MANKATO — South-central Minnesota Rep. Bob Gunther was one of two House committee chairmen who signed a campaign fund-raising letter that has been criticized for subtly linking donations and legislative action.

The letter invited lobbyists representing regulated industries to a Republican campaign event. Lobbyists were asked to pay $500 and could invite at a lesser cost up to 10 members of the associations and industries they represent, Gunther said.

“I think it was pretty normal,” said Gunther, R-Fairmont, who is chairman of the Jobs and Economic Opportunity Committee and serves on the Regulated Industries Committee.

Gunther said Democrats hold nearly identical fund-raising events, and believes the criticisms are partisan.

Democrats have planned a fund-raiser for Senate DFL Transportation Committee Chairman Steve Murphy by a group of road contractors that suggests a $250 donation.

But Democratic lawmakers and political analysts questioned the wording of the Republican letter as potentially inappropriate. The letter reminded utilities and other regulated industries of GOP success in blocking legislation opposed by the industry such as renewable-energy standards while also noting that the issues could re-emerge in 2006.

Sen. Ellen Anderson, a St. Paul Democrat and proponent of the renewable energy legislation, said the linkage of issues and donations was “outrageous.”

Republican Sarah Janecek, a lobbyist and editor of the online newsletter Politics in Minnesota, told the Minneapolis Star Tribune that the invitation was “egregious, over the line. ... It’s considered at least tacky to connect the dots on paper between issues and campaign contributions.”

Gunther said he didn’t write the letter but briefly reviewed it. He said he didn’t know the fund-raising invitation contained any forewarning to the prospective donors that the committee might be making decisions crucial to them.

“I didn’t catch that if it did,” Gunther said.

House Speaker Steve Sviggum said he hadn’t read the letter, so he couldn’t speak directly to it. But during a stop in Mankato Wednesday, he echoed Janecek’s comments about what’s appropriate.

“There’s no way we should connect legislative action with contributions,” Sviggum said. “We should not connect that. That would be wrong.”

Gunther said that sort of connection didn’t occur on the Regulated Industries Committee. The committee’s decisions related to energy companies have been based on protecting rate-payers from higher costs.

Gunther said he opposes Anderson’s proposal to require energy companies to generate 20 percent of their electricity from renewable sources because the state still hasn’t reached the 10 percent standard already in law.

Lawmakers are prohibited from accepting donations from lobbyists during the legislative session, a rule aimed at creating a clear separation between campaign contributions and legislative action. This year’s session doesn’t begin until March 1.

But some have questioned the pleas for donations because some committees have begun hearings. The invitation signed by Gunther and Rep. Torrey Westrom, the Republican chairman of the Regulated Industries Committee, invited lobbyists and industry members to an event that near the Capitol just an hour after a hearing.

“They might as well have put a collection box on the committee table,” Anderson said.

Gunther said he’s never let campaign financing affect his decisions on legislation, saying he judges bills by how well they serve his district, his region and the state.

“I don’t remember who contributed and who didn’t when I deal with legislation,” he said.



This Associated Press contributed to this story.