Minnesota Nurses Association's (MNA) representative was surprised when
she was informed that State Senator Scott Newman, R-Hutchinson,
denied her request to meet up with her group.
According to governmental affairs assistant Eileen Gavin, her
request for a meeting with Newman was denied through e-mail by, Kim
Kelley, the State Senator's legislative assistant.
The e-mail read:?Unfortunately, Senator Newman will not see any
organizations that donated to / supported his opponent Hal Kimball.?
Kimball was Newman?s DFL opponent in the 2010 election.
?After some careful checking,? the e-mail continued, ?I
discovered that the MNA had donated to Kimball's campaign. Your
association will be unable to schedule an appointment with Senator
Newman.?
The MNA representative disclosed she was trying to set a time for
Newman to meet District 18 nurses during the Minnesota Nurses
Association's annual ?Nurses Day on the Hill.? Gavin has been
with the association for four years already, and according to her she
has been declined by other legislators before due to conflicts in
schedule. She said she have never gotten a response like that.
Kelley's response when asked to confirm if Gavin did send the
email was: ?Unfortunately, due to media policies here, I am not
able to comment on that.?
But New man confirmed that his legislative assistant sent out the
letter of response to Gavin's e-mail. ?It was, however, sent out in
error and it?s not the position I am taking,? the State Senator
defended.
Newman claimed his position was incorrectly stated as a result of
misunderstanding. He elucidated that his legislative assistant is
quite new, however he added it was his fault, his instructions wasn't
clear enough.
Newman explained he is not zeroing in on people that didn't
supported him, and that he plans to meet with only lobbyists that are
working on issues he's involved in or committees he's serving on.
Saying further there are hundreds of lobbyists at the capitol
wanting an audience with legislators and he is trying to restrict the
number he'll speak to. . ?Honestly, it?s becoming a problem ? I
think it?s more important to talk to constituents and get some work
done then to talk to lobbyists,? he said.
And since he?s on the Senate Health and Human Services committee
? assuming the association would want to discuss with him about
those topics ? Newman said he?d be willing to meet with the
nurses association.