Koch withdraws complaint against lobbyist

Posted at 10:36 AM on March 3, 2011 by Tom Scheck
Filed under: MN Legislature, Mark Dayton

GOP Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch has withdrawn her complaint against a lobbyist that she believed worked to "falsify information to members of the Legislature."

Koch wrote a letter to the Minnesota Government Relations Council saying she was withdrawing her complaint against J.D. Burton because he apologized to Koch and Redwood Falls Mayor Gary Revier for his actions. Burton is a lobbyist for Flaherty and Hood who lobbies on behalf of cities across the state. He said he used a poor choice of words when he instructed mayors to not disclose that they not tell lawmakers that they crafted their budgets assuming that reduced LGA payments would occur. Update to clarify: Burton told MPR News when the complaint was filed that that he used a poor choice of words in his e-mail. He apologized to Koch and Revier for using wording that was ambiguous and may have been interpreted in a way that he didn't intend.

Here's Koch's letter to the MGRC

Ethics Complaint 03 01 11

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