The tweet caught my eye: GOP State Senator David Hann, a health insurance salesman? I thought (and I'm sure many others did) that he still worked at a local company, where he had been for over two decades.

So I've been looking. First stop, David's "about me" webpage (screenshot, here):



Senator Hann is in his second term representing Eden Prairie and Minnetonka in the Minnesota State Senate, and serves as a member of the senate's Education Committee; the Health, Housing and Family Security Committee; the Agriculture and Veterans Committee; and the Energy and Natural Resources Committee. He is now a business process consultant after spending 25 years with Eden Prairie based E.A. Sween Company. (emphasis added)

OK, why highlight that, above?

Because there's a tweet that says he's licensed to sell insurance - but his website says he's a "business process consultant."

Notice the disconnnect?

Here's a kicker - not only is Senator Hann licensed to sell insurance; he's licensed to sell health insurance. You know, the kind of insurance that's overseen by, say, the the Health, Housing and Family Security Committee? Hann isn't just "on" that committee; he chairs it.

So, why not disclose that on his campaign "about me" webpage?

It's not on the home page of Hann's website either. But, this is (screenshot, here):



We can do better by ensuring that all Minnesotans have choice and control over their health care, and expanding the market for innovative insurance products so it is affordable for all.

Personally, I always thought we can all do better if we knew what industry the legislators that represented us, worked in.

Apparently, not Senator Hann.

Because not only does he not only disclose his license to sell insurance on his campaign website, it's not on his official Senate website either (screenshot, here). What does Senator Hann say his occupation is, on that official website? "Business process consultant."

That's twice Senator Hann doesn't disclose he's licensed to sell insurance. So, what does his Statement of Economic Interest, filed with the Campaign Finance Board, say?

"Occupation: Consultant

Employer Name: self employed"

Really?

Let's take a look at Senator Hann's twitter feed:

So what we have here, is a licensed insurance agent licensed to sell health insurance meeting with 700 fellow insurance agents, and nowhere does the Chair of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee disclose that he's a licensed insurance agent. Not on his campaign website, his official Senate website, nor his Statement of Economic Interest. Nor did Hann disclose that at last week's candidate debate.

Instead, Hann claims he's a "business process consultant."

It gets worse.

Take a look at this screenshot, from the website of Twila Brase, from the twitter picture at the top of this story:

That photo was taken at a forum titled, "Perspectives on Health Insurance Exchanges," that (and I quote) "was an 'invitation-only" event hosted by the Republican Health Care Task Force (RHCTF) of the MN GOP at the State Capitol on November 3, 2011."

"Mn Association of Health Underwriters"? That's the group Ms. Brase tweeted Senator Hann joined a board of.

Included among the "not pictured"? "Sen. David Hann (R-Eagan)(sic), chair of the Health and Human Services Committee; Rep. Steve Gottwalt (R-St. Cloud), chair of the Health and Human Services Reform Committee, and author of HF497, the health insurance exchange bill..."

"Boys and Tyler Financial"? That's the company Ms. Brase tweeted Hann now works for.

But, guess who else works at Boys and Tyler Financial?

"...Rep. Steve Gottwalt (R-St. Cloud), chair of the Health and Human Services Reform Committee, and author of HF497, the health insurance exchange bill..."

Do we really have the Chair of the House HHSRC, and Chair of the Senate HHS, both now working at the same company; a said company that " specialize(s) in Employee and Individual Benefits, including medical, dental, life, disability, vision, and retirement plans"?

And what does Rep. Gottwalt list as his occupation on campaign website?

"Small business owner"

Yeah, "right."

Just like David Hann is a "business process consultant".....

Hann has some serious explaining to do. As in, how did it come to pass that he ended up at the same company as his counterpart in the House, after he just spent two years as a Committee Chair overseeing legislation affecting a product that he's now licensed to sell?

And why didn't he bother to disclose any of that?

Gottwalt's got some serious 'splainin' to do, too.