Sen. James Metzen, DFL-South St. Paul, offered up an amendment to a campaign finance bill today that would allow legislators to raise money on the first day of a legislative session before it begins and on the last day of the session post sine die.
The bill, authored by Sen. Jim Carlson, makes numerous changes to campaign finance and ethics law. It would define a "regular session," during which legislators could not raise money from lobbyists, to include the entire first day and the entire last day of each annual session.
But Metzen's oral amendment would strip out that language and allow, for instance, legislators to have coffee-and-doughnut breakfast fundraisers with lobbyists on the first day of a legislative session before gaveling in, traditionally around noon.
The amendment and the bill passed the Senate Rules Commitee.
