A rookie state lawmaker who is a licensed insurance professional was hit with a $10,000 fine after fudging the hours of a continuing education course on ethics that he taught last year.
Rep. Robert J. Loonan, R-Shakopee, was also suspended from teaching for three months, according to a Dec. 8 consent order posted on the Minnesota Department of Commerce website.
Loonan is an American Family Insurance agent in Shakopee and was sworn in at the state House of Representatives in January. His teaching suspension ends March 14.
Commerce Department spokeswoman Libby Caulum said she couldn't elaborate on the consent order, but described the infraction as "relatively uncommon."
In an interview Monday, Loonan blamed the action on a complaint filed by a competitor. He said he has been training insurance agents for more than two decades.
"My classes are a big deal to me," Loonan said. "Everyone involved knows how trite it all was."
According to Loonan, the issue was an ethics class he taught in Mankato in February 2014. About 21 people in the class were from the Twin Cities, he said. A blizzard was approaching and roads were bad, so he started the afternoon class early and sped through it with no breaks to get people on their way, he said.
"I knocked almost an hour and a half off [the class]," he said.
