Senate ethics committee: Champion should disclose even appearance of conflict of interest

The Senate ethics committee on Thursday recommended that Senate President Bobby Joe Champion in the future disclose “any appearance of a potential conflict of interest” to Senate committees when he chief authors a bill, following Reformer reporting that he’d spearheaded a lucrative legislative grant for a legal client.

Champion requested an advisory opinion from the Subcommittee on Ethical Conduct after the Reformer reported that Champion in 2023 spearheaded a $3 million grant to violence prevention nonprofit 21 Days of Peace, run by north Minneapolis Rev. Jerry McAfee, but didn’t disclose that McAfee was his legal client. Champion says he did the work pro bono.

The committee also found that Champion had no financial conflict of interest when he advocated for an additional $1 million in funding for 21 Days of Peace earlier this year.

Champion has insisted that because his legal work for McAfee was pro-bono and concluded just prior to the start of the 2023 legislative session, he didn’t need to disclose it.

The committee Thursday made no findings of Champion’s ethical conduct for his spearheading of the $3 million grant to McAfee’s group in 2023.

The ruling is unenforceable. Under Minnesota law, legislative conflicts of interest are narrowly defined and only exist when the official does something to benefit themselves financially. Minnesota’s part-time Legislature creates many opportunities for conflicts of interest, as most lawmakers have another job.

In a final written statement to the ethics committee, Champion said recent media coverage about him was an attack on his integrity.

“We have had media outlets go from saying there was a conflict of interest requiring disclosure without reading the conflict-of-interest statute,” Champion wrote. “Unfortunately, there has been loose use of facts that attempts to erode Senator Champion’s integrity.”

After the hearing Thursday, Champion criticized reporting about his connections to McAfee.

“I am always a high integrity person,” Champion said. “I’ve been a committed community person … I hope that when you all are reporting these things that you take a different approach.”

He disputed the characterizations of the $3 million grant to 21 Days of Peace.

“You report it as if there’s a direct appropriation that is presented and then we as legislators sign a check,” Champion chided reporters. “That’s unfair and that’s untrue.”

McAfee received funding through the practice of legislatively named grants, meaning lawmakers directly named the nonprofit in legislation. That means the nonprofit doesn’t have to go through an onerous bidding competition run by a state agency. The Office of Legislative Auditor has repeatedly found that agencies failed to provide adequate oversight for these legislatively named grants compared to competitive grants. The OLA has recommended lawmakers refrain from allocating funds through legislatively named grants since 2007.

Sen. Sandy Pappas, DFL-St. Paul, who chairs the ethics subcommittee, said that the committee’s guidance could be applicable for all senators, not solely Champion.

“If it’s of interest to the committee for us to reveal that we did some volunteer work, or we served on a board in the past, I think that’s a very positive thing,” Pappas said.

Senate Republicans Thursday attempted to remove Champion as Senate president, but Democrats moved the motion to the Senate Rules Committee for further consideration.

Senate Republicans also filed an ethics complaint against Champion, and the ethics subcommittee will meet on May 5 to discuss it.