Minnesota Senate president sought funding for nonprofit run by legal client, and for former employer

Minnesota Senate President Bobby Joe Champion advocated for a violence prevention nonprofit to receive millions of dollars in state funding in 2023, just months after he had represented the nonprofit’s founder in court in his capacity as a private attorney.

Facing scrutiny at the State Capitol on Monday for a possible conflict of interest, Champion announced he would temporarily step down from his role as chair of the Senate ethics subcommittee and ask the panel to give an advisory opinion determining whether there was a conflict.

Champion was the chief sponsor of a 2023 bill that awarded $3 million to 21 Days of Peace, which is run by the Rev. Jerry McAfee. The DFL senator did not disclose at the time that he had previously represented the Minneapolis pastor in several court cases.

Last month, Champion introduced a bill to award another $1 million to 21 Days of Peace. He testified in favor of the bill at a committee hearing last week — with McAfee sitting next to him — and again didn’t disclose their previous legal relationship.

The possible conflict of interest was first reported by the Minnesota Reformer last week. Further connections between Champion, his staff and nonprofits he’s sought state funding for have since emerged.

The senator defended himself in a written statement, saying “there was no potential conflict to disclose” on 21 Days of Peace. Champion said he provided “pro bono legal counsel” to McAfee and a separate nonprofit he ran called Salem Inc. to help them negotiate a resolution to a civil real estate foreclosure issue.

That work began in May 2022 and ended that October with a settlement agreement, Champion said.

“I was not paid for this work. The Supreme Court encourages lawyers to provide pro bono services as a part of our practice,” he said. “Our conflict of interest rules cover situations that directly and financially benefit individual legislators. Because my work in this matter occurred in the past, and was unpaid, there was no potential conflict to disclose.”

But McAfee refused to say whether he paid Champion for his services when asked by the Minnesota Reformer: “I won’t answer that,” McAfee told the news outlet. “Is there something on the books that would prevent me from hiring him as an attorney?”

David Schultz, a Hamline University political science and legal studies professor, said the situation presents a conflict regardless of whether Champion was paid for his representation.

“He’s using his position as a state legislator to help further the interests of a private client,” Schultz said. “That’s still impermissible.”

Champion evaded reporters who tried to question him at the Capitol on Monday. His measure to allocate another $1 million to 21 Days of Peace wasn’t included in a newly released Senate budget bill.

Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson, R-East Grand Forks, suggested Champion should also be temporarily relieved from his roles as president of the chamber and chair of the Jobs and Economic Development Committee.

“I would ... think that there needs to be something further that needs to happen as we work through that ethics subcommittee, the advisory opinion,” he said.

Johnson said senators typically request an advisory opinion from the ethics subcommittee before taking an action that could be perceived as a conflict. Champion, he said, already took the action.

Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy, DFL-St. Paul, said she thought Champion was wise to request an advisory opinion from the ethics subcommittee and step down as its chair. Murphy said she, after consulting with Johnson, temporarily replaced Champion on the subcommittee with Sen. Sandy Pappas, DFL-St. Paul.

“I think all of us hold dear the integrity that we hold with the public, and this body holds dear the integrity with which they view us,” Murphy said. “That integrity, people’s faith in our ability to do this work, is a foundation of democratic government.”

She said the ethics subcommittee’s advisory opinion “should be the first and only step that this body takes with regard to the participation and leadership of Senator Champion.”

More connections have emerged between Champion, his staff and organizations the senator pushed funding for.

Champion’s executive assistant, Shemeka Bogan, previously worked for 21 Days of Peace, according to a 2021 Star Tribune story, in which Bogan described herself as executive administrator for the anti-violence nonprofit.

Champion hired Bogan as his legislative assistant in 2020. She did not respond to a request for comment Monday.

Both Champion and Bogan also once worked for the Stairstep Foundation, a nonprofit founded in 1992 to work with churches on social issues.

Champion worked for Stairstep a couple of decades ago; the nonprofit’s 2005 tax form listed him as its program director, earning a salary of about $53,000.

Bogan moonlighted for Stairstep in 2023, earning $2,000 per month as a subcontractor in addition to her Senate salary.

Champion has been an advocate for Stairstep at the State Capitol, repeatedly pushing funding for the nonprofit.

In 2023, Champion co-authored a workforce bill that contained $25 million annually for small, community-based nonprofits. The workforce bill included a $1.2 million grant to Stairstep for “African American church festivals and events,” and a $270,000 annual grant to Stairstep for “community-based workforce development efforts.”

Last month, Champion introduced a bill that would appropriate another $1 million to Stairstep for “African American cultural festivals and events.”

Champion defended his efforts to fund Stairstep in a new statement Monday afternoon, saying “I have not worked for the Stairstep Foundation in decades. Mrs. Bogan’s contract work for that organization has been reviewed and cleared by Senate counsel to avoid a conflict of interest.”

“She does not attempt to influence my work supporting 21 Days of Peace or Stairstep Foundation, and I would support the mission and work of those organizations regardless of her or anyone else’s past or present employment,” Champion said.

But Schultz said Champion’s efforts to secure funding for Stairstep present another possible conflict of interest.

“You’re using your professional position for benefiting a private party that you had a connection to,” Schultz said.

“Did they get the money because they were worthy of getting it, or because of their association with a senator or his staff?” Schultz said of Stairstep and 21 Days of Peace.

Champion doesn’t appear to have violated any laws or Senate rules in his efforts to secure funding for Stairstep and 21 Days of Peace. Schultz said this type of scenario is the consequence of Minnesota having a part-time Legislature, where politicians have outside jobs, and of the state having “some of the weakest conflict of interest laws in the country.”

The state’s conflict of interest rules rely on self-reporting. Legislators need to report financial conflicts once a year in a form to the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board’s website, and report any conflicts that arise during session in a written statement.

Johnson said the Senate GOP Caucus would look into Champion’s actions and determine whether to file an ethics complaint against him.

The Senate needs to have robust conversations about how to handle potential conflicts of interest, Johnson said, “not these games where you hide and then if you get caught, all of a sudden you ask for an opinion from the Ethics Committee on whether that was right or not.”

Asking senators who are attorneys to disclose their clients may be difficult, Johnson said, but there could be a way to confidentially identify potential conflicts.

The practice of allowing lawmakers to directly appropriate funds to particular organizations, referred to as “legislatively named grants,” has been “abused,” Johnson said. Senators don’t receive much information about how the grants are used, making oversight difficult.

“We need to have a much more thorough investigation into those organizations that these are going to,” Johnson said. “I think right now the process is pretty opaque.”

As Champion presented a bill in a committee hearing Monday afternoon, GOP Sen. Rich Draheim of Madison Lake asked him to assure his colleagues that he didn’t have legal contracts with any of the organizations set to receive money through it.

Champion responded that it’s challenging when someone “seeks to smear your name,” referencing the concerns raised about his potential conflict of interests.

“I can assure you 1,000 percent that I did not represent any person that’s in our bill. ... Not pro bono, not for a fee, nothing,” Champion said.

Briana Bierschbach of the Minnesota Star Tribune contributed to this story.