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Capitol View®
Tim Pugmire

Senate GOP files complaint against second Democrat

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Republicans in the Minnesota Senate have filed another ethics complaint against a second DFL lawmaker, whom they accuse of betraying the public trust.

Senate GOP leaders alleged today that Sen. Bobby Joe Champion, DFL-Minneapolis, used his elected office to “intimidate and manipulate” members of the Minneapolis School Board to do business with Community Standards Initiative (CSI), an organization that he was associated with. They also claim that Champion threatened to withhold state funding from the school district.

The same allegations were made in an ethics complaint Senate Republicans filed last month against Sen. Jeff Hayden, DFL-Minneapolis. That complaint also calls on Hayden to answer questions on a separate issue: his role with Community Action of Minneapolis and its alleged misuse of taxpayer money.

“We believe there is enough evidence for the ethics committee to investigate the Minneapolis School Board’s accusations of intimidation, and look into any personal financial gains Sen. Champion may have benefited from by forcing the school board into a contract with CSI,” Senate Minority Leader David Hann, R-Eden Prairie, said in a news release.

Champion was not immediately available for comment.

The Senate ethics subcommittee has 30 days to consider the Champion complaint. The panel has already scheduled a hearing on the Hayden matter for Oct. 22.