Ethics panel clears Senate President Bobby Joe Champion in conflict of interest case
The Senate's Subcommittee on Ethical Conduct said Champion (DFL-Minneapolis) didn't have a financial conflict of interest when he proposed a bill to award $1 million to a nonprofit run by one of his former legal clients.
However, the committee did say that Champion should disclose "any appearance of" conflicts of interest in the future.
According to a report from the Minnesota Reformer, Champion helped steer millions in grant funding to a violence interruption group run by Rev. Jerry McAfee, despite representing McAfee's nonprofit Salem Inc. as an attorney on a series of mortgage cases starting in 2022.McAfee's nonprofit 21 Days of Peace was awarded a $3 million grant in the 2023-24 legislative session through a bill authored by Champion. In March, Champion proposed another $1 million in funding to 21 Days of Peace, though this funding didn't make it into the final bill.
Champion told the Reformer that the work he carried for McAfee starting in 2022 was pro-bono. You can read the full report here.
Champion, who had requested the ethics review, released a statement following the panel's findings on Thursday, saying he is "grateful for the opportunity to clear my name, and to move on with the important work of passing an equitable, balance budget that will improve the lives of all Minnesotans."
"I appreciate the conclusion the members of the Ethics Subcommittee, which as expected found that I had not violated Senate rules," Champion said.
"I sought the advisory opinion from the in full confidence that I have followed the rules of the Senate with regards to conflict of interest, and conducted myself with integrity. As was discussed in this process, and acknowledged even by the Republican members, I have always acted in the service of the people. That mission encompasses both my legislative work and the pro bono legal services I have provided, particularly to churches and nonprofits."
Champion temporarily stepped down from his role as chair of the ethics subcommittee during the investigation. He asked the panel for an advisory opinion, which ultimately said that Champion is advised to "disclose any appearance of a potential conflict of interest to the committees of interest when he is the chief author of bills."
The ethics panel is evenly split between two Democrats and two Republicans.
Sen. Andrew Mathews (R-Princeton) suggested that a standard of disclosing such information going forward is not only beneficial of legislative purposes, but also for "the people of Minnesota."
"What we do when there is disclosure to our colleagues, when there is a bill that's going to direct taxpayer dollars to an entity that a member has a previous relationship with, I think a bare minimum disclosure of that past relationship is appropriate," Mathews said.
Sen. Jeremy Miller (R-Winona) said: "It is difficult because we're all involved in our communities, we all serve on boards ... maybe we're not attorneys doing pro bono work but we do volunteer work. It is challenging but I think it's our responsibility to at least provide some recommendations so we're not back in this same situation."
Ethics Subcommittee Chair Sandy Pappas (DFL-St. Paul), suggested the panel could make recommendations to the legislature on how procedures are done. Pappas defended Champion's pro bono work, adding that it would "be a shame" if he was to stop doing it.
Senate Republicans have made a motion to remove Champion from his role as president of the chamber, which was deferred by Democrats to the rules of committee for future discussion.
You can watch the committee hearing held on Thursday by clicking here or watching the embedded video below.
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