ST. PAUL, MN – Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson released the following statement concerning Democrat leaders in the House and Senate headlining a lobbyist fundraiser during session; a clear violation of the intent of the state’s law prohibiting lobbyist donations to legislators while legislators are in session.

“The spirit of the law is quite clear: Legislators should not be accepting donations from lobbyists and special interest groups while we are in session. The loophole being exploited by Democrats looks exactly like the pay-for-play situation the law intends to stop.

“Democrats are blatantly ignoring the intent of the law. A $2,500 meet-and-greet for Special Interests and Lobbyists during a time when those same legislators have control over Special Interests’ and Lobbyists’ bills is a severe conflict of interest. Minnesotans deserve better from their leaders.

“We will introduce a bill to fix this loophole and keep the spirit of the law intact because as my colleague Sen. Port said in January, ‘It is critical that we do not have special access to high-powered interest groups or those who can pay for our time. It is a time when money often drowns out the voices of the people. We should clearly say we should not be bought.’

“Just like with their broken campaign promise to repeal the tax on social security benefits, I am disappointed in the extreme behavior by Democrat Leadership.”