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May 7: 'A lot of questions' about DNR conference funding
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Share on DiggMinnesota legislators want answers about how the state Department of Natural Resources spent public money for a game warden conference last July in St. Paul.
Two committees of the House and Senate have scheduled a joint hearing Friday, after the Star Tribune reported this week that the DNR pumped $196,000 in taxpayer dollars and at least $187,000 in staff time into the event. The conference turned a profit for the organizers. DNR employees also were authorized to raise money for the conference on state time, a practice some officials believe violated state law.
"I have a lot of questions about whether taxpayer dollars were used appropriately, and whether a Minnesota state agency staff did appropriate things on state time," said Sen. Ellen Anderson, DFL-St. Paul, chairwoman of the Senate Environment, Energy and Natural Resources Budget Division.
The hearing is now scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Friday in the basement of the State Office Building, but the time could change if floor votes are scheduled on pending bills.
Rep. Jean Wagenius, DFL-Minneapolis, chairwoman of the House Environment and Natural Resources Finance Division, said the two committees seek more information about state spending and fundraising related to the 2007 North American Wildlife Enforcement Officers Association conference.
Assistant Commissioner Larry Kramka and Col. Mike Hamm, director of the Enforcement Division, are tentatively scheduled to appear.
The conference, held every year in a different location, featured three days of training sessions and various kinds of entertainment, including fishing. All 204 DNR conservation officers were required to attend and those from outside the metro area stayed in downtown hotels at state expense.
Wagenius said money for the conference wasn't requested as a line item in the 2007 DNR budget.
"The way the public knows how its money is spent is that the governor proposes a budget, brings it before the legislative committees and we discuss it," she said. "... That didn't happen."
She said legislators also have questions about whether the DNR violated conflict-of-interest policy when conservation officers were authorized to raise money for the event on state time. Hamm has denied any laws were broken.
The newspaper report also sparked investigations by the Office of the Legislative Auditor and a DNR internal auditor.
David Shaffer • 612-673-7090
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