Conflict of interest complaints against senators are shedding light on the lack of codes of ethics in the state legislature, law professors and government transparency advocates say.
A complaint against Sen. Bobby Joe Champion’s (DFL-Minneapolis) possible conflict of interest arose after he brought forward two pieces of legislation allocating funds to local organizations which he provided pro bono legal work in his private job as an attorney in 2022.
Other ethical concerns were raised against Sen. Nicole Mitchell (DFL-Woodbury) after she cast the tie-breaking vote on a motion that would have removed her from the Senate in January.
While a committee of legislators investigating the matter concluded no wrongdoing, ethical concerns around it remain as the committee encouraged Champion not to repeat the issue.
“The subcommittee recommends that in the future Senator Champion disclose any appearance of a potential conflict of interest to the committees of interest when the chief author of bills,” the press release said.
University law professor and former White House ethics lawyer Richard Painter said although many lawmakers have conflicts of interest — mainly due to their part-time jobs out of session — the primary issue with Champion’s situation is that he did not disclose this possible conflict between the group he was seeking funding for and his past pro bono work.
“This doesn’t violate the specific provisions, I think, in Minnesota that I can find, but it’s just a basic concept of disclosure and avoiding a lot of egregious conflicts of interest for a state legislator,” Painter said. “I think the lines crossed here. That’s my main concern.”
Conflicts of interest are more likely due to many legislators having private part-time work, Painter said. He added that Champion’s situation does not go against any ethical provisions in the Senate or House, but such conflicts should be disclosed to avoid any possible problems in the future.
Annastacia Belladonna-Carrera, executive director of the government transparency organization Common Cause, said because there is no centralized, independent review of ethical conduct to assess situations with state legislators, there is no process to help guide the Legislature during conflicts of interest or other ethical concerns.
“I don’t think it’s an issue of people waking up and wanting to do something wrong. I think that what these situations are really speaking to is not the elected officials’ ill will or ill intent, but rather the lack of guidance, the lack of resources to that elected official,” Belladonna-Carrera said. “It is because of those reasons that we’re really focusing on, really moving with reforms that address those areas of deficiencies.”
Painter said recent examples of fraud, such as Feeding Our Future, show the need for greater scrutiny of money being allocated to organizations directly from politicians.
“I think more generally we need to examine far more aggressively the relationship between charities and the government,” Painter said. “I’m saying, money to charities and nonprofit organizations to do their work as opposed to government and county programs and city programs.”
Painter said while legislators are bound by codes of ethics, the current codes are overly vague and leave room for situations like what happened with Champion and Mitchell to recur.
Currently, Minnesota has three different entities that oversee political ethical misconduct like conflicts of interest — the Minnesota Campaign Finance Board, the Minnesota Management and Budget’s state ethics officer and ethical provisions in the state House and Senate.
Belladonna-Carrera said the issue with these three entities is that they only provide guidance to politicians for financial ethical concerns, not personal relationships and other potential biases.
Some additional reforms Common Cause would like to see, besides an independent commission, are requiring lawmakers to make more detailed disclosures about any potential personal or financial conflicts of interest and requiring ethics training for lawmakers to ensure all guidelines are understood, Belladonna-Carrera said in an email to the Minnesota Daily.
With nationwide uncertainty toward the federal government, Belladonna-Carrera said it is more important than ever to ensure public trust in elected officials and enhance government transparency to alleviate those concerns.
“The moment that the broader Minnesota base starts to doubt the integrity of the members that are in those spaces of power. You’re going to see a rippling-down effect,” Belladonna-Carrera said. “If I no longer believe in the institution of our state capital and the state legislature because elected officials are there to either self-serve and line their pockets or to help their pals line their pockets. What do you think are the chances of me wanting to create that personal relationship with my elected official?”