Senate Ethics Committee To Rule On Controversial Tweet

The Minnesota State Senate Ethics Committee is investigating a complaint made by Sen. Ann Rest (DFL-Golden Valley) about a controversial tweet made by one of Rest's Republican colleagues, Sen. Gretchen Hoffman, of Vergas. The committee, composed of two Republicans and two members of the DFL party, meets Monday to make a ruling. 

Hoffman tweeted this on May 19:

#Sen Goodwin just called people with mental illness- idiots and imbeciles- while debating HHS bill #offensive #mndfl #mnsrc#mnleg

At issue were comments made by Sen. Barb Goodwin (DFL-Columbia Heights) on the Senate floor. Goodwin argues Hoffman's tweet mischaracterized her floor remarks, which referred to the history of mental institutions in Minnesota during a debate about potential cuts in the Health and Human Services budget bill. Here's Goodwin's comment that spurred the tweet: 

"The way these state institutions used to be, they were called 'institutions for 'idiots, imbeciles and the insane,'" Goodwin said. "That's what it said right on the hospital, 'idiots, imbeciles and the insane.'"

Goodwin said this later in her floor speech:

"We might not have the 10 state 'Hospitals for the Idiots and the Insane and the Imbeciles' like we used to. But that's because a lot of people put a lot of hard work and logic into how to develop the absolute basic services that we need in our communities."

Rest's complaint, made May 20, argues that Hoffman violated a Senate rule providing that members of the Senate "shall not knowingly publish false or clearly misleading written material concerning public policy issues"—or concerning Senators' voting records or positions on public policy issues. The complaint also charges Hoffman with violating a Senate ethics rule stating that members of the Senate shall adhere to the highest standards of ethical conduct.