Two members of the Minnesota House of Representatives have called on Sen. John Hoffman, D-Champlin, to resign over a potential conflict of interest that emerged earlier this month.
As Alpha News first reported, Sen. Hoffman authored a bill in 2023 that steered $3 million to the White Earth Nation. This money was appropriated to help the White Earth Nation develop a “Native American centric digital therapy tool with Pathfinder Solutions.” Pathfinder Solutions is a Minnesota company that provides addiction recovery services.
That bill was approved by the Senate Human Services Committee, a committee chaired by Sen. Hoffman, and signed into law by Gov. Tim Walz.
Pathfinder Solutions was co-founded by a man named Joe Morris. Morris and Sen. Hoffman know each other from their time with Begin Anew, a nonprofit that also focused on addiction recovery. Sen. Hoffman served as Begin Anew’s executive director from August 2021 to December 2022; Morris serves as the vice chair of the organization.
While Sen. Hoffman officially resigned from Begin Anew in 2022, he is still listed as the “registered agent” for the organization on the Minnesota Secretary of State’s website.
Given the association between Hoffman and Morris, and Sen. Hoffman’s bill giving Morris’ company new business through the $3 million state grant, several legislators have raised concerns about a potential conflict of interest.
State Rep. Elliott Engen, R-White Bear Lake, has called on Sen. Hoffman to explain the situation or resign. State Rep. Walter Hudson, R-Albertville, said Hoffman should resign immediately. Further, Rep. Hudson called on Democrats to join his call for resignation “or explain why they won’t.”
Earlier this month, Rep. Engen asked Sen. Hoffman about the potential conflict of interest in a joint Minnesota House and Minnesota Senate committee hearing. However, Sen. Hoffman did not answer Rep. Engen’s question. Instead, Rep. Mohamud Noor, D-Minneapolis, interjected and called the interaction “out of order.”
A KSTP reporter spoke to Sen. Hoffman about these questions on the same day. When asked whether there was a conflict of interest, Sen. Hoffman said, “None at all.” After being asked whether the Senate Human Services Committee knew that Morris’ organization “was gonna get 3 million bucks,” Sen. Hoffman did not answer the question.
No formal ethics complaint has yet been filed against Sen. Hoffman. As of Wednesday, Sen. Hoffman had switched his Twitter account to private mode. He did not respond to a request for comment.
Luke Sprinkel
Luke Sprinkel previously worked as a Legislative Assistant at the Minnesota House of Representatives. He grew up as a Missionary Kid (MK) living in England, Thailand, Tanzania, and the Middle East. Luke graduated from Regent University in 2018.
