; printer's copy delivered to the commission of administration and finance. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/1939/0/Session+Law/Chapter/442/